Allies
Gutierrez Says “No Future CIR bill without UAFA”
By Julie Kruse on 05/27/2010 @ 07:56 PM
At a press conference Monday in Chicago, Congressman Luis Gutierrez reiterated his call from last week that moving forward, any comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) legislation must include the Uniting American Families Act. He stressed that any future CIR bill must include UAFA when it is introduced. Congressmen Jared Polis and Mike Quigley joined him at the podium, urging inclusive reform. Several local Chicago LGBT and immigration organizations stood with them, and members of binational couples told their family stories. Local LGBT officials including Alderman Tom Tunney and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Debra Shore also attended.
After the press conference, Immigration Equality met with several of the Chicago binational families and organizations who attended the event, including Association of Latino Men for Action (ALMA), Amigas Latinas, Dyke March organizers promoting the Dream Act, the National Immigrant Justice Center, Lambda Legal, the Latino Policy Forum, and others, to discuss the actions they are taking to promote LGBT inclusion in and support for immigration reform.
These groups and individuals meet regularly in Chicago to coordinate strategy. Their activism with members of Congress, in the Chicago City Council which recently passed a resolution in favor of UAFA, and in the streets is impressive. They serve as an inspiring example of the grassroots efforts across the country to win LGBT immigrant rights.
Congressman Gutierrez repeated his support for gay and lesbian immigrant families in a segment on Telemundo which also featured New York couple Jeff and Arturo and Lambda Legal’s Francisco Duenas.
Be Committed
By Gilbert Elizabeth on 05/27/2010 @ 05:35 PM
Throughout my travels around the world, I’ve discovered just how magical — and unexpectedly easy — it can be to fall in love. What is even more surprising, though, is just how difficult it can be for some to keep their families together. Whether you meet your soul mate in Brazil, or in your own backyard — and whether they happen to be the same gender as you, or not — should not matter. But under our country’s current immigration system, it unfortunately still does. That’s just not right.
It is time to change our immigration laws and honor the love and commitment of all of our families by making it possible for them to be together.
I hope you will join me at Immigration Equality’s Safe Haven Awards, on June 8th in New York City as we raise awareness, and funds, to end the unconscionable discrimination lesbian and gay binational families face under our current immigration system. I am proud to keynote this year’s ceremony, which also supports Immigration Equality’s critical legal services work on behalf of LGBT immigrants, asylum seekers and detainees.
This cause is personal for me. As many of you know, my own partner was detained at the U.S. border when he returned to the United States with me. No couple — and no family — should face separation or exile because of who they love. It is unacceptable that our government should do anything but work to ensure loving families remain together. Instead, it is tearing them apart.
That is why we must take action today. And it is why I am so proud to keynote this year’s event.
If you purchase a VIP ticket today, or join our host committee for the event, I’ll also be happy to present you with a signed copy of my book, Committed, about my own experience as one half of a binational couple. And I promise you an unforgettable evening of fellow travelers who are equally committed to celebrating our love, honoring our families and fixing our broken immigration system.
I know, first hand, what this fight for equality means to so many of you. I am committed to standing with you and supporting Immigration Equality’s work to end this injustice.
I hope you will join us on June 8th, and “be committed,” too.
Immigration Equality to Receive 2010 Harmony Award from Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington
By Steve Ralls on 05/13/2010 @ 03:25 PM
On Saturday evening, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will honor Immigration Equality with its “Harmony Award.” The GMCW is one of Washington’s most respected, and admired, arts institutions, and recently performed at President Obama’s inaugural festivities.
All of us at Immigration Equality are honored, and proud, to be receiving this award, and will be on-hand for Saturday’s evening’s ceremony.
This year’s event, titled A Night in Venice, features live and silent auctions, dinner, live entertainment from members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, a presentation to 2010 Harmony Award Honorees, and is followed by an after-party Carnevale and dessert, reflecting this year’s Venetian theme.
The GMCW Harmony Award recognizes individuals and organizations that exemplify the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s mission to “affirm the place of gay people in society.” Previous recipients have included Hon. Adrian M. Fenty, Mayor, District of Columbia; The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit , GLBT community activists Peter D. Rosenstein and Frank Kameny; the Washington, DC, Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); The Mautner Project, the National Lesbian Health Organization; Food & Friends; Councilmember David Catania; and the international law firm of Holland & Knight.
