Imani Oakley Condemns Payne Jr.’s Absence on LGBTQ Legislation

Montclair, NJ — Imani Oakley, progressive candidate for Congress in NJ’s 10th Congressional District, publicly knocked her opponent Monday for failing to cosponsor 15 important pieces of current LGBTQ rights legislation.

“Payne Jr. was unsure if he supported marriage equality when he first ran in 2012,” she said. “His absence from these pieces of legislation indicates he’s still unsure whether he supports the LGBTQ community.”

Payne Jr. — a five-term incumbent with one of the highest voting absentee rates of any representative — has never introduced a bill or resolution on LGBTQ issues. His failure to cosponsor 15 current proposals is magnified by the fact that each has at least one consponsor from the New Jersey delegation.

The proposals include the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act of 2021, which would ban conversion therapy, the Gay and Trans Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2021, which would outlaw gay and trans panic as a legal defense, and the Fair and Equal Housing Act of 2021, which would extend Fair Housing Act protections to LGBTQ people.

“In New Jersey, Payne Jr. stands alone in his reluctance to support LGBTQ issues.” Oakley said. “When even Trump Republican Jeff Van Drew has signed on to one of these proposals, the logical question has to be, ‘where’s Donald Payne Jr.?’ ”
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Imani Oakley is a long-time political organizer and pro-democracy activist running for Congress
in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District. The seat covers parts of Essex, Union, and
Hudson counties. Her time working in New Jersey political spaces has made one thing clear:
our state suffers from rabid corruption. Her campaign is dedicated to ending this system and
lifting up working-class communities.