Trans Activist Andrea Bowen Named Executive Director of Garden State Equality

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New Jersey’s Equality PA equivalent Garden State Equality (GSE) made history this week when it named Andrea “Andy” Bowen executive director. The position makes Bowen the nation’s first openly transgender executive director of a statewide organization for LGBT civil rights.

Bowen comes to GSE from Washington D.C., where she worked as the social policy organizer with the D.C. Trans Coalition, and policy expert for the National Center for Transgender Equality. In these roles she played an integral part in getting key legislation passed for the LGBT community, including a bill that allows transgender people to change their birth certificates and names, and she helped spearhead a movement that ensured D.C. health insurance policies covered many trans-specific health care needs.

So what are her goals for GSE? “New Jersey has a lot of forward thinking policy already in place,” she says. “But we must continue to press for full equality for the LGBT and ally community, and be vigilant in working to ensure our current laws are implemented and enforced. My goal is to work with communities across intersections of race, class, gender, age, and ability to ensure that LGBT people and our allies are truly protected from discrimination, physical violence, and economic pain.”

Best of luck in your new position, Miss Bowen!