Good News Friday: A Republican Stands Up For LGBT Rights

Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine, has become the 27th co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act [UAFA]-- legislation would modify the immigration code to treat bi-national couples the same whether they’re gay or straight:

“This legislation would simply update our nation’s immigration laws to treat bi-national couples equally. More than two dozen countries recognize same-sex couples for immigration purposes. This important civil rights legislation would help prevent committed, loving families from being forced to choose between leaving their family or leaving their country.”

Right now, under current immigration code, only straight Americans can sponsor their spouses for US residency; those rights, as are most rights, aren't available to gay Americans. Still, passage of UAFA remains unlikely given the current makeup--read GOP makeup--of Congress, but, with her announcement, Susan Collins becomes the only Republican in either chamber of Congress to back UAFA.  

Her co-sponsorship of UAFA is also noteworthy because in 2010 she was among the “no” votes on another immigration-related bill called the DREAM Act, which would have offered young, undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship if they pursue a college education or military service.

Maybe, one day, she'll change that vote.

via The Washington Blade

A Glimmer Of Hope In Immigration Reform

Late last week, New Jersey Democrat, Senator Robert Menendez, introduced an LGBT-inclusive immigration reform bill, that would extend family-based immigration for same-sex couples. If passed--and of course, that's a bit of a long shot--the Menendez bill would help some of the estimated 24,000 gay and lesbian couples in the US that include at least one foreign partner.
Under current immigration laws, straight couples can petition for their foreign-born husbands or wives to move to the United States as legal residents, but gay and lesbians are denied the ability to petition for foreign partners--even in states that allow gay marriage.
There has long been speculation that comprehensive immigration reform would include the Uniting American Families Act [UAFA] measure. Congressmen Luis Gutierrez, of Illinois, and Mike Honda, of California, have pushed for UAFA to be included in comprehensive reforms, claiming it could broaden the support base for the bill.
But then the churches come in. Notably, the Catholic Church, and a few other religious organizations, do support immigration reform, but argue that they cannot support a bill with gay rights measures because, you know, gays are bad. J. Kenneth Blackwell, a senior fellow at the evangelical, homophobic, wingnut Family Research Council, calls any inclusion of gay rights in immigration reform would be a "deal-breaker.”
And while it remains unclear whether the Menendez bill will go anywhere, LGBT advocates are applauding the inclusion of UAFA in the bill.

source

The Totem Pole Of Inequality

House Democrats, democrats from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus were joined by a coalition of 37 immigration, LGBT, and faith advocacy groups to reiterate their support for a comprehensive immigration reform package that would include equality for LGBT people and expressed confidence that such a bill would pass this year.

According to Immigration Equality, 36,000 bi-national couples in the United States face imminent or future separation because the US citizen of same-sex couples cannot, like those in heterosexual married couples, sponsor their partner for citizenship.

New York Senator, Charles Schumer, who wasn’t at the press conference, has reached out for the support of conservative evangelical groups, who say they are all for immigration reform but will not support a bill that includes LGBT equality.

See, dirty Hispanic immigrants are bad. But dirty Hispanic gay immigrants are the worst.

A Trifecta of Hate--Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Leith Anderson of the National Association of Evangelicals, and Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference--were all invited to hear President Obama's immigration speech at American University earlier this month, yet all three organizations oppose LGBT equality in immigration reform, and have said they won’t support a package that includes it.

See, God Hates Fags....especially Mexican Fags...because let's face it, immigration reform is only aimed at the dark-skinned- south 0f the border, illegals, not anyone else.

Richard Land even met with White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett and White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships director Joshua DuBois to "thank the president for giving the speech we asked him to give. And then they wanted to talk about where we go from here in terms of putting comprehensive immigration reform back on the front burner.”

As long as the Fags aren't part of it.

As a gay man, I am no longer the low man on the totem pole. That honor now belongs to my gay Hispanic brothers and sisters.

It's a new subbasement of hate.

