Garden State Equality Applauds Senator Booker’s Standout Performance at 2020 Presidential LGBTQ Forum

Last evening, 2020 candidates gathered for the first presidential forum dedicated to LGBTQ issues since 2007, where presidential candidate Senator Cory Booker’s remarks were roundly celebrated by community members, advocates, and organizations, including Garden State Equality. The LGBTQ Presidential Forum was hosted in Cedar Rapids, Iowa by The Advocate, The Gazette, GLAAD, and One Iowa.

“Long before he got to Washington—and long before defending equality was popular —Senator Booker was on the frontlines of our movement,” said Garden State Equality executive director Christian Fuscarino. “From sparring with Governor Christie over marriage equality to taking on President Trump’s transgender military ban, our community has no better defender today than Senator Booker.”

“There is an urgency in this moment in America as we sit here right now we still deal with profound injustice. There are still people who live in fear just because of who they are. This is work that government alone can’t do,” said Senator Cory Booker during his opening remarks at the LGBTQ Presidential Forum. “We all have an obligation, no matter who we are, to deal with the persistent injustices of our country so that when we pledge allegiance to that flag and say the words ‘liberty and justice for all’ they are not aspirational, they are the truth and experience of every American.”

For his entire career in public service, Booker has been a devoted champion of the LGBTQ community.

As Newark Mayor, Booker was a fierce proponent for LGBTQ rights and marriage equality—where he was out ahead of political leaders on both sides of the aisle. In 2007 during his first year in office, Booker ceremoniously raised the gay pride flag outside Newark City Hall for the first time in the city’s history. In 2009, he established the Newark LGBTQ Concerns Advisory Commission to ensure the most marginalized of our community—especially trans women of color—were protected. In his final year in office, Booker officiated the first legal marriages for same-sex couples during midnight ceremonies on October 21, 2013.

In the U.S. Senate, Booker was the primary sponsor of the Equality Act, which provides full non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ Americans; the legislation passed the House of Representatives in May 2019. On the Judiciary Committee, Booker has held every Trump nominee to task for their anti-LGBTQ history, and most courageously, he’s forcefully defended transgender military service members against the Trump discriminatory administration’s ban.

“No matter who Americans choose to challenge the anti-LGBTQ Trump-Pence administration, we’re excited to see the strongest slate of pro-LGBTQ candidates of our lifetime running for President, and we’re proud to have one of Jersey’s own among them,” said Christian Fuscarino. “We’ll be working around the clock to support whoever wins and ensure LGBTQ Americans are protected.”

Presidential candidates will gather again on Thursday, October 10 for an LGBTQ Town Hall hosted by CNN and Human Rights Campaign. Garden State Equality will be hosting a watch party for its supporters. The event will serve as the official kick-off for Garden State Equality’s largest annual grassroots fundraiser, the Equality Walk Weekend (www.EqualityWalk.us). Details will be announced soon.

Senator Booker’s full remarks from the LGBTQ Presidential Forum can be viewed at https://youtu.be/d0k1rGd5oZA?t=3800