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New Jersey judge urged to allow same-sex marriage

Hearing took place nearly two months after DOMA found unconstitutional

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(Blade file photo by Michael Key).

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (Blade file photo by Michael Key).

A New Jersey judge on Thursday heard arguments as to whether the state should extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The Associated Press reported Assistant New Jersey Attorney General Kevin Jesperson told Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson during a hearing in Trenton the federal government should recognize civil unions as marriages for Social Security and other federal benefits. Jesperson said the six gay and lesbian couples who filed a same-sex marriage lawsuit in 2011 should sue the federal agencies – and not the state of New Jersey – that don’t recognize their relationships.

Larry Lustberg, an attorney for Garden State Equality, an LGBT rights group, told Jacobson the state can resolve any potential inequalities same-sex couples face by allowing them to marry.

“It is the state, not the federal government that is the source of the problem here,” Lustberg said as the AP reported.

The hearing took place less than two months after the U.S. Supreme Court found a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and struck down California’s Proposition 8.

Neighboring New York and Delaware is among the 13 states and D.C. in which same-sex couples can marry. New Jersey and a handful of other states allow gays and lesbians to enter into civil unions.

The American Civil Liberties Union in neighboring Pennsylvania last month filed a lawsuit that challenges the state’s statutory ban on nuptials for gays and lesbians.

The federal government recognizes the marriages of gays and lesbians who legally tied the knot as a result of the DOMA decision, although same-sex couples’ ability to receive Social Security and other federal benefits depends upon whether the state in which they live will recognize their unions.

Christie: Couples in civil unions eligible for federal marriage benefits

Governor Chris Christie in 2012 vetoed a bill that would have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in the state.

Acting New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman earlier this month argued in a brief he filed with the court that same-sex couples who have entered into civil unions in the state are eligible to receive federal benefits under the U.S. Supreme Court’s DOMA decision. The Christie administration criticized the White House for withholding federal marriage benefits to gays and lesbians in civil unions.

“[Any] federal policy or directive or interpretation of Windsor that denies benefits to civil union partners violates the due process and equal protection provisions of the United States Constitution as well as New Jersey’s sovereignty rights,” the brief states.

LGBT rights advocates defended their lawsuit after the hearing.

“The state’s discrimination is all that bars same-sex couples from the full array of federal protections for their families,” Lambda Legal Deputy Legal Director Hayley Gorenberg said. “New Jersey can fix this — and it should. The buck stops right here.”

“The U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down DOMA was historic for the nation, but out of reach for us here in New Jersey,” Cindy Meneghin of Butler, N.J., who, along with her partner of Maureen Kilian and their two children, are among the plaintiffs in the same-sex marriage lawsuit. “We won’t give up until we have the freedom to marry and the opportunity to share that security and joy with our family.”

The AP reported Jacobson will not rule on the issue until at least next month.

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Federal Government

UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House

University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

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U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon (Screen capture: C-SPAN)

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.

“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”

Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”

Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”

“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”

Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.

Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.

The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”

“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.

Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”

His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.

“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”

“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”

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