Other honorees for the evening include John Berry, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Deacon Maccubbin and Jim Bennett, founders of Washington’s legendary Lambda Rising bookstore; and Jeff Buhrman, artistic director of the Gay Men’s Chorus.
Tickets for A Night in Venice are still available, and can be purchased at the GMCW website.
Safe Haven Awards: Announcing our 2010 Honorees!
By Rachel Tiven on 05/12/2010 @ 05:03 PM
Invitations to the Safe Haven Awards are arriving this week. If you haven’t done so already, please mark your calendars for Tuesday June 8th, and buy your tickets today!
Author Elizabeth GilbertWe’re especially excited to be joined by this year’s headliner: New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert (pictured), whose book Eat, Pray, Love is currently being turned into a film starring Julia Roberts. Her new book Committed chronicles her experience as the American half of a binational couple.
This year’s event promises to be our best ever! Last year, more than 400 attendees raised nearly $200,000. In the same year, Immigration Equality’s hotline answered more than 1,700 inquiries and won a record 76 asylum cases for LGBT people fleeing violence and persecution in their home country.
This year’s awards will honor five pro bono firms for their outstanding service to LGBT immigrants and their families. Our Safe Haven Awards honorees include:
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP, which stood out for the high volume of cases it took on – and started winning! – in its very first year in Immigration Equality’s pro bono program. Kirkland formalized its LGBT Asylum Project as a firmwide program in partnership with Immigration Equality in 2009, taking on seven different cases and providing more than $750,000 in pro bono services last year alone.
- Paul Weiss, which has continued its record of excellence since 2004, when it accepted its first case for a gay, HIV-positive Jamaican man. The firm currently has six more challenging cases pending, in addition to significant wins for Immigration Equality clients in 2007 and 2008.
- Linklaters, which joined Immigration Equality’s pro bono program one year ago and took on — and won — six cases, including asylum for a gay man from Uzbekistan and two gay men from Trinidad who all had challenging one-year filing deadline issues. The firm also won asylum for a gay man from Jamaica, a gay man from Paraguay and a lesbian from Botswana.
- Ropes & Gray, which won asylum for ten Immigration Equality clients in 2009 — more than any other firm. Their victories included asylum for a lesbian from India, a gay HIV-positive Jamaican and his son, a gay HIV-positive Ghanaian in proceedings, a gay Ukrainian, and a gay man from Dominica.
We will also be honoring Fragomen with our “Defender of Freedom Award,” for devoting hundreds of hours to tireless legislative research and analysis in support of Immigration Equality’s advocacy for binational families.
All of these champions have literally made all the difference in the world for the Immigration Equality clients they have represented. I hope you’ll join me in saluting them on June 8th.
Invitations to the Safe Haven Awards should be in mailboxes soon. If you didn’t receive one, you can RSVP, reserving your spot for this year’s event, by purchasing your tickets online. Just click here to buy tickets, or join our host committee.
Your generous support will be put to immediate use in our work to end discrimination against LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants and their families.
To reserve your spot for this incredible evening, please visit us online today. I look forward to seeing you in New York on June 8th.
This Saturday: Immigration Reform Rallies From Coast-to-Coast
By Steve Ralls on 04/28/2010 @ 08:34 PM
This Saturday, in cities and towns across the country, immigration rights supporters will march, rally and call on Congress to pass fair and humane comprehensive immigration reform. All of us at Immigration Equality urge our supporters to join our allies and bring a visible, supportive LGBT presence to this weekend’s activities.
From New York and Washington, to Phoenix and Los Angeles, these marches will send a strong, clear message that we support comprehensive reform for all families . . . and stand against divisive tactics and laws that tear our loved ones apart and endanger their safety.
To find a march near you, click here. Then, show up on Saturday with an Immigration Equality shirt (if you have one), or a rainbow flag, and stand in solidarity with those who are working to fix our broken immigration system.
For more information, visit Reform Immigration for America online.
New York City Council Calls for LGBT-Inclusive CIR
By Rachel Tiven on 04/27/2010 @ 09:09 AM
I was proud to testify on Monday morning in front of the New York City Council’s Immigration Committee. The Committee had proposed a resolution calling on Congress – and in particular New York’s own senior Senator, Chuck Schumer – to move forward with Comprehensive Immigration Reform that includes all families.
