RELEASE: Gottheimer Hosts LGBTQ+ Roundtable During Pride Month on Issues Impacting the Community

Resources / Press Share on RELEASE: Gottheimer Hosts LGBTQ+ Roundtable During Pride Month on Issues Impacting the Community Jun 18, 2026 Press Above: Gottheimer with North Jersey LGBTQ+ advocates, community leaders, and local electeds. FAIR LAWN, NJ — Today, Thursday, June 18, 2026, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) hosted a roundtable with North Jersey’s LGBTQ+ advocates, community leaders, and local elected officials. He focused on key issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, including mental health, hate crimes, public safety, and homelessness. “It’s a privilege to represent North Jersey’s vibrant LGBTQ+ community and our Jersey Values in Congress, the first of which is freedom: freedom to be who you want to be and love who you want to love. Freedom to live free of fear, discrimination, and hate,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), a member of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus . “I will always oppose any attempt by those in Washington or around the country to roll back the clock on progress. At the end of the day, equality shouldn’t be a Democrat or Republican issue. It’s an American issue.” Gottheimer is supporting the LGBTQ+ community in Jersey by: As a member of the LGBTQI+ Aging Issues Task Force, Gottheimer is leading his E lder Pride Protection Act. This bill creates a task force at the Department of Justice focused on combating rising abuse against elderly LGBTQ+ Americans. Supporting the 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Access Act — Gottheimer is a cosponsor of this bill, which secures and mandates specialized crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth within the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Fighting to pass the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act — Gottheimer is a cosponsor of this bill, named after a constituent of Gottheimer’s from Ridgewood. Tyler was a bright young man who took his own life after being tragically cyberbullied and targeted for who he was. This bill requires colleges and universities receiving federal student aid to enact anti-harassment policies. Advancing the Equality Act — Gottheimer is a cosponsor of the Equality Act, which he most recently helped pass out of the House in 2021. The Equality Act will ban anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination regarding housing, employment, federal investment, and more. One of the first bills Gottheimer introduced in Congress, the Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act, is now included under the Equality Act. Enshrining marriage equality into law — Gottheimer helped pass the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act in 2022, which makes marriage equality the federal law of the land and fends off attacks on marriage equality at the state level. Gottheimer was joined by Jared Lautz, Deputy Administrator for Bergen County; Sidra Razzaq, Deputy Communications Director for Bergen County; Assemblywoman Lisa Swain of LD 38; Councilwoman Angela Smith of Waldwick; Brielle Winslow-Majette, Acting Executive Director of Garden State Equality; Kerri Sherer, Deputy Director of BC Senior Services; Laura Pople, President of Jersey Pride, Inc.; Madeline Gale, Co-Founder and Board Member of Out Montclair; Reubena Spence, President and Co-Founder of Out Montclair; Miguel Rivera-Rios, President of The Pride Center of NJ; David Rosen, Director of Training and Education at Hudson Pride Center; Joann McEniry, Chief Executive Officer of EdgeNJ; Lee Brigham, Community Relations Specialist for the Bergen County LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee; Deb Guston, Chair of the Bergen County LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee; Karen Acker of West Bergen Mental Healthcare; Michael Tozzoli, Chief Executive Officer of West Bergen Mental Healthcare; Simone Kraus, Member of the TRC-NJ Steering Committee; Enrique Perez Grovas, National Council Member for Parents for Transgender Equality at the Human Rights Campaign; Casey Pick, Senior Director of Law & Policy at The Trevor Project; H. Craig Cutler, President/Clinical Director of Equality Mental Health; Maddy Saks of Equality Mental Health; and Toni Gentile of Equality Mental Health. Below: Gottheimer with North Jersey LGBTQ+ advocates and community leaders ### Share on