A Major Step Forward For Immigration Reform

In a dramatic show of support for the Uniting American Families Act [UAFA] and LGBT-inclusive Comprehensive Immigration Reform [CIR], members of the LGBT Equality Caucus--a group of US Representatives--sent a letter to President Obama, as well as to the Senate and House leadership. Sixty of the eighty-two member caucus signed the letter which urgently calls for immigration reform and demands inclusion of LGBT families who have historically been locked out of our immigration system.

The letter adds new constituencies in Congress pressing for reform: the Congressional Hispanic Caucus [CHC], the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus [CAPAC], the Congressional Black Caucus [CBC], and the Congressional Progressive Caucus [CPC]. The leaders of all four new groups, all Democrats, signed the letter as well: Nydia Velazquez of New York, Mike Honda of California, Barbara Lee and Raul Grijalva of Arizona, and Lynn Woolsey of California.

The letter is just one in a series of steps the LGBT Equality Caucus has taken to advocate for the Uniting American Families Act and LGBT binational families.

Congressional sign-on letters are important because they show a voting block of support for a specific policy and can have major influence over content of legislation. This letter sends a strong demand for fairness for all families.

Immigration Equality [

HERE] commends the leader of the sign-on effort, Representative Tammy Baldwin, along with the other five House members who spearheaded the effort: Jared Polis and Barney Frank, who co-chair the LGBT Equality Caucus along with Baldwin; Jerrold Nadler, Mike Honda, and Mike Quigley, an emerging champion of LGBT binational families.

Here is a list of the U.S. Representatives who signed on to the letter; if your Representative signed, please call or email their office to thank them. They need to know we appreciate them standing up for all families!

Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin

Jared Polis, Colorado

Barney Frank, Massachusetts

Mike Honda, California

Jerrold Nadler, New York

Mike Quigley, Illinois

Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii

Shelley Berkley, Nevada

Howard Berman, California

Earl Blumenauer, Oregon

Robert Brady, Pennsylvania

Lois Capps, California

Michael Capuano, Massachusetts

Andre Carson, Indiana

Judy Chu, California

Yvette Clarke, New York

Susan Davis, California,

Diana DeGette, Colorado

William Delahunt, Massachusetts

Mike Doyle, Pennsylvania

Keith Ellison, Minnesota

Eliott Engel, New York

Bob Filner, California

Raul Grijalva, Arizona

Luis Gutierrez, Illinois

Phil Hare, Illinois

Jane Harman, California

Alcee Hastings, Florida

Mazie Hirono, Hawaii

Rush Holt, New Jersey

Steve Israel, New York

Patrick Kennedy, Rhode Island

Dennis Kucinich, Ohio

Barbara Lee, California

John Lewis, Georgia

Nita Lowey, New York

Carolyn Maloney, New York

Doris Matsui, California

Jim McDermott, Washington

James McGovern, Massachusetts

James Moran, Virginia

Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia

Frank Pallone, New Jersey

Chellie Pingree, Maine

Steve Rothman, New jersey

Linda Sánchez, California

Janice Schakowsky, Illinois

Jose Serrano, New York

Brad Sherman, California

Jackie Speier, California

Pete Stark, California

Edolphis Towns, New york

Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts

Nydia Velázquez, New York

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida

Henry Waxman, California

Anthony Weiner, New York

Peter Welch, Vermont

Lynn Woolsey, California

David Wu, Oregon

Make A Change

This news is huge for LGBT advocates working on the issue of immigration; for anyone concerned with the issues of immigration.

The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) was introduced in Congress by Representative Jerrold Nadler and Senator Patrick Leahy. UAFA will eliminate discrimination in U.S. immigration laws by permitting same-sex partners of U.S. citizens to obtain permanent resident status. It's kind of like how straight people who marry someone from outside the country can obtain legal resident status for their partner.

According to the Washington Blade, Congress will start hearings on the UAFA next week, in which LGBT advocates will surely see as a chance to revise U.S. immigration policy with an eye toward equality.

Equality. Such a lovely word.

So, I ask you to urge Congress to help pass the Uniting American Families Act by signing the petition here on Change.org. Let's make U.S. immigration laws a little more just for LGBT couples.

More equal.