Gov. Phil Murphy has ordered all state building and facilities to fly flags at half-staff in honor of civil rights leader Barbra Casbar Siperstein, who passed away on Sunday evening.
“A ferocious champion for the LGBTQ community, Babs was a dedicated advocate who worked tirelessly to advance transgender equality rights that have changed and saved many lives,” Murphy said. “Although we lost Babs, her memory and spirit will continue to live on.”
An original board member for Garden State Equality, Siperstein played a major role in advocating for marriage equality, transgender inclusive nondiscrimination protections, and most recently the Babs Siperstein Law that allows for the selection of gender-neutral on a New Jersey birth certificate.
Siperstein was a former New Jersey Stonewall Democrats, served on the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission and was political director of the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey. She joined the Democratic National Committee in 2009 as the first openly transgender member.
She served on the executive committee of the Democratic National Committee from 2011 to 2017, when DNC chair Tom Perez removed her for backing his opponents, first New Hampshire Democratic State Chairman Ray Buckley and then Rep. Keith Ellison.