BY Christopher Lang, Correspondent, @topherlang2 | MonroeNow | Jun 20, 2018
To honor LGBT Pride Month, Middlesex County raised the rainbow-colored flag in front of the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick this month during a ceremony.
Pride month is celebrated in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. Memorials are held in June in remembrance of those who died as a result of hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. It is also a time to recognize the impact bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender individuals have had on history.
During the ceremony, the county honored Barbra “Babs” Casbar Siperstein. She is credited with taking a lead role to implement measures to include “transgender people in anti-bullying laws, bias crimes and non-discrimination tax laws, banning conversion therapy and discrimination in health care and reforming policy for changing ID documents,” according to a county statement.
“Events like these help to show that we recognize and embrace the diversity that makes up Middlesex County. Our diversity and collaboration make us stronger as a community,” said Freeholder Charles Kenny, who spearheaded the event.
The Babs Siperstein Law, recently approved by the state Legislature, requires the State Registrar of Vital Statistics to issue an amended birth certificate to a person born in the state containing the transgender person’s name and sex (female, male, or undesignated/non-binary). A parent or guardian may make the request on a child’s behalf.
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