Statement by Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich in response to Jack Ciattarelli’s comments about the LGBTQ+ curriculum

Since the Stonewall Riots of 1969 the LGBTQ+ community has fought hatred and bigotry in order to bring our state and our nation forward to the modern era some 53 years later. Our voices have been heard in New Jersey and laws established to serve and protect us.

New Jersey has been a leader in civil rights for decades.  Here, gay and queer people have stood shoulder to shoulder, fighting to have our voices heard and to obtain rights as human beings in order to be treated fairly and equally.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I will not stand silently by to allow someone like Mr. Ciattarelli to set aflame the history of LGBTQ+ progress we and our straight allies have achieved.

Jack, love is love. People are different. New Jersey is populated by people of many faiths, ethnic origins, colors and sexual orientations. If you truly want to lead in NJ once again, take a look around and see who we are that populate the Garden State. Hate has no home here. Inclusivity unites – it doesn’t divide.

The reason so many educators worked tirelessly to teach LGBT history and worked hard to establish an inclusive curriculum is to minimize the hatred toward those of us who are different from you.  By educating young people, teaching them to be accepting, we are saving the lives of LGBTQ+ who are 3.5 times more prone to suicide than their heterosexual contemporaries.

 As William Hazlitt once wrote: “Prejudice is the child of ignorance.”