ASBURY PARK, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — As New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal prepares to leave office to head the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division, he reached out to the Garden State's LGBTQ community with an apology.
Grewal is ending his time in office July 18. One of his final actions before his departure was to apologize for decades-old targeting of bars that served the LGBTQ community.
In the 1930s through the 1960s, New Jersey targeted bars that served the gay, lesbian and trans population. None of the targeted bars remain open today, but according to Christian Fuscarino, executive director of Garden State Equality, this is not a "too little, too late" situation.
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Fuscarino was there for the announcement in Asbury Park on Tuesday, and said the apology sends a powerful message that the state acknowledges the wrongs of the past. He said that comes with the promise of a better future.
When asked if it was a good thing or bad thing that gay bars aren't quite as necessary anymore because acceptance is more widespread now, he said he met his husband at a gay bar and thinks they have been important for the LGBTQ community.
However, he said it's obviously great that the next generation can live out in the open and possibly meet the love of their life just about anywhere.