New Brunswick, NJ – The Menendez for Senate Campaign announced today that Garden State Equality (GSE), New Jersey’s largest organization advocating for LGBTQ rights, has endorsed Bob Menendez for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Founded in 2004, GSE led the fight for marriage equality in New Jersey.
“America was founded upon the principles of equal rights and opportunity for all. That is why I have consistently fought to ensure everyone—regardless of their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or station in life—has an equal shot at achieving their dreams and God-given ability,” said Sen. Menendez. “I am proud to have the support of Garden State Equality, an organization that has accomplished so much for New Jersey’s LGBTQ community. Together, we will continue to fight the Trump Administration’s efforts to roll back and undermine LGBTQ rights and equal protections under the law, because this election has never mattered more.”
“As a proven leader who stood up for the LGBTQ community for years, Bob Menendez is the clear choice for New Jersey’s fair-minded voters and LGBTQ residents. Senator Menendez has shown himself to be an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ community”, said Christian Fuscarino, GSE Executive Director. “In his interview with Garden State Equality, Menendez not only spoke passionately of his ground-breaking work 30+ years ago advancing hate crimes and anti-bias laws to protect the LGBTQ community, but also of the personal sting of discrimination that he experienced as a Hispanic minority in his youth.”
While his opponent, Bob Hugin, has openly discriminated against the LGBTQ community, Bob Menendez has consistently fought for them. Menendez authored New Jersey’s first hate crimes law, one of the first in the nation to include protections based on sexual orientation, when he served in the State Legislature. He cosponsored the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination in places of public accommodation and co-signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of equal rights for the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups.
Menendez spoke out against Donald Trump’s hateful transgender military ban and voted against Trump’s Secretary of Education, whose discriminatory policies are undermining LGBT students’ rights under Title IX. He is working to keep discrimination out of schools through the Student Non-Discrimination Act. He also opposes Trump’s extreme, right-wing Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who threaten to roll back LGBTQ rights from the bench.
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