State News Release

Openly Gay Assembly Candidate Jonathan Oriole (G-Bayonne) Says Elected Officials Should Heed Public's Support of Same-Sex Marriage.

New Jersey
ORIOLE FOR ASSEMBLY
Press Release: Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Contact:
Jonathan Oriole, Candidate for New Jersey State Assembly, 31st District
646-239-8623, jonathan@orioleforassembly.org

Jonathan Oriole, the Green Party candidate for the New Jersey State Assembly's 31st District and one of only three openly gay Assembly candidates statewide, has applauded the results of a recent Jersey Journal poll (May 5, 2003) on same-sex marriage. Oriole says the poll--which found that 55.6 percent of Hudson County residents support legalizing same-sex marriage--underscores the broad public support for an issue that the state's elected officials have ignored.

"This poll confirms what I've known all along - that when people think about same-sex civil marriage, they think about equality and fairness under the law," Oriole says. "More and more Americans are saying that denying gay and lesbian couples the legal right to marry is just plain wrong, and it goes contrary to the very principles on which this country was founded."

Oriole says that in light of the thousands of legal protections that marriage provides--from tax benefits to adoption to hospital visitation rights--denying gays and lesbians the right to marry turns them into second-class citizens.

"New Jersey has the chance to become the first state in the country to correct this injustice," Oriole says. "One of the main reasons I'm running as a Green is because it is the best choice for achieving same-sex marriage in Trenton. As the Democrats drag their feet on domestic partnership legislation--which would only provide some of the benefits of full marriage--and the Republicans try to outlaw same-sex marriage altogether, the Green Party has consistently supported same-sex civil marriage as a matter of basic human and civil rights."

Oriole says he considers same-sex marriage to be part of a larger framework of social and economic justice, which is the foundation of his campaign.

"The Democrats ran on a so-called 'reform' platform two years ago, claiming that Republicans were driving the state into the ground," Oriole says. "But despite having control of the Assembly, Senate, and the Governorship, they've actually managed to do worse than the Republicans. It's time to clean out the corruption and mismanagement in Trenton and to elect someone who has the interests of the people--not the large corporations and campaign donors--at heart. Unlike my opponents, I'm not beholden to any corporate lobbyists and I'm not a professional politician. I'm a concerned citizen who wants to roll up my sleeves for the working people of Hudson County and make a change for the better."

Oriole, a native of Bayonne, is a member of the Lavender Green Caucus of the Green Party, which is also running two other openly gay Assembly candidates this year.