LGBTQ + RIGHTS

Although New Jersey has robust protections for LGBTQ+ people, this isn’t the situation for the entirety of the United States. Violence and discrimination against gay and gender non-coforming people remains common. Even in our state — with all our protections — we’ve recently seen attacks on transwomen by police and other actors. This type of violence should have no place in our district, our state, nor our country.

In the United States, LGBTQ+ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their cis and straight peers. While New Jersey has some shelters dedicated to remedying this, we must push for dedicated federal funding to eradicate this issue.

Every one of us deserves lives free from discrimination, physical abuse, and psychological violence. We can and should be doing more to support our LGBTQ+ communities, and as your Congresswoman, I will:

  • Fully fund local and federal civil rights enforcement and investigation mechanisms meant to protect the LGBTQ+ community against discrimination, as LGBTQ+ rights are human rights.
  • Develop grant programs for non-governmental organizations focused on preventing violence towards LGBTQ+ communities of color, especially Black and Indigenous transwomen and nonbinary individuals.
  • Finance LGBTQ+ homelessness prevention programs.
  • Be a vocal and active supporter of the Repeal HIV Discrimination Act to help end the criminalization of HIV. I will also fight to repeal the pseudo-scientific and discriminatory limitations on LGBTQ+ individuals from donating blood.
  • Implement a national ban on the barbaric practice of conversion therapy to protect the dignity of our LGBTQ+ communities, especially LGBTQ+ minors.
  • Increase funding for schools to hire robust, culturally competent, and trauma-informed mental healthcare providers to help prevent the high number of LGBTQ+ youth suicides plaguing our nation.
  • Work with my colleagues in Congress to pass the LGBT Elder Americans Act to provide older LGBTQ+ people with the same federal advantages as all other older Americans.
  • Work with my colleagues in the Senate to get The Equality Act through Congress. I will also fight any measures that would seek to discriminate based on a person’s gender identity and sexual orientation.
  • Work to make our healthcare system inclusive for those in the LGBTQ+ community; such as adding clearly stated anti-discrimination launguage to healthcare policies, increasing the availability and keeping the costs low of necessary drugs like PrEP, making sure our healthcare system is providing quality and affordable care to transgender and non-conforming, non-binary individuals.
  • Pass the “Every Child Deserves a Family Act'' which would prohibit discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in federally funded adoption and foster care services, for pre-adoptive, adoptive and foster parents, and children and youth in foster care.
  • Work with the Department of Education to develop comprehensive, across the board LGBTQ+ inclusion in our K-12 curriculum. This including but not limited to History/Social Studies, Health/Sex Ed., and English/Literature. I will also support passing federal legislation to include LGBTQ+ curriculum, and comprehensive sex education in schools that take federal funds. - Ensure that any school receiving federal funds has a zero tolerance policy towards LGBTQ+ discrimination.
  • Work with my colleagues to provide protections for members of the LGBTQ+ community trying to rent or buy a home, so that they cannot be denied on the basis of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
  • Update the language used on federal forms to denote gender identity.
  • Make sure that we devote more federal funds towards researching issues that are important to the wellbeing of the LGBTQ+ community.