I described the consequences of immigration discrimination faced by tens of thousands of LGBT families – including at least 5,000 New York couples. The Committee heard from many other excellent immigration advocates, including: NYC’s Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, Fatima Shama; NYCLU’s Udi Ofer; Nerissa Kunakemakorn of Opportunity Agenda; Afton Branch from Drum Major Insitute; plus other wonderful colleagues from Make the Road New York, the New York LGBT Center, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, and longtime gay activist Brendan Fay, among others.
The Committee approved the resolution, which goes to the full City Council on Wednesday.
Immigration Equality Calls on Congress to Pass ENDA
By Steve Ralls on 04/22/2010 @ 09:15 AM
Graphic courtesy of Advocate.com.
Immigration Equality joined more than 200 allied organizations yesterday in calling on Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The nation’s leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations, along with allies in the faith, labor and civil rights communities, issued the following statement to members of the United States Congress:
“Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act NOW.”
Hearings on ENDA were heard in the House Education and Labor Committee on September 23, 2009 and in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on November 5, 2009. Stuart Ishimaru, of the Equal Employment Opportunity Council, testified in support of ENDA at the House hearing, and Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division testified in favor of ENDA at the Senate committee hearing, both on behalf of the Obama administration, indicating the president’s full support for the measure. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said last week that the House is likely to consider the bill this year. To date, however, no vote has been scheduled.
Immigration Equality is proud to join with our allies in calling on leaders to pass ENDA now and end employment discrimination against LGBT people.
For more information, visit endaNOW online.
Tell Arizona’s Governor: Veto SB 1070
By Steve Ralls on 04/19/2010 @ 06:46 PM
We’re passing along this alert from our allies at Restore Fairness. Please take action today, and urge Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to veto the heinous anti-immigrant law passed her state’s legislature.
Today is the last day to put pressure on Arizona Governor Brewer to veto SB 1070, Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation that will have chilling repercussions if signed into law.
SB 1070 dramatically expands police powers to stop, question and detain individuals for not having proper identification, practically mandating racial profiling and creating panic and fear amongst vulnerable communities. No one, including U.S. citizens, will be spared from arbitrary stops and detentions on the suspicion of being undocumented.
SB 1070 is an affront to our civil liberties. Its effects will be palpable across the United States as other states begin to follow in Arizona’s footsteps. We must take a stand against this injustice. Because when we deny fairness to any one group of people, we put all of our rights at risk.
Standing on the Side of Love
By Steve Ralls on 04/14/2010 @ 03:08 PM
Immigration Equality’s D.C. staff joined our allies with the Standing on the Side of Love campaign today on Capitol Hill as they delivered 15,000 postcards in support of LGBT equality and humane immigration reform. Thank you to everyone who joined us, especially Erwin de Leon (pictured), who shared his story of being in a binational relationship, but being unable to obtain a green card despite recently marrying his partner of 11 years in Washington, D.C.
Dozens of faith leaders, immigration and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) activists gathered on the U.S. Capitol grounds today to deliver a message to Congress – Americans Stand on the Side of Love.
“We are bringing words of compassion and love to Capitol Hill, not homophobic and racist slurs,” said Adam Gerhardstein, campaign manager for the Standing on the Side of Love (SSL) campaign, referring to the treatment that some members of congress faced on Capitol Hill prior to the district work period.
During that period, the SSL campaign gathered 10,000 signatures on a petition for full equality for GLBT people and an additional 5,000 signatures supporting immigration reform. Those signatures were delivered to Congress this morning, and the unique gathering held large blue signs stapled with the immigration postcards to spell out, “WE STAND ON THE SIDE OF LOVE.” With one letter per sheet, the message stretched 50 feet.
“We are delivering petitions and postcards to lift up the importance of love for each other,” Gerhardstein said. “We will not allow extreme voices and acts of violence to overshadow the needs of the Americans who are most vulnerable and urgently need the protection of the law.”
This event brought together two issues that are not clearly related, but often intersect: immigration and equality for GLBT people. The SSL campaign works on both issues and many others – standing with anyone who faces exclusion, oppression, or violence because of who they are and lifting them up with the power of love. There are unique challenges faced at the intersection of identities, but those challenges can be overcome by love and respect.
