Sheila Y. Oliver
New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver Floor Speech in Support of Marriage Equality (A-1)
In this video press release, Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex) addresses members of the General Assembly during the floor debate on the marriage equality legislation she sponsored.
The “Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act” (A-1) would eliminate the civil unions that have been in place in New Jersey since 2007 but have failed to provide equal treatment to the state’s same-sex couples and instead define marriage as the legally recognized union of two consenting people in a committed relationship.
It also expressly stipulates that no clergy of any religion authorized to solemnized marriage, nor any religious society, institution or organization in the state would be required to conduct any marriage in violation of their free exercise of religion.
The measure received final legislative approval in the Assembly by a vote of 42-33.
Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly
Sheila Y. Oliver (born July 14, 1952) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2004, where she represents the 34th legislative district. She is the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, having taken office on January 12, 2010 after the retirement of Joseph J. Roberts. She is the first African-American woman to serve as speaker of New Jersey General Assembly. But she is the second woman to serve as Speaker in New Jersey history, the first being Marion West Higgins, who served in 1965, and the second African American to hold this post, the first being S. Howard Woodson, who first held the post in 1974.
Oliver serves in the Assembly on the Human Services Committee (as Chair), the Higher Education Committee and the Labor Committee.
She served on the East Orange Board of Education from 1994-2000, as its President from 1999-2000 and as Vice President from 1998-1999. She served on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1996-1999. In 1997, she became the first woman to launch a competitive campaign for Mayor in the City of East Orange, losing the election by a mere 51 votes.
Oliver was one of the founders of the Newark Coalition for Low Income Housing, an organization that successfully sued the Newark Housing Authority and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in federal court to block the demolition of all publicly subsidized low income housing in Newark, as there was no plan in place for the construction of replacement housing for low-income Newark residents. As a result, the Newark Housing Authority was directed by a federal consent order to build one-for-one replacement housing for low-income residents.
Oliver graduated with a B.A. from Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) in Sociology and was awarded an M.S. from Columbia University in Planning and Administration.
