From: communications@pflag.org
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 16:25:35 -0500
Subject: New Jersey Press Release

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   CONTACT: John Schoen, 201/664-8373
DECEMBER 16, 1996                                Shelley Golden, 202/638-4200

PFLAG PARENTS TESTIFY IN OPPOSITION TO ANTI-MARRIAGE BILL
Call on New Jersey Senators to Uphold Tradition of Tolerance

        Members of local chapters of the support, education and advocacy
organization, PFLAG: Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays,
will testify before the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee in opposition
to Senate Bill 1376.  The measure would prohibit state recognition of
same-gender marriages, including those performed in other states. The
hearing will begin today at 10 a.m., in the State House Annex, Room 6.
        When asked why he was testifying, PFLAG Ridgewood/Bergen County
leader John Schoen said, "I have a lesbian daughter, and until this point,
I have been proud of New Jersey's track record of respect for all citizens.
But now I find myself having to defend my family to the same legislature I
had once watched in admiration.  I never thought I'd see the day when our
government would turn to my daughter's family and say, 'You are not welcome
here.'"
        Currently, no state allows same-gender couples to marry. Civil
marriage, unlike other alternatives, ensures that couples who are willing
to make a lifetime commitment to each other are not denied the many
benefits that come with this responsibility, including access to hospital
visitation, bereavement leave when a partner or child dies, and joint
health, home and auto insurance.
        Like the New Jersey PFLAG members testifying today, thousands of
other PFLAG members have been actively working to stem the wave of
anti-marriage bills introduced in legislatures across the country.
        "It is distressing to watch states like New Jersey jump on this
national bandwagon of intolerance," national PFLAG President Nancy McDonald
said, in response to today's hearings.  "If you pass this bill, you are
telling us -- and all of America -- that New Jersey thinks that the gay and
lesbian members of families and communities are not worthy of dignity and
respect."

        Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) promotes
the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons, their
families, and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society;
education, to enlighten an ill informed public; and advocacy, to end
discrimination and secure civil rights.  PFLAG provides opportunity for
dialogue about sexual orientation, and acts to create a society that is
healthy, and respectful of diversity.  Founded in 1981, PFLAG is now
organized in 400 communities in every state, with 65,000 household members.
        PFLAG national President Nancy McDonald and past President Mitzi
Henderson testified at the federal level in opposition to the Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA) earlier this year.