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I had the great pleasure this past month working with Out4 Immigration in developing their Grassroots Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) Campaign, manifesting in a comprehensive and invaluable Action Kit. ...
Both the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Bar Association (ABA) have adopted resolutions backing GLBT rights, including the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Without naming the legislation, the NEA voiced its support for repeal of DOMA, passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill currently before Congress that would ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, a bill that would extend health-care and retirement benefits to the gay and lesbian spouses of federal employees, and the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), a bill that would allow gay and lesbian Americans to sponsor an immigrant partner for citizenship.
Today President Obama confirmed some of my fears in so far as they relate to Uniting American Families Act - UAFA and comprehensive immigration reform (CIR).

“I’ve got a lot on my plate and it’s very important for us to sequence these big initiatives so they don’t crash at the same time,” Obama said when asked by a reporter about the prospects for immigration reform.”

I am calling on Immigration Equality to re strategize and change their course back to the original focus. The focus on UAFA, what it represents to binationals currently in exile or in hiding, its use to raise funds for IE has veered off ...
Risking irrelevance in the face of brave grassroots movement such as the Dallas Principles , HRC has finally come around. They just announced the launch of the "No Excuses" campaign, urging members to meet with lawmakers in their districts to push pro-LGBT legislations.

The agenda didn't mention UAFA by name but it's No. 4 on the list. HRC has always been vocal in their support of the legislation, so it's not surprising. "End the painful separation of families by recognizing permanent same-sex couples under immigration laws."...

The in-district meetings will focus on key legislative priorities in the 111th Congress including:

--Passing immigration reform that recognizes permanent same-sex couples and ends the painful separation of binational families;
The ‘UAFA Waiting List’ is one no one wants to be on – it is one that keeps binational exiles abroad, others in hiding, and inter alia some fifty year olds pleading to stop time so that they are not sixty by the time they get to cohabit with their spouses/partners.

This year a synchronicity of events and increased sponsorship of UAFA gives us hope that maybe we can gain more support in this Congress in a push for passage of the Uniting American Families Act. We are urging fast and prompt action ...

Binational couples need your help. Unlike other unfortunate discriminatory practices against our community, here in the US and abroad, this is the one that either keeps partners apart or forces them to choose between heart and home....
Of course in this day and age, marriage between two people of the same sex or gender isn't just a matter of love, like it or not it's a matter of politics. The Dutch parliamentarian Boris Dittrich, who in 1994 introduced the Netherlands' first gay marriage bill and now is an advocacy director at New York's Human Rights Watch, was on hand for the festivities and kept the light of reality shining. "We want to show to the American public that gay couples cannot get immigration, cannot get equal rights like heterosexual couples can" Dittrich said. Uniteing American Families Act, anyone?

Although these newleyweds' civil marriages won't be recognized by the US federal government or most state governments, they will be recognized by New York state thanks to Governor David Patterson's executive order of May 14, 2008. Marriage equality legislation already passed in the New York
As the movement towards the eventual repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) continues, it appears that proponents of repeal may score a minor victory by enlisting Senator Russ Feingold to introduce repeal legislation.

The Washington Blade reports,“[Senator] Feingold is an attractive ally to introduce a DOMA repeal bill because he chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution Subcommittee, which hold jurisdiction over DOMA, she said.”

Concurrently, it would appear that Jerry Nadler, Democratic Member of the House of Representatives, is preparing to introduce a bill to repeal DOMA. Under the provisions of the DOMA repeal currently being considered, states would not be forced to recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states, but the Federal government would be required to recognize these marriages and provide federal benefits.

Je
After urging their members to talk to their lawmakers about the LGBT agenda (DOMA Repeal chief among them) during the August Recess, HRC has followed with a survey intended to show congress the damage DOMA is doing to LGBT families.

Like many others in the community, I have always been skeptical of HRC in their ability and willingness to speak for the grassroots. But if this time they truly put their weight behind the DOMA repeal, I'm more than willing to open my wallet and donate money. Joe Solomonese can have as many galas as he likes if my family can enjoy some real rights.
Every week, a coordinated grassroots effort takes place to contact specific
members of Congress to urge them to co-sponsor the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA).
Please take part in these efforts to help pass UAFA!

If anyone has any questions about this, please let me know.

We write to 5 members of Congress and their staffers each week. We are encouraged in knowing that
several of the members of Congress we have contacted signed on as co-sponsors soon after we wrote to them.

This week we will be contacting:
At last there is a real chance for immigration reform that includes same sex couples. THERE’S A BATTLE looming for LGBT families that we can win now — a battle to keep lesbians and gays from literally being torn from our same-sex partners. Discriminatory immigration laws are causing LGBT families needless suffering.

CONGRESS AND THE White House are committed to moving forward with comprehensive immigration reform. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), chair of the subcommittee charged with overseeing immigration, recently said that he will have a bill ready for consideration by Labor Day. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised, once the Senate votes on its version, to bring a similar measure to a vote in her chamber, too.?

Including our families in comprehensive immigration reform, if successful, will not only be a watershed moment for couples impacted directly by discriminatory immigra
Today the Human Rights Campaign launched a national, grassroots campaign called “No Excuses” to demand ... Pass immigration reform that...

“While we salute and acknowledge the heroic members of Congress who have worked tirelessly on our behalf, far too many have dragged their feet on basic matters of fairness and equality that have lingered too long and hurt too many LGBT people and their families. Yes, there are many challenges facing this Congress and this President. But LGBT people often face additional hardship protecting their families, their loved ones and their jobs, and too few in Congress are willing to champion these issues of basic fairness. Now, more than ever, members of the LGBT community need to make their voices heard face-to-face and in the districts where they live.”
HRC today launched a national, grassroots campaign called “No Excuses” to demand action from Congress on key issues of equality. Designed to take advantage of the Congressional summer recess when members are in their local offices and meeting with constituents, “No Excuses” will mobilize HRC's 750,000 members and their allies to meet directly with lawmakers and push for federal legislative change.

Pass immigration reform that recognizes permanent same-sex couples and ends the painful separation of families;
Tonight we looked at proposed immigration reform to remedy discrimination against same-sex couples. Pamela Hathaway, a longtime Madison resident who is married to Frenchwoman Lucie Ferrari, talked about navigating the U.S. and Canadian immigration systems in an effort to live in the same country as her wife, Lucie Ferrari. And we chatted with Julie Kruse of Immigration Equality about prospects for the Uniting American Families Act, which would enable Americans to sponsor a same-sex spouse or partner for immigration.

Kruse said that Wisconsin senators can play a pivotal role in moving the Uniting American Families Act, since both serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Russ Feingold has co-sponsored the act, and Kruse asked listeners to contact him to thank him and ask him to become a "champion" of the legislation. Senator Herb Kohl has not co-sponsored the legislat
A report issued in 2006 by two nongovernmental organizations, Human Rights Watch and Immigration Equality, describes the written response made in 1975 by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to an American citizen's petition to sponsor a foreign same-sex partner for legal residency in the United States. The INS denied the petition for the following reason: "You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots." Except perhaps in the explicitness of language, federal policy toward same-sex binational couples has changed little since then. On June 3 of this year, Congress held its first-ever hearing on the plight of such couples and brought attention to the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), sponsored in the Senate by Patrick Leahy and in the House by Jerrold Nadler (and subsequently folded into a larger immigration reform bill). Introd

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Promoting public awareness of the need for fairness in immigration policy particularly as it relates to the rights of same-sex bi-national couples in the United States who seek equal immigration rights; Providing information regarding political issues relating to gay immigration equality issues, rights and policy.