You may have heard of Chris Christie since Hurricane Sandy, even if you don’t live in or around New Jersey. He actually did quite a good job during the disaster and with recovery. He’s also predicted to be a Presidential candidate 2016, or at least a Republican Primary candidate. And he actively vetoed gay marriage in New Jersey when it passed both the state House and Senate. Not a good guy for gay marriage in my books, and apparently not a good guy in Tessa Bitterman’s either.
Chris Christie via WSJ
Tessa Bitterman, a 22-year-old law student currently residing in San Francisco for school, is Barbara Buono’s daughter. Buono, a Democrat, is running for New Jersey Governor against Chris Christie in our Gubernatorial Election this coming November. And Tessa Bitterman is gay, which means she is still unequal to straight citizens in the eyes of New Jersey law.
Basically, Bitterman rips Christie a new one and tells everyone to chip in and support her mom. In the email, Bitterman writes:
As a gay American I have a stake in what our governor says about marriage equality. And I have been deeply shocked by Chris Christie. As governor, he has been a giant roadblock to New Jersey achieving equality for all. By failing to support marriage equality, Christie is blatantly delegitimizing an entire group of people.
Buono has publicly said she supports legalizing gay marriage. She is also the author of the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Law, which requires Jersey school districts to implement anti-harassment and bullying prevention policies. Christie’s record. on the other hand, inspires fear in Bitterman:
Now that Christie is running for re-election, he is more than happy to try and portray himself as a moderate. But the truth is – his record scares me. It scares me because if he takes his brand of deception national, all Americans are in for a rude awakening.
This youtube video, along with the email sent out to Buono supporters, stresses the importance of the upcoming November election because a Christie victory will directly affect his chances in 2016, should that happen. This isn’t just a New Jersey fight – it’s a U.S. fight. And the writing is on the wall – the majority of U.S. citizens favor gay marriage.
Barbara Buono via Facebook
I have tried to find flaw with the arguments in this video and email, but I can’t. As good at bipartisan politics as Chris Christie seems to be, he was literally the only thing that stopped marriage equality in New Jersey. If he had just signed the bill, queer New Jerseyans would be seen as equal under this particular law. This veto is one of the reasons that I left New Jersey. Compared to some of the more radical Republicans, Christie is in fact a moderate, but I think the argument here is that he’s not moderate enough and that it’s all relative.
You can see the full text of Tessa Bitterman’s email right here.
I dislike that man with a burning intensity. Not only is he homophobic but I’m still pissed over the educational budget cuts. Two of my favorite teachers lost their jobs in my district and NJ Stars was taken away.
I just hope he feels like he’s gonna sneeze for the rest of his life and may he walk through the valley of a million Legos.
that’s the best curse i’ve ever heard.
I’m not trying to be offensive (I mean our modern elections are already offensive enough for everyone) but I really believe that someone as overweight and unphotogenic as him could never get elected to president in the socitey we currently live in. Which in general is shit but in his case is reassuring.
I left New Jersey 9 years ago, and I’m moving back next month. Will definitely be voting for Buono – not just because of his veto on gay marriage. I also hate him because I am a teacher and have teachers in my family, and what he did really sucked.
I grew up with Tessa! That makes me sort of famous, non?