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This isn't the historic announcement that many are hoping for, but it is a sign that when it comes to the issue of marriage equality, President Obama might be shifting his political position.Perhaps this doesn't come as a surprise, especially for those who always thought that President Obama's opposition to gay marriage was rooted more in politics than principle. Indeed, in the late 1990s, President Obama (then a candidate for the Illinois State Legislature) indicated that he supported the righ
A new poll released by the University of Washington shows a surge in support for marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.

We need to make sure that voters in Washington understand that until Washington State issues marriage licenses to its gay and lesbian citizens we will not be able to make progress towards these important federal protections such as social security, immigration rights, and equal treatment under the IRS tax code."
The press has made much of how evangelicals -- remember, those people who only care about abortion and same sex marriage! -- are embracing a bigger agenda and breaking ranks with Republicans by endorsing comprehensive immigration reform.

But as I reported on Monday, that support comes with a caveat: no equality for gay and lesbian couples.

Now religious groups who support LGBT equality have pushed back, issuing a statement through the group Immigration Equality Action Fund condemning evangelical efforts to exclude the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) from a comprehensive reform package.

On January 28, 2009, there was a knock on Shirley Tan's door. The mother of two, originally from The Philippines, was starting her morning as usual.
California Democratic representative Maxine Waters, a member of the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on immigration, has cosponsored legislation that would provide immigration rights to binational gay couples and their families.

Waters’s support comes at a crucial time for LGBT immigration reform. Last week 60 Congress members issued a letter to President Barack Obama and congressional leaders urging passage of the legislation, originally introduced in the House by New York representative Jerrold Nadler and in the Senate by Vermont’s Patrick Leahy.
On Friday, the Federal District (as Mexico City is referred to in Mexico) also announced that an Italian national - Mirko Mazardo - and his Mexican partner - Rodrigo Cervantes - were granted the right to marry through the country's immigration office. Mazardo and Cervantes had been living together in Italy for more than 10 years. It's not clear, from the CNN article, if this means that bi-national same-sex partners who decide to marry in Mexico City will be granted immigration rights.
There are six Congressional Hispanic Caucus Members who are also members of the Equality Caucus that have cosponsored both DOMA repeal and the Uniting American Families Act. Among those Congressional Hispanic Caucus Members, ..Over the weekend we learned that Congressman Gutierrez’s comprehensive immigration bill would not include LGBT families after much efforts from leading national LGBT organizations. The Roll Call article claims the pushback came from “Hispanic leaders more focused on keeping religious leaders on board with the plan.”

Now we are told we must wait until an amendment is made to the bill (remember when we were told to wait until the end of the year for ENDA?) when it comes before the Judiciary Committee in February of next year, a move supported by Equality Caucus Chair Rep. Polis (D-CO-2).
Immigration Equality, a non-profit advocacy and legal aid organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and HIV-positive immigrants and their families, announced today that it has established a “501(c)4” entity, the Immigration Equality Action Fund, to significantly increase its federal advocacy and grassroots organizing work. The Action Fund’s launch also includes an expanded office in Washington, D.C., where a new policy staffer and an online grassroots organizer will soon join the organization.

“The launch of the Immigration Equality Action Fund comes at a critical moment in our work to advocate on behalf of LGBT immigrant families,” said Rachel B. Tiven, the organization’s executive director. “As Congress turns its attention to comprehensive immigration reform, and as a record number of lawmakers signal their support for the Uniting American Families A
In all the LGBT community dialogue in which I participate and observe, immigration reform is never one of the "big" issues at the federal level. Usually those most talked about include hate crimes, ENDA, DOMA, DADT, and HIV/AIDS policy.
Why is that? I think it's because with the exception of HIV/AIDS, all of those policies specifically discriminate against LGBT people. Federal employment non-discrimination laws, for example, protect lots of categories of people- race, religion, sex, and so forth. Sexual orientation and gender identity are specifically excluded, so this is an "LGBT" issue.

Contrast that with immigration reform. After the Uniting American Families Act provision wasn't included in the bill as introduced (which would allow same-sex binational couples to have the same access to immigration benefits that heterosexual couples do), I can't tell you how many p
Going along to get along is not working anymore. Why should LGBT activists be there for immigration folks if they aren't there for us? Big surprise. Just like ENDA in 2007, we are expected to press on while others are left behind. This bill is now worthless for LGBT people.

I asked Rachel about the lack of the UAFA provision, and she said: Immigration Equality is continuing to push hard to make sure all families...I wrote the other night about the Gutierrez immigration reform bill leaving out a major provision for LGBT bi-national couples to have the same access to sponsorship. Currently, if one member of an opposite-sex bi-national couple is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and the other is foreign-born, the U.S. citizen or permanent resident can sponsor the foreign-born individual for immigration benefits. Same-sex bi-national couples do not have this option. The Unit
History will judge Barack Obama over the long haul. But we've learned something in the short term that is simple, obvious, and has less to do with him than with the Founding Fathers. This is a country that often has transformational ambitions but is saddled with an incremental system, a nation built on revolution, then engineered so the revolutionary can rarely take hold.

Checks and balances: that's how we learn about it in social-studies class, and in theory it is meant to guard against a despotic executive, a wild-eyed legislature, an overweening judiciary. And it's also meant to safeguard the rights of the individual; as James Madison, president and father of the Constitution, once said, "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." But what ou
Opinions on issues regarding the LGBT community: Marriage Equality, Don't Ask Don't Tell DADT, Defense Of Marriage Act DOMA, Respect For Marriage Act, and LGBT Immigration issues and the Uniting American Families Act UAFA ...

How can we have any dignity, honor or pride in ourselves if we validate this continued process of ballot box terrorism? How can we stand tall next to each other if we explain away another's cowardliness? How can we allow people to dehumanize our relationships and our very integrity if we give people passes to sit out the battle for our very freedom? No longer are political timelines a reason for delay, no longer are incremental approaches acceptable and no longer can the political process expect us to be patient and wait our turn. Our turn came long ago and there will be no more waiting....
The State of Maine’s rejection of marriage equality at the ballot box yesterday is being heeded as a call for federal LGBT rights by activists and organizations around the US, including Out4Immigration.

The Maine vote was 53% in support of taking away civil marriage rights granted to gays and lesbians by approval of the state legislature and signed into law by the state’s governor 6 months ago. 47% of voters supported marriage equality. “Subjecting minority rights to majority vote repeatedly denies equality to LGBT families,” said Mickey Lim, vice president and co-founder of Out4Immigration, a grassroots organization that works closely with same-sex marriage groups for recognition of same-sex binational couple rights tied to federal immigration policies.

Out4Immigation advocates for same-sex binational couples, relationships in which one partner is American and
The 'so-called' Defense of Marriage Act? That 'so-called' is the sound of contempt toward the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim understanding of marriage.
On Sunday, October 11, I plan to March for Equality.
It will be an historic day -- the day that divides the past from the future. Going forward there will be, "Before the March" and "After the March."

Before the March, nobody thought that tens of thousands of people would march for marriage equality. But it is happening. Thousands of people, lesbian, gay, straight, transgender, and bisexual; red, yellow, black, white and brown; old and young, male and female; Democratic, Republican, and Independent; union and management; and from the North, the South, the East and the West, will be there. After the March, no one will think that ever again.

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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.