Who is Chris Christie? Where does he stand on LGBTQ+ rights?

While Chris Christie is perhaps best known as being the former governor of New Jersey, he’s also one of the only well-known Republican politicians who has been actively pro-LGBTQ+ in speech and action. He didn’t start that way — in 2013, he opposed same-sex marriage, and in 2015, he spoke against transgender bathroom access. His actions since then show just how much he has evolved on these and other important queer issues, even if he still occasionally makes statements that reveal his lingering anti-trans biases.

Chris Christie At a Glance

• Location: Mendham Township, New Jersey
• Party Affiliation: Republican
• Race/Ethnicity: White
• Gender Identity: Male
• Sexual Orientation: Straight
• Pronouns: He/Him
• LGBTQ+ Ally: Yes

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Biography

Born in 1962 to a New Jersey family, Christie graduated from the University of Delaware in 1984 with a B.A. in political science. He graduated from the Seton Hall University School of Law in 1987 with a J.D., after which he was admitted into the New Jersey State Bar Association and began working for the law firm Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci. He became a partner in the firm in 1993.

He was elected to the Morris County Board of Commissioners in 1994 and began working as an energy lobbyist in 1999. Then-President George W. Bush appointed Christie as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 2001; he served until 2008. He launched his successful bid to become New Jersey’s governor in 2009 and won re-election in 2013. That same year, he was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

He launched an unsuccessful bid to become president in 2015. President Donald Trump appointed Christie to serve as the chair of the National Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission in 2017. Christie became a regular contributor to ABC News in 2018, published a book titled Let Me Finish in 2019, joined the New York Mets’ board of directors in 2021, and launched a second presidential bid in June 2023.

Christie’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues

While Christie’s record is stained by his previous stances against same-sex marriage and transgender bathroom use, he has distinguished himself by signing one of the nation’s most comprehensive laws protecting trans and other queer students as well as protections for trans-related healthcare. Despite this, he has made comments recently denying the legitimacy of adult trans identities.

Same-sex marriage

While serving as governor, Christie supported a state civil union law that would have granted same-sex couples the same legal benefits as other married couples in New Jersey. However, he opposed same-sex marriage and called court decisions in favor of same-sex marriage a form of “judicial supremacy.”

In 2012, he vetoed a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in his state, saying that the issue should be decided by voters. When the state’s supreme court ruled in October 2013 that same-sex marriages should be legal in the state, Christie’s administration asked the court to issue a stay on its decision. The court’s seven justices unanimously refused, and Christie withdrew his request, making his state the 14th to legalize same-sex marriage.

In 2015, he said that government officials who disagreed with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that legalized marriage equality should still “do their job” and issue same-sex marriage licenses. In 2024, his presidential campaign told The New York Times that Christie “respects same-sex marriage and considers it legally settled.”

Trans children in sports

In 2017, Christie signed a bill requiring schools to allow transgender students to participate in activities matching their gender identities.

Transgender access to public bathrooms

In 2017, Christie signed a bill directing schools to allow students to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity or to provide “reasonable alternative arrangements” otherwise.

However, in a 2015 interview, Christie voiced his opposition to trans-inclusive policies on bathrooms and other public accommodations, saying, “Men go to men’s rooms, women go to women’s rooms, and there really shouldn’t be a whole lot of confusion about that — public accommodations. And I don’t think we should be making life more confusing for our children.”

“We want our kids not to have to decide which bathroom they get to go in. And not to be subject to peer pressure about which one to go in. And not to be subject to the embarrassment that could come with going in a bathroom where somebody maybe doesn’t agree that they should be in there or not,” he continued.

Gender-affirming healthcare for minors

Christie has voiced opposition to legislation that bans gender-affirming care for minors and prosecutes individuals who help access or provide such care.

 “I don’t think that the government should ever be stepping into the place of the parents in helping to move their children through a process where those children are confused or concerned about their gender,” Christie said in a June 2023 interview. “What I’d like to make sure the state does is require that parents be involved in these decisions…Folks under the age of 18 should have parental support and guidance and love as they make all of the key decisions of their life, and this should not be one that’s excluded by the government in any way.”

