Dear Friends,
Today, the New Jersey State Assembly approved bill A4454, which if signed into law by Governor Murphy, would mandate sexual orientation and gender identity diversity lessons starting in kindergarten. Assembly members were made aware before the vote that their decision would be scored and recorded for Family Policy Alliance of New Jersey’s 2021 voter guide that will be sent to 1500 churches and tens of thousands of concerned residents prior to next year’s statewide election campaigns.
- A4454 was originally approved by the Assembly on October 29, 2020. It only mandated these sexual orientation and gender identity diversity lessons in 9th – 12th grade.
- However, the Senate approved an amended version on December 17, 2020. Their amendment required these human sexuality lessons beginning in kindergarten.
- Today, Jan 11, 2021, the Assembly voted in favor of this amendment to lower the age of students learning about human sexuality from 14 years old to 5 years old!
Four assembly members publicly spoke out against this bill during the vote to protect your parental rights in education. I urge you to thank them for their bold leadership.
- Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R), Denville
- Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R), Middletown
- Assemblyman Bob Auth (R), Haskell
- Assemblyman Erik Peterson (R), Clinton
Family Policy Alliance of New Jersey hopes Governor Murphy will respect the fundamental religious beliefs of millions of New Jersey citizens by vetoing this legislation.
Vote Tally of Assembly Members
❌ Every Republican present voted NO
âś… Every Democrat present voted YES (with one exception*)
* Assemblyman Jamel Holley (D) voted NO
46 – Yes
29 – No
0 – Abstain
- Yes = teach kindergarteners about sexual orientation and gender identities
- No = do not teach kindergartners about sexual orientation and gender identities
| Armato, John (D) – Yes | Mazzeo, Vincent (D) Yes |
| Auth, Robert (R) No | McClellan, Antwan L. (R) No |
| Benson, Daniel R. (D) Yes | McGuckin, Gregory P. (R) No |
| Bergen, Brian (R) No | McKeon, John F. (D) Yes |
| Bramnick, Jon M (R). No | McKnight, Angela V. (D) Yes |
| Burzichelli, John J. (D) Yes | Mejia, Pedro (D) Yes |
| Calabrese, Clinton (D) Yes | Moen, William F., Jr. (D) Yes |
| Caputo, Ralph R. (D) – Not Voting | Moriarty, Paul D. (D) Yes |
| Carter, Linda S. (D) Yes | Mosquera, Gabriela M. (D) Yes |
| Catalano, John (R) – No | Mukherji, Raj (D) Yes |
| Chaparro, Annette (D) Yes | Munoz, Nancy F. (R) No |
| Chiaravalloti, Nicholas (D) Yes | Murphy, Carol A. (D) Yes |
| Clifton, Robert D. (R) No | Peters, Ryan E. (R) No |
| Conaway, Herb, Jr. (D) Yes | Peterson, Erik (R) No |
| Coughlin, Craig J. (D) Yes | Pintor Marin, Eliana (D) – Not Voting |
| Dancer, Ronald S. (R) No | Quijano, Annette (D) Yes |
| Danielsen, Joe (D) Yes | Reynolds-Jackson, Verlina (D) Yes |
| DeAngelo, Wayne P. (D) Yes | Rooney, Kevin J. (R) No |
| DeCroce, BettyLou (R)- No | Rumpf, Brian E. (R) No |
| DePhillips, Christopher P. (R) No | Schaer, Gary S. (D) – Not Voting |
| DiMaio, John (R) No | Scharfenberger, Gerard (R) No |
| DiMaso, Serena (R)- No | Schepisi, Holly T. (R) No |
| Downey, Joann (D) – Yes | Simonsen, Erik K. (R) No |
| Dunn, Aura K. (R) No | Space, Parker (R) No |
| Egan, Joseph V. (D) Yes | Spearman, William W. (D) Yes |
| Freiman, Roy (D) Yes | Speight, Shanique (D) Yes |
| Giblin, Thomas P. (D) Yes | Stanfield, Jean (R) No |
| Gove, DiAnne C. (R) No | Sumter, Shavonda E. (D) Yes |
| Greenwald, Louis D. (D) Yes | Swain, Lisa (D) Yes |
| Holley, Jamel C. (D) No | Taliaferro, Adam J. (D) Yes |
| Houghtaling, Eric (D) Yes | Thomson, Edward H. (R) No |
| Jasey, Mila M. (D) Yes | Timberlake, Britnee N. (D) – Not Voting |
| Jimenez, Angelica M. (D) Yes | Tucker, Cleopatra G. (D) Yes |
| Johnson, Gordon M. (D) Yes | Tully, P. Christopher (D) Yes |
| Karabinchak, Robert J. (D) Yes | Vainieri Huttle, Valerie (D) Yes |
| Kean, Sean T. (R) No | Verrelli, Anthony S. (D) Yes |
| Kennedy, James J. (D) Yes | Webber, Jay (R) No |
| Lampitt, Pamela R. (D) Yes | Wimberly, Benjie E. (D) Yes |
| Lopez, Yvonne (D) Yes | Wirths, Harold J. (R) No |
| Zwicker, Andrew (D) Yes |
Please take 30 seconds to thank the four assemblymen, and then share the link with others. Thank you for spreading the word!
Sincerely,
Shawn Hyland
Director of Advocacy