[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're joined once again by Christian Fuscarino, who is Executive Director of Garden State Equality.

Christian, good to see you.

- Nice to see you.

Thanks so much for having me back on.

- You got it.

We're taping on November the 14th.

The graphic will be up.

So let's put things in perspective.

The election that just took place in New Jersey on November the 7th.

A lot of talk about parents' rights, what parents should, should not have a right to know as regards to their, let's say, their 10-year-old.

If their 10-year-old's telling school administrators, teachers, they're confused about their gender, parents' rights folks said, "We all should know."

I'm not sure exactly what the law is or what the policies are in the Department of Education, but that's not the case, and it was a real issue.

What should parents know and not know as it relates to their 10-year-old discussing gender issues with educators?

- Well, Garden State Equality absolutely believes that parents should know if their child is LGBTQ, and that's why we encourage parents to create safe and affirming environments at home where the children feel comfortable coming out to their parents.

When we look at statistics, we know that over 40% of the entire youth homeless population identifies as LGBTQ, so there's a real problem in this country with parents kicking their children out of their home simply because of who they love or how they identify.

And at the end of the day, we wanna make sure that those students that are in those vulnerable positions are protected.

- So, okay, but how do you know that?

Who determines whether a child is potentially at risk or the reaction of the parents would not be what whomever decides it should be, so therefore, you don't tell the parents?

Who adjudicates that?

- A child knows best on how their parent is gonna respond to them knowing that they're LGBTQ, and that's why it's important for students to have the protections in place that allow them to stay in the closet at home despite being out of the closet at school where they may feel safer.

- Christian, respectfully, an 8-year-old knows that?

- Absolutely.

We're seeing kids come out of the closet younger and younger because of the level of acceptance in New Jersey.

And so, as younger people come out of the closet at school, because schools have done such a good job of creating safe and affirming learning environments, we know sometimes that their home environment is not as welcoming.

- Okay, so let's do this because this issue's not going away anytime soon.

You told our producers and you've been saying publicly that transgender rights and medical care, critically important.

Connect the two.

What's not being done for a population that is often targeted and underserved?

Please.

- Affirming healthcare is vital for lived equality.

We've done such a good job here in New Jersey being one of the most pro-equality states in the nation in the law, but still people's daily lived experiences might not be reflective of that.

And so, we've been working really hard with some of New Jersey's largest hospital systems like RWJBarnabas Health to offer all around care right here in the Garden State so members of the LGBTQ community don't have to travel into New York City or Philadelphia just to find basic care and resources.

And we're also really proud to have launched an affirming healthcare map, which lists providers all throughout the state of New Jersey where members of the LGBTQ community, specifically the transgender community, can go and find affirming resources.

- Hey, Christian, stay on the transgender community.

To what degree do you, 'cause you're very close to this, you advocate, and explain to folks, as I get to this question, explain to folks as we put up the graphic, the website for Garden State Equality, what is the organization?

- Garden State Equality is New Jersey's leading LGBTQ organization.

We lift up the diverse voices of many LGBTQ communities, and we're really proud of that diversity standpoint because the LGBTQ community is not monolithic.

Every LGBTQ person doesn't face the same issues.

And so, as a statewide org, we work really hard to make sure that everybody's concerns are heard at tables where decisions are made, at institutions of power, in their workplace, in schools, and Garden State Equality is going into our 20th year of doing that, and we're really proud of the progress we've been able to make thanks to a pro-equality legislature and a membership that stood with us for the last 20 years.

- Anti-trans rhetoric and targeting of the transgender community.

How real, and how do you know?

- Nearly half of the states in our nation right now have passed anti-trans laws within this past year, and here in the Garden State, we're really proud of a pro-equality legislature and the Murphy administration, who has gone above and beyond to let trans folks know, not only those that live here in the Garden State but those around the country, that they can come here and be safe and affirmed in the law.

And that's really important at a time when our nation needs to reckon with the rollback on LGBTQ rights we're seeing across the country because of anti-LGBTQ elected officials getting elected and put into office, both at the school board level, at the local level, and at the state level.

- Christian, let's take this nationally for a second.

So the new speaker of the house, Mike Johnson.

I was reading some of the things that he had said publicly, not what someone said he said, but what he has said, and he has been quoted in the past and saying and being very clear that if he could undo the Supreme Court decision about same-sex marriage, he would.

He would undo that.

And he also has argued in the past, publicly, you should look it up, it's not what I say he said, it's what he has said, that homosexual relationships and homosexuality and same sex marriage are at the core of destroying civilization in our nation.

Am I overstating, misquoting, and misinterpreting the Speaker of the House, second in line to power to the President after the Vice President?

I mean, am I misquoting, misstating it?

- Yeah, the speaker has made some pretty wild remarks about same-sex marriages, and when I think about my marriage, which is to a US Marine veteran and the family that we've created together, I don't see, you know, the deviance that the speaker thinks exists within same-sex marriages by any means.

But you know, the moral arc of the universe is long, but it does bend towards justice, and so, it does come to surprise to me that these individuals find themselves in leadership positions when, at the end of the day, I really think that LGBTQ equality is not a red or blue issue.

It's an American promise.

It's an ideal that many voters are getting behind and we can see that in the results of this past election here in New Jersey.

And I hope that, as we move forward, we'll continue to see voters show up to the polls in a way where we are removing these folks that have an idea where some people should be treated differently than others in the law won't be in those positions anymore.

- Last question, Christian, before I let you go.

In this last election, November 7th in New Jersey, the legislative election, all 120 seats are up, history was made, I believe in the 13th, or the 11th legislative district?

- Yes, we have our first openly LGBTQ woman that has been elected to the legislature.

We are thrilled for Luanne Peterpaul in this historic win.

We are a state that, again, is leading the nation on LGBTQ equality, but there were some years we didn't have any LGBTQ members in the legislature, and then we were lucky enough to have Don Guardian, who is an out LGBTQ legislator from the Republican party.

And now we have this historic win of Luanne Peterpaul being the first LGBTQ woman in the legislature.

So our legislature is beginning to look more like the progress we've made in the laws by having that representation there.

- And we'll have her on.

Thank you, Christian.

Appreciate it.

- Thanks so much, Steve.

Be well.

- You've got it.

I'm Steve Adubato.

That's Christian Fuscarino.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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