Other transgender civil rights

While serving as New Jersey governor, Christie signed a bill prohibiting state-licensed hospitals, insurers, Medicaid, and health providers from discriminating against transgender patients.

However, he also twice vetoed bills that would’ve allowed trans people to more easily change the gender marker on their birth certificates. He vetoed the legislation, he said, over fears of potential fraud, deception, and abuse. He defended these vetoes in a July 2023 interview in which he said, “A woman is someone who is born with that biological gender at birth. I recognize now that there are folks who, you know, feel differently about that. They are free to feel differently about it. I don’t.”

In an August 2015 interview, Christie said, “Listen, for people who do not have a sex-change operation, all the bill required was somebody that who would seek a doctor’s treatment and that that doctor would verify they felt like the opposite gender. I have to tell the truth…. There are certain things that just go beyond the pale, and that’s not what I’m gonna permit the law to be in New Jersey.”

Don’t say gay/LGBTQ+ discussions in schools

While Christie doesn’t seem to have made comments on laws banning any LGBTQ+-related instruction in schools, he has criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his intense anti-LGBTQ+ focus on education and other fields.

In a July 2023 CNN interview, Christie said, “We have nine and a half million children in this country every night who go to bed hungry. We have 21% of our students in the 10th grade saying that they’re using hard illegal drugs. And this is the kind of stuff that we’re talking about? … [This] debate is trying to make this country smaller to try to divide us further. And it’s wrong. It’s actually where we have big, big issues to be talking about here… Our students educational results are down again this year across the country and non-competitive with other parts of the world and this type of [focus] does nothing to address those issues.”

He also criticized DeSantis for retaliating against Disney after the company publicly opposed DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” law.

“I don’t think we should be telling business what to do, what to say, how to think. I believe that’s what conservatives have believed for as long as I’ve been alive,” he said in an April 2023 interview. “Where are we headed here now? If you express disagreement in this country, the government is allowed to punish you? To me, that’s what I always thought liberals did.”

Trump and DeSantis are trying to divide us further.

This is a teenage food fight that is narrowing our country and making us smaller. It’s absolutely wrong. pic.twitter.com/j7cQtoLvxT

— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) July 2, 2023

Discrimination protections

In 2017, Christie signed a law requiring New Jersey’s education commissioner to create guidelines for how schools should handle name, pronoun, and gender identity changes. The bill required schools to allow trans students to dress and participate in activities matching their gender identities. It also allowed the creation of on-campus LGBTQ+ student clubs and required school counselors to receive additional training on trans-related issues.

In July 2023, Christie expressed narrow support for a U.S. Supreme Court decision stating that government anti-discrimination laws cannot force writers to publish statements that they disagree with.

“This business has no right not to serve people who are protected class,” Christie told CNN. “But by the same token, the government doesn’t have the right to tell a business, the nature of how they need to use their expressive abilities.”

“Justice Sotomayor was saying in her opinion … that this decision could be used to deny people of LGBTQ backgrounds the ability to access this business. That’s simply not true. They can access this business. They can access this business. They just can’t force the owner to do something that is against her personal religious beliefs,” Christie said.

Christie’s career

• Graduated from the University of Delaware in 1984 with a B.A. in political science
• Graduated from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1987 with a JD
• Worked for the law firm Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci from 1987 to 1999
• Served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2001 to 2008
• Served as New Jersey’s governor from 2010 to 2018
• Elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association in 2013
• Served as chair of National Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission in 2017
• Published a book in 2019
• Joined the New York Mets’ board of directors in 2021
• Ran for president in 2020 and 2024

In conclusion

Despite his past anti-LGBTQ+ speech and actions — and his recent comment denying the legitimacy of trans adults — Christie has emerged as a pro-LGBTQ+ Republican, a true rarity as his party moves ever-rightward in its anti-queer cultural war.

Stay informed about his career by subscribing to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter.

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