TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY

Garden State Equality extends its appreciation to attorney Leslie A. Farber for writing this page. Ms. Farber, an authority on transgender law who runs her own law firm in Montclair, New Jersey, is reachable by email here. This page is an overview and does not constitute legal advice. At the bottom of this page, we list several support groups for transgender people in New Jersey.
 
New Jersey is second to no other U.S. state in transgender civil rights, thanks in large part to Garden State Equality’s leadership. The organization has several members of the transgender community on its Board of Directors and has been a national model for transgender inclusion.  
 
If you have suffered discrimination, harassment or any other kind of misconduct because you are transgender, please email Discrimination@GardenStateEquality.org with your name and phone number, or call Garden State Equality at (973) GSE-LGBT. All information will be kept confidential.  
 
In 2005, Garden State Equality ran the first television commercial in American history on trangender civil rights. The commercial aired as part of Garden State Equality’s campaign to enact a statewide transgender equality law. In 2006, the bill passed both houses of the New Jersey legislature by a combined vote of 102 to 8, the largest margin of victory for a transgender bill anywhere in America to this day. In 2008, Garden State Equality succeeded in getting the state to amend the state’s hate crimes law (called the Bias Intimidation Act in New Jersey) and its school bullying law to encompass gender identity and gender expression.  

Partnering with Garden State Equality on all three of those landmark laws was the state’s transgender civil rights organization, the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey (GRAANJ).
 
In 2009, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission announced that the gender noted on state driver licenses would be in accordance with the driver’s gender identity or expression, reflecting the gender that drivers considers themselves to be, rather than first requiring surgery.  Given that one’s driver license is a primary identification document all across society, this change will have a vastly beneficial impact for transgender New Jerseyans.
 
To understand the impressive scope of protection which New Jersey provides to the transgender community, it helps to start with Law Against Discrimination (LAD), the oldest and strongest state anti-discrimination in the country. The LAD prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and places of public accommodation on the basis of sex, age, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, national origin and gender identity or expression.  
 
The LAD defines gender identity or expression as “having or being perceived as having a gender related identity or expression whether or not stereotypically associated with a person's assigned sex at birth.”  If because of your transgender status you have been fired, denied employment, refused public or private housing, prevented from using public transportation or refused service from a private business, you have legal recourse.
 
To read more about how the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination works, click here to visit our web page on Discrimination Under New Jersey Law.
 
New Jersey is far ahead of the federal government in providing legal protection for the transgender community.  But with the current U.S. Congress and President much friendlier to transgender civil rights than their immediate predecessors, the potential for transgender civil rights progress on the federal level is now greater than it has been in years.  President Obama recently signed the The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a bill that would expand the federal hate crimes law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
 
Also standing a good chance to pass Congress this session is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).  Garden State Equality led the way nationally in opposing a previous version of ENDA that excluded the transgender community.  But thankfully the version now before Congress would outlaw discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity.  Garden State Equality is proud to support this inclusive ENDA.
 
National transgender rights organizations include the Transgender Civil Rights Project of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which has produced an exceptional web page on transgender rights, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.
 
TRANSGENDER SUPPORT GROUPS IN NEW JERSEY

In Highland Park in Central Jersey, TrueSelves is a transgender peer-based support group focusing on all aspects of the transgender spectrum from gender issues to understanding yourself and your community.  TrueSelves meets every third Sunday from 4:00 pm to 6:00pm at The Pride Center at 321 Raritan Avenue, Highland Park.  For more information, email Eli mediatvradio3838@aol.com.

In Jersey City in North Jersey, the Pride Connections Center runs several programs for the transgender community.  They include GLITZ, Girls Living In the Trans Zone, which meets every Tuesday from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm; and BLITZ, Boys Living in the Trans Zone, which meets on the first and third Wednesday of every month from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.  GLITZ and BLITZ are geared to people ages 13 to 20. The Pride Connections Center is at 32 Jones Street, Jersey City.
 
The New Jersey Support Group website lists local transgender support meetings across New Jersey and nearby parts of Pennsylvania.  
 
Tri-Ess New Jersey is “an educational, social, and support group for the heterosexual crossdresser, their partner, the spouse of the married crossdresser, and their families.”