Montclair Passes ‘Historic’ Laws To Protect LGBT Community

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Town Council passed a package of “historic” local laws aimed at protecting the LGBTQ community during their meeting on Tuesday, earning a big round of applause from the town’s first openly gay councilman.

“This has been a long journey to understand how to codify Montclair’s reputational values into law,” Peter Yacobellis said.

According to Yacobellis, who helped to spearhead the effort, three changes to Montclair’s local laws were enacted on Tuesday night:

Ordinance To Require The Provision Of All-Gender Restrooms – “Requires the provision of all-gender single-occupancy restrooms in all business establishments (including offices and office buildings), places of public accommodation, and municipally owned buildings or facilities in Montclair, together with appropriate signage; where publicly accessible single-occupancy facilities already exist or will be constructed in the future.”

Third-Party Contracting Non-Discrimination Ordinance – “Requires the inclusion of protection on the basis sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all third-party bidding and contracts. This ensures that we don't spend your tax dollars with any entity who themselves don't protect their employees on this basis.”

Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinance – “Prohibits discrimination in hiring, appointing and assignation of duties and positions on the basis of gender identity or expression (this has previously been codified only on the basis of sexual orientation).”

Celeste Fiore, founder and chair of Trans Affirming Alliance, said Montclair’s new bathroom ordinance is a welcome change.

“I have witnessed lines forming and people ‘holding it’ rather than use the ‘opposite gender’ bathroom,” Fiore said. “This new policy will benefit all bathroom users by eliminating unnecessary lines.”

“As a non-binary trans masculine person, I always find single-occupancy bathrooms with a single-gender designation to be completely baffling and oftentimes very dangerous,” Fiore said. “Bathrooms are not the most dangerous threat to transgender health – but making them easier to use is certainly a strong start.”

• See related article: Montclair Firm Says Court Ruling Is 'Huge Win For LGBTQ People'

The evening’s activities also included a symbolic resolution from the Township of Montclair, which supports and affirms existing New Jersey legislation that bans “gay conversion therapy” on juveniles.

Yacobellis, who personally experienced conversion therapy as a teenager in New Jersey, read the text of the resolution aloud during Tuesday’s meeting.

Story continues below

Yacobellis said the package of legislation saw “overarching” support from his colleagues on the council, members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, and advocacy groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and Garden State Equality.

“New Jersey is one of the most pro-equality states in the nation, but it’s still important for municipal governments to demonstrate their commitment to their LGBTQ+ residents through ordinances and resolutions like the ones enacted today,” said Christian Fuscarino, executive director of Garden State Equality, which was formerly based in Montclair.

“We congratulate in particular, former Garden State Equality employee and councilman Peter Yacobellis, as well as the mayor and the rest of the township council, on taking these steps to ensure all residents of Montclair feel welcome and look forward to seeing what’s next,” Fuscarino said.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Yacobellis said that work continues on a local ordinance dubbed “Prohibiting Bullying in All Youth-Serving Township Services, Activities, Programs and Facilities.

The councilman said of the pending legislation:

“It would require all agencies and departments that provide services, activities, programs, and facilities for youth and third-party organizations that receive township funding for services and programs that include youth, to establish a clear policy for reporting, addressing, and preventing bullying as defined in the law. This policy would include a requirement for annual training for all staff on said policy and on key bullying prevention practices.”

Yacobellis also expressed a strong desire for the township to adopt “transgender-specific healthcare coverage,” including coverage for gender-affirming surgery and hormone treatment when those discussions with the state take place.

“Tonight we covered some very important fundamentals, and I’m excited about what can be done to address bullying in town, too,” Yacobellis said. “But, going beyond protections in law to improving human services and quality of life, is the ultimate goal in my view.”

He concluded:

“I think about LGBTQ+ homeless people who aren’t comfortable getting service from a house of worship; people living with HIV/AIDS still dealing with stigma, LGBTQ+ seniors, people of color and other segments of our community and the particular needs that they have. I will continue to work with my colleagues to make Montclair the best place to live and thrive in America, for all people.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Sign up for Patch email newsletters. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Montclair Facebook page.