Citing its long history of support of equal rights under the law, the New Jersey Education Association today testified in support for S-1, the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act.
“The time for passage of this legislation is at hand,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian. “This is the ultimate teachable moment, because if we truly believe that all students should be treated equally, we must demonstrate through our actions that we will treat all adults equally.
Keshishian said New Jersey’s current civil union law falls short of providing that protection, as civil union partners continue to face discrimination in myriad settings that S-1 would resolve.
“It is time for civil rights to replace civil unions in New Jersey,” Keshishian said.
The bill defines marriage as the legally recognized union of two consenting persons in a committed relationship, and exempts clergy and others who object on religious grounds from having to perform a ceremony.
It also provides that any child whose parent or guardian provides the school principal with a signed statement indicating that any part of the health, family life education, or sex education curriculum is in conflict with their conscience or moral or religious beliefs shall be excused from that portion of the course where such instruction is being given, without penalties for credit or graduation.
Two members of NJEA’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee also testified in support of S-1.
“As a history teacher, I educate my students about the long march for civil rights by groups in the United States who have faced prejudice and discrimination on the basis of who they are as human beings,” said Sean DiGiovanna of Watchung Hills. “I teach them about the case of Plessy v. Ferguson – how once the courts supported the concept of ‘separate, but equal’ and how that idea was later categorically overturned in Brown v. Board of Education. The civil union statute creates a class of relationships that are separate and unequal.”
“As my partner and I grow older and health concerns become more dominant, we still face concerns and risk as we continue as civil union partners,” said Carol Watchler, a retired teacher from Roosevelt and a partner in a same-sex relationship for 39 years.
“’Civil Union’ means ‘different’ no matter how much the legislation that established it promised that it would be the same as marriage in the State of New Jersey,” Watchler told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “We continue to be at risk, and a medical emergency turns to even more of a nightmare when hospital personnel don’t understand or refuse to understand that Civil Union in New Jersey is intended to confer the same rights in medical decision-making or hospital visitation as those enjoyed by a couple whose union is called ‘marriage.’”
“This legislation would provide long-overdue equality to individuals in committed relationships,” added Keshishian. “NJEA strongly supports every member’s right under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to equal protection under the law.”
NJEA has long-standing policies supporting equality and opposing discrimination based on sexual orientation, Keshishian noted.