NJ Senate Panel to Consider Bill Outlawing 'Ex-Gay' Therapy

The New Jersey Senate Health Committee this morning is considering legislation that would ban so-called gay conversion therapy, the Star-Ledger reports:

State Assemblyman Tim Eustace, an openly gay Democrat from Bergen County, is the lead sponsor the bill (A3371) — which would ban licensed practitioners from performing the therapy on minors, even with parental permission. New Jersey would join California as the only states doing so.

Among those testifying before the committee will be Troy Stevenson (right), executive director of Garden State Equality. He offered PolitickerNJ a preview of what his testimony would be about, and why the issue is personal for him:

"When I was 15 years old, I met a young man from the rival high school in my home town in Oklahoma," Stevenson said. "He was the first person I felt I could truly connect with, the first person I came out to, and the first person I ever kissed.

"But that first kiss was interrupted. The football team caught us behind the school after practice. We ran for what we felt was our lives, and what may very well have been in Oklahoma in the early 1990s.

"We made it to our homes safely, and my first call was to my friend to make sure he was OK.

"But he wasn't OK," Stevenson said. "He described the 'conversion' camp his parents sent him to when he told them he was gay. He described things that I couldn't imagine, indignities that I won't repeat. He said, 'I will never go back.'

"That was the last time we spoke. The next day I found out that he took his life. There is no doubt in my mind that the thought of returning to that torment was more than he could take. 

UPDATE: The Senate Health Committee advanced the measure 7-1.

NJ Legislature Plans Vote to Override Christie's Gay Marriage Veto

New Jersey's legislature is planning votes in both the Senate and Assembly to override Chris Christie's February 2012 veto of a marriage equality bill that passed both houses there, Politicker NJ reports:

[Reed] Gusciora (pictured), an openly gay lawmaker who sponsored the bill in the Assembly, said he met with both Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald and both men were committed to putting the bill up for an override.  The bill did not pass in either house with enough votes to override the governor's action, but gay rights advocates have been working the phones for a year trying to turn lawmakers in their favor.

The bill passed 24-16 in the Senate and 42-33 in the Assembly.  In the Senate, three additional votes are needed to pass an override, while in the Assembly an additional 12 are needed for the two-thirds majority required to override.

"I think we can get the three in the Senate," he said.  "But the Assembly is a different story.  I can name five who might switch their vote, but it stops there."

Gusciora said he spoke to both men about the possibility of a ballot initiative to legalize same sex marriage, however Gusciora said Sweeney was against the idea.

Sweeney says he wants to wait to have the override vote until June when Republicans will feel free to vote without retribution.

Need an Emergency Condom Delivery Today? - VIDEO

If you're at the College of New Jersey, you are in luck.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

eHarmony CEO Neil Clark Warren Had to Hire Guards Because of 'Angry' Anti-Gay Christians: VIDEO

eHarmony CEO and co-founder Neil Clark Warren sat down for a chat with CNBC and Yahoo! Finance to talk about a variety of topics. One of them was the 2008 lawsuit with the state of New Jersey after which they put up a gay site. Warren says the threats from "angry" anti-gay Christians after they did that were so great they had to hire guards to protect themselves.

"I think this issue of same-sex marriage within the next 5 to 15 years will be no issue any more. We've made too much of it. I'm tired of it. It has really damaged our company. When the attorney general of the state of NJ decided that we had to put up a same-sex site, and we did it, we literally had to hire guards to protect our lives because the people who were so hurt and angry with us were Christian people who feel that it's a violation to Scripture.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Tyler Clementi Center Established at Rutgers University: VIDEO

The Tyler Clementi Center at Rutgers University, in honor of the student who took his own life in 2010 after being spied on and harassed for being gay, was established on Monday, the Star-Ledger reports:

The center will focus on helping students make the transition from home to college. It will also offer lectures and training on issues related to bullying, the misuse of social media and suicide among gay youth.

“Through the Tyler Clementi Center we have the chance to impact not only young people at Rutgers, but young people across the nation,” said Joseph Clementi, Tyler’s father, at a ceremony announcing the project.

Several hundred people, including students, gay rights supporters and mental health activists, attended the ceremony at the Rutgers Visitors Center in Piscataway. The Clementi Center is a joint project by Rutgers and the Tyler Clementi Foundation, a non-profit group started by the freshman’s family after his death.

Additionally, legislation was introduced to coincide with the announcement of the center:

During the ceremony, Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th Dist.) announced he and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) reintroduced legislation in Congress today that would require colleges to have anti-harassment policies. The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act was first introduced shortly after Clementi’s death, but did not gain enough support to become law.

Holt said the legislation would make grants available to help colleges find creative ways to battle bullying and help students in Clementi’s memory.

You can donate to help fund the center at The Tyler Clementi Foundation website.

Watch ABC7's report on the announcement, AFTER THE JUMP...

(via david mixner)

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