The Green Party has always stood with the LGBTQ community in the ongoing struggle for justice, and we always will. Our Lavender Caucus is looking for volunteers to help us expand our work in this area and would love to hear from you. In addition to our other works of advocacy and activism, we participate in a number of Pride events around the state each year, including in Newton, Asbury Park, Maplewood, and Jersey City.
Julie of the Lavender Caucus talked about the Jersey City Pride Day festival: “I had the honor of representing the Green Party at Jersey City Pride held on Aug 25, 2018. There was a vibrant atmosphere with a huge extremely diverse crowd all coming together in a happy peaceful celebration of life and love. There was great food and music on multiple stages. People were eating, dancing, laughing, kissing, and even talking politics. We met with many people and listened as they told us what was important to them. Everyone that we talked to was very concerned about how politics and government have been co-opted by the rich and powerful and how even good people in the corporate parties can’t make a difference because they are beholden to powerful donors who push them around like puppets. People all basically want the same things: freedom, peace, safe food and environment, and the ability to freely love whomever they want – which all seems very simple. The world just needs to listen to them.”
Green candidates for Senate, Madelyn Hoffman, and Congress, Diane Moxley, were at our Jersey City table as well and engaged with many of these voters who are tired of not being heard or represented. Justice for all is a moral imperative for the Green Party and its candidates for office, and Madelyn and Diane have long fought for this.
“As a co-chair of the Green Party of New Jersey and a member of the LGBTQ community, I am always proud of our team and our support of Pride around the state,” said Theresa Markila. ”I always remember that the roots of Pride are in radical rebellion as a response to oppression. Today, despite the growing mainstream “tolerance”, our fight is far from over. And we Greens are on the ground in the struggle in every way. While Democrats and Republicans were defending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, the Green Party was always on the side of justice. We hope you will join us.”
LGBTQ justice is tied up with economic justice, climate justice, immigrant justice, and all our other justice movements. We have seen many successes and changes over our decades of activism (there’s some great information here ), but we still have lots of work to do. But we will get there if we all work together.