[PCNJ-news] PCNJ News & Updates (Important Notice) - 12/8/03

[pridecenter-news at pridecenter.org]

1. Final Town Meeting
2. Domestic Partnership Legislation
3. Event Re-scheduling

1.FINAL TOWN MEETING
This Tuesday, December 9th, 2003 at 7 pm, 207 WEST
MAIN STREET in MOORESTOWN, is the final New Jersey
LGBTI town meeting of the year:  "A TOWN MEETING
CELEBRATING 2003 -- AND AIMING FOR EQUALITY IN 2004." 
At the end of this e-mail, please find precise driving
directions provided to us by our host church.  The
town meeting will proceed REGARDLESS of inclement
weather.  Parking is ample on the streets within a few
blocks of the church if its lot is full.

Friends, we have collectively lived through one of the
most amazing years of our lives.  This was the year in
which Lambda Legal won its historic case in the U.S.
Supreme Court to strike down anti-gay sodomy statutes
across the country.  This was the year in which
lesbian and gay couples in Massachusetts won the right
to marry -- a first on U.S. soil.  And this was the
year in which our own state of New Jersey has
experienced a stunning boom in both its LGBTI
population and LGBTI activism.  By Tuesday night, more
than 4,000 New Jerseyans will have attended LGBTI town
meetings since the beginning of the year:  Four times
the number we had only in our wildest dreams. 

We hope that by this time next year, we'll be
celebrating a victory that gave New Jersey's lesbian
and gay couples the freedom to marry.  The future is
not far away -- and to welcome it in, one of the
victorious Massachusetts couples will be appearing and
speaking at the town meeting in Moorestown, South
Jersey this Tuesday, December 9th at 7 pm, Trinity
Episcopal Church, 207 WEST MAIN STREET, Moorestown. 
If you want to hear what the future of LGBTI civil
rights can look like in New Jersey, come this Tuesday
to hear the Massachusetts couple.  You will be
inspired.

Most importantly, this upcoming town meeting is taking
place just TWO DAYS -- just TWO DAYS -- before the New
Jersey legislature holds its first hearing on domestic
partnership legislation.  Come this Tuesday to find
out what you can do.  And please, PLEASE, PLEASE
FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS,
COLLEAGUES AND MEMBERS OF YOUR ORGANIZATION AND/OR
CONGREGRATION.

Below are the driving directions for this Tuesday
night.  All best, Steven Goldstein with Lambda Legal,
cell (917) 449-8918, Goldstein at AttentionAmerica.com 

DIRECTIONS TO TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 207 WEST MAIN
STREET, CORNER OF MAIN AND CHURCH STREETS, MOORESTOWN,
(856) 235-0811

FROM THE NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE
    To exit 4 (Camden/Philadelphia).  Bear right to
Camden (Route 73 North).  At the first traffic light,
turn right onto Fellowship Road.  Turn left onto
Church Street.  Follow Church Street across Route 38,
up the hill to the first traffic light.  You will be
at the corner of Church and Main Streets, where the
church is. 

FROM 295
    To exit 40 (Moorestown/Mount Laurel).  Go west on
Route 38 to Church Street North.  Turn right on Church
Street.  Go up the hill to the traffic light -- at
this corner you will be facing the church.  Turn left
onto Main Street.

FROM PHILADELPHIA -- four bridge options
    a.  Walt Whitman Bridge to 295 North, follow the
above directions from 295.
    b.  Betsy Ross Bridge:  Follow signs to Route 90
exit, where the highway ends and puts you right on
Route 73 South.  Take Route 73 South to Route 38 East.
Follow to Church Street.  Make a left onto Church
Street -- you must take the jughandle.  Go up the hill
to the first traffic light, where you will be facing
the church.  Turn left onto Main Street.
    c.  Tacony Palmyra Bridge, which puts you on Route
73 South.  Take Route 73 South to Route 38 East. 
Follow to Church Street.  Make a left onto Church
Street -- you must take the jughandle.  Go up the hill
to the first traffic light, where you will be facing
the church.  Turn left onto Main Street.
    d.  Ben Franklin Bridge:  Follow signs to Mt.
Holly, Cherry Hill or Route 38 East.  Always stay to
the left.  Follow to Church Street.  Make a left onto
Church Street -- you must take the jughandle.  Go up
the hill to the first traffic light, where you will be
facing the church.  Turn left onto Main Street.

2. DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP
NJ’s Domestic Partnership legislation is headed for an
Assembly Committee vote on December 11 and will be
introduced in the Senate the same day.  Passage is by
no means assured and we need each of you to contact
your NJ State Legislator IMMEDIATELY and tell them to:

In the Assembly – Support Bill A3743
In the Senate – Support Domestic Partnership
legislation 

You can find your legislators at 
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp

Call, write, email and FAX; Get your friends and
family to do so, too.  They cannot hear from us
enough.  Talking points are attached so you can
familiarize yourself with the bill.  For more
information, visit www.njlgc.org 

Your letter can be as simple as the following:

Dear (Assemblywoman, Assemblyman, Senator,)

As your constituent, I urge you to support Domestic
Partnership legislation, which grants same-sex couples
equality in: Inheritance, Medical Decision Making, and
Healthcare Benefits (insurance).  Same-sex couples
living in loving, caring relationships need the same
rights and benefits bestowed on married couples.  

Very truly yours,

Be sure to sign your name and give your address and
phone number.

“…, agitate and aggravate (lawmakers).  You are a
political force.  You have to use that political clout
to scare us a little bit.”  Senator John H. Adler, D-
District 6, as quoted at the Haddonfield Town Hall
April 9, 2003 by the Courier-Post

“The power of a movement lies in the fact that it can
indeed change the habits of people.  This change is
not the result of force but of dedication, of moral
persuasion.”  Steven Biko

The next New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition
“Domestic Partnership Task Force” meeting is Thursday,
Dec. 4 in Maplewood.  If you are interested in
attending, please contact Stephen Mershon
maplewoodsteve @ juno.com 

Best regards, 
Geo. George J. Tomczyk 
HRC Greater New York Steering Committee Chair Board of
Governors 

3.EVENT RESCHEDULED
Since Ladies Night was cancelled at the Den this past
Saturday due to the weather, it has been RESCHEDULED
to next Saturday, December 13th! Coincidentally, the
night of the Women's Singles Wine and Cheese event.
Makes for a great double-header! Now you can come meet
single women from 7:30PM - 9PM and then dance all
night or go to dinner at Sophie's Bistro. 
Hope to see you there!
Feel free to forward this to anyone you think may be
interested. The more, the merrier! 
 


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