New Brunswick Organizing LGBTQ Event Celebrating Marriage EqualityCity Aims to Create Largest Gay Ma

The city's Pride Month celebration, focusing on marriage equality, comes at a time when winds of uncertainty are blowing across the national landscape. Federal policy-makers who have sought to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and led to the revocation of federal abortion rights have caused many members of the LGBTQ+ community to worry that same-sex marriages will soon no longer be recognized, said Lauren Albrecht, the director of advocacy and organizing at Garden State Equality. That's what makes the city's plans for A Wedding for ALL & Pride Flag Raising on Wednesday, June 2,5, so important, she said.

It's billed as a celebration of all love and all unions, but LGBTQ+ couples are invited to be married at the event at the Middlesex County Administration Building at 75 Bayard St. Or, or couples can renew their vows. Either way, the city is hoping it grows into the largest gay marriage ceremony in the state. The city is distributing a flyer with a QR code for couples to find more information and to connect with Pastor Scott Rush at Emanuel Lutheran Church; Rush will be coordinating with local religious leaders who wish to officiate.

"I think it's great the city of New Brunswick is doing the work to be inclusive and affirming for those who may not even be Rutgers students, because there are already all kinds of programs in place for Rutgers students, but perhaps for people who are not Rutgers students that need additional support and are members of the community in New Brunswick, it's wonderful that they are taking this added initiative," Albrecht said. The event marks a bold step forward for the city with the support of the city's administration under Mayor Jim Cahill and the direction of Edmund DeVeaux, deputy director of the Department of Human and Community Services. DeVeaux has been tasked with helping raise the city's Human Rights Campaign's Municipal Equity Index, a metric that evaluates how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there.

In 2023, the city's score was 67 out of 100. A year later, it rose 19 points. Part of that increase can be attributed to the creation of the city's LGBTQIA Policy Roundtable. The group, consisting of stakeholders representing business, governmental, religious, and academic arenas, helped elicit input and suggestions from community members at a gathering last year.

One of the plans, a Gaypril celebration in the spring, was ultimately shelved.

"We went so far as to talk about how we could have a parade from the (Rutgers) college campus to downtown," DeVeaux said. "So, again, it didn't happen this year. The climate did have a lot to do with that not happening. But, that's not to say it won't happen." "The notion of how we continue to celebrate the community it continues. It's ongoing," he added. A Wedding for ALL & Pride Flag Raising, which is also supported by Middlesex County, was born through DeVeaux's work as chair of the LGBTQIA Policy Roundtable. He realized that he had been introduced to many couples with affiliations to the city. He said the director of City Market, Pam Stefanek, suggested trying to turn it into the biggest gay wedding ceremony in the state. It will also be a moment to celebrate the strides made in the fight for marriage equality. Garden State Equality, the organization that spearheaded the legal challenge that led to same-sex marriages being recognized in New Jersey for the first time in 2013, will be recognized. In particular, the plan is to have in attendance those who were at the vanguard of that legal battle, even if they've since moved on from the organization.

Story by: Chuck O'Donnell
Photo by: Shutterstock/Gutzemberg