Evangelicals Support Immigration Reform*
By Rachel Tiven on 07/20/2010 @ 12:01 AM
Monday"s New York Times reported that while white evangelicals suddenly claim to care about the plight of millions of immigrant families, their support comes with a footnote: if three-tenths of one percent of those families are gay, they'll renege on the whole thing. (Read down to the bottom.) A few observations:
- Christians are hardly lock-step on this issue, and the suggestion that the Latino community will support an anti-gay position is patronizing and inaccurate. On Thursday, the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders issued a ringing endorsement of LGBT-inclusive comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). The Coalition (CONLAMIC) is the largest Latino Christian advocacy organization in the U.S., representing 20,000 churches in 34 states. In a statement, CONLAMIC President Reverend Miguel Rivera said, “We know that this is a sensitive topic, however, we completely agree with Congressman Luis Gutierrez that an immigration reform law must be just and inclusive for any family member, independent of their gender or sexual orientation, their race, culture or the color of their skin.” He continued, “We think that discrimination against members of families just because of their sexual orientation or race is as immoral as maintaining 12 million undocumented immigrants in a state of legal limbo, affected by police brutality, by discrimination, abuse at work, and the fraud that they suffer every day.”
- It is well worth noting that our issue, and our place at the immigration reform table, is such a given today that it can be referenced by the New York Times without explanation. Remember, as Oscar Wilde said, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
- Lastly, for a beautiful portrait of what real people of faith think about LGBT-inclusive immigration reform, watch this profile of Erwin DeLeon and Rev. John Beddingfield, from KTVU in California.
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