“Unlike straight married couples, John could not sponsor me for legal permanent residency because we happen to be gay,” said Erwin De Leon, the immigrant half of a local bi-national couple who spoke about his experience during the event. “I need Congress to stand on the side of love with my family by passing comprehensive immigration reform and provide equality under the law for GLBT people.”
The SSL campaign is working to ensure that people like Erwin and his husband are taken into account and their concerns are addressed by Members of Congress. John Crestwell, Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis and Campaign Spokesperson, summed up the sentiments of those gathered, “We stand on the side of love with our neighbors who are shut out, dehumanized, or attacked just because of who they are,” said Crestwell. “No one is ‘okay to hate.’ We are all God’s children and all have inherent worth and dignity.”
Standing on the Side of Love is a campaign sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association and promotes respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. We believe that no person of any immigrant status, race, religion, gender and sexual orientation, ability level, or political view should be dehumanized through acts of exclusion, oppression, or violence.
Two More Cities Pass Resolutions for UAFA
By Connie Utada on 04/07/2010 @ 11:21 AM
As we progress into Spring, the momentum for Comprehensive Immigration Reform continues to grow. Both cities of Minneapolis, MN and Cambridge, MA recently passed resolutions proclaiming their support for the passage of the Uniting American Families Act. Immigration Equality supporter Debbie Ellis testified at the city council hearing in support of the Cambridge resolution. Thank you, Debbie!
Big thanks to the amazing work of the grassroots who reached out to their city councils and made this happen! It is their passionate commitment to UAFA that has led to these cities passing resolutions.
Please reach out to your local city councils if you would like to pass a resolution.
Cyndi Lauper Gives A Damn. Do You?
By Steve Ralls on 04/01/2010 @ 10:20 AM
Earlier today, Cyndi Lauper and her True Colors Fund launched an innovative new online campaign that includes information, tools and videos about why we should all “give a damn” about LGBT equality . . . including equality for binational families.
The Give a Damn Campaign is focused on getting everyone – and especially straight allies – to take part in advancing LGBT equality. Immigration Equality is proud to be partnering with Cyndi and the Give a Damn Campaign to educate the public about LGBT immigrant families, and provide an all-new set of tools to for our grassroots supporters to use.
“In my life, I’ve crossed paths with many different people, and I’ve seen firsthand what it means to be discriminated against,” Cyndi, who is also currently appearing as a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC, said earlier today. “I’ve come to realize equality means a lot to people who don’t have it and that, as a straight person, I have a responsibility to stand up for gay and transgender people each and every day.”
To kick things off, the Give a Damn site already includes news and information on LGBT immigration issues, as well as stories from Immigration Equality spokesfamilies about why they need visitors to “give a damn” about passing LGBT-inclusive immigration reform. In the coming days and months, more content will be added, and we will be working with Cyndi and the Give a Damn team to highlight the stories of our families, and to build new campaigns to end discrimination against LGBT immigrants and their families.
The Give a Damn Campaign has also released a series of videos – featuring people like Cyndi Lauper, Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Mraz, Cynthia Nixon, Anna Paquin, Wanda Sykes, Kim Kardashian and Sharon & Kelly Osburn – about why they all “give a damn” about equality. And keep checking back for new videos specifically about LGBT immigration . . . coming soon!
“We all have to get involved,” Cyndi said. “We all have to give a damn.”
If you give a damn, click here, and get started now.
Gutierrez Calls for LGBT-Inclusive Immigration Reform
Posted on 05/21/2009 @ 10:19 AM
In an interview published today in The Chicago Tribune, Congressman Luis Gutierrez (pictured) – a key Congressional leader on immigration issues – says he supports including LGBT binational families in comprehensive immigration reform.
“The underlying part of any comprehensive immigration bill is family unity,” Gutierrez said in an interview with the Tribune. “We need to speak more clearly and more articulately and more frequently that the (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, and same-sex couples and their binational relationships, are part of families.”
“We need to build bridges between the LGBT community and the larger immigrant community,” Gutierrez said. “In the end, the bigger the tent we build, the more successful we’ll be.”
“The congressman has planned a meeting with immigrant and LGBT community leaders at noon Monday at the Center on Halsted in Chicago,” the paper notes. “He will be joined by U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley of Chicago and Jared Polis of Colorado, both Democrats.”
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