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CHALLENGE The Newsletter of the Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County – Serving New Jersey’s GLBTI Communities Continuously Since 1972
Volume 39, Issue 6, Summer 2013
By the Time You Read This... by Andy Skurna
June has been a very busy Pride month, and I’m writing this on the 15th of June, Challenge deadline day. By the time you read this, GAAMC will have participated in at least three Pride events in two states with plans to attend at least one more later this summer. We will have hosted a special meeting for LGBT parents, and studied recovery from sexual abuse by priests. By the time you read this, the Supreme Court will have ruled on California’s Proposition 8 case and the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). There have been thousands of articles written on these subjects, with scores of possible decisions ranging from extremely narrow, local rulings to those with the wide sweeping impact of Lawrence v. Texas and Loving v. Virginia. Meanwhile millions of Americans wait on pins and needles to know whether or not they can claim their places as full citizens. New Jersey’s political mess will be heating up to the boiling point…surely hotter than the pending dog days of summer. We have four Democrats (Booker, Holt, Oliver, and Pallone) vying to become NJ’s next Senator, and two Republicans (Eck and Lonegan) duking it out across the aisle. By the time the next issue of Challenge goes into the mail, the candidates and citizens will have spent tens of millions of dollars, but you will have your two October choices. By the time you read this, Governor Christie’s re-election campaign will have spent more than a month airing attack ads against State Senator Barbara Buono, chaining her name to what are perceived to be Governor Corzine’s failed policies. Does anyone realize that Corzine was governor during W’s administration? Can anyone comprehend that Christie took office one year after President Obama? The national and international economies are improving, while New Jersey's remains stagnant. Barbara Buono supporters are pumping social media outlets full of attacks against Christie’s more recent record of destruction, which surely provides an easier target for his opponent, since only one of them has actually had the State’s bucks stop at his/her desk. Senator Sweeney is not happy with the choice of Senator Buono to lead NJ’s Democrats, and he has been extremely vocal about it. Senator, the people have voted. Please get on board, or get out of the way. How is anyone supposed to keep up? How is anyone supposed to trust what they see and hear? Pundits are everywhere, and back-biting may become an epidemic. In today’s polarized pool of media outlets, you can surely find a
“news” source to tell you want you want to hear. It is like a Mini Me version of Romney vs. Obama. Only this time we have the added wastefulness of multiple primaries, multiple elections, and party in-fighting. The governor has done a great job of playing to the audience. Since super storm Sandy he’s been palling around with Democrats like he is a warm caring friend of the people…just a regular guy, while gutting every program and initiative he can get his hands on like a Tea Party lunatic behind the scenes. No, I am not suggesting that he is hiding his slash and burn tactics. If I can see them, anybody can. I fear that most voters are too exhausted to keep up. They are too stressed out about keeping their jobs, guarding their retirements, feeding their families or fighting off foreclosure to devote the time and energy it takes to make truly informed decisions. To the best of my knowledge, all Democratic candidates support marriage equality and full equal rights for the LGBTI citizens of New Jersey, while Lonegan and Christie have been vocally supportive of continued discrimination. Can anyone remember Christie’s hate speech during his debates with Lonegan? It went something like this: “If marriage equality advances in NJ, I will join forces with Lonegan and we will work tirelessly to overturn it.” I looked online for the exact quote but was unable to locate it. Who knows? With the majority of Americans now in support of marriage equality, maybe if he wins re-election Christie may finally evolve. But, I am not holding my breath. All signs indicate that he is at the top of the list of Republican (continued on page 3)
Inside Challenge Challenge Information.... ................................ page 2 GAAMC Events.............................................. page 2 Bulletin Board.............................................. page 3 Poetry: Read a Poem ..................................... page 3 Gleanings: Queer news from around the world .... page 4 Guide to 2013 New Jersey Special Elections......... page 6 Community Calendar ...................................... page 7 The Little Box of Concerts............................. page 10 Poetry: The Day Twinkies Died....................... page 10 Tech Talk: App-solutely................................ page 11 Dancing to Architecture: music reviews............ page 12 Board Minutes for May................................... page 15 This Month's Contributors............................... page 15 GAAMC Information...................................... page 16