Register | Login

Search results for marriage, advances, hampshire, state, house, san, francisco, bay, times

Fundamental change usually proceeds from the bottom up, which is why it often blindsides most politicians and much of the media.For example, the "tea party"-style rage that is this election cycle's defining characteristic grows out of a broad, if inchoate, sense that the American economy no longer apportions prosperity or opportunity in anything close to an equitable fashion. As David Cay Johnston reported Monday, last year the 74 highest-paid Americans each earned an average of $519 million annually — or about $10 million a week. That was up from $92 million the year before. At the same time, every measure of ordinary Americans' pay — total, average and median — fell from the previous year. Adjusted for inflation, median pay was actually less than it was 10 years ago.Marriage equality is another question on which change is pushing up from the grass roots, with polls showing that increa
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
In this week’s print edition, Gay City News laid out its endorsements in November 2 races for state offices in New York, some of which remain competitive, especially for the State Senate.At the federal level, the major risk facing the LGBT community is the potential for Democrats losing control of the House of Representatives. Though Democrats are also expected to see their 59-41 edge in the Senate whittled considerably, the party is widely expected to hold on there.Loss of the House or of both chambers would deal a devastating blow to efforts to move forward on significant gay political goals — most prominent among them:repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (should the Senate fail to complete action in the lame duck session);passage of a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act;enactment of immigration reform that includes the right of same-sex binational couples to have a for
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."
You're from the United States. You fall in love with a foreign national. Straight couples have legal recourse in this situation: get married and sponsor your spouse for citizenship.

Gay couples in this situation have no legal recourse, an issue that SF Weekly recently highlighted with the stories of several same-sex couples who were separated by US immigration law, or had one partner living in the United States illegally.

Because the federal Defense of Marriage Act prohibits legal recognition of same-sex relationships, couples married in California, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont can't sponsor their spouses for citizenship either.

Democrats in the Senate have included a provision for same-sex couples in their immigration reform proposal released April 29, which will give them the same immigration rights as straight cou
Just a few weeks ago, the likelihood of Congress and the White House tackling comprehensive immigration reform seemed to be in question. Following the defeat of a Democratic candidate in the Massachusetts Senate election, and growing doubts about a successful healthcare reform effort in both chambers, the prospects for a truly comprehensive reform effort that would fix our country's broken immigration system was called into question by many.
Now, however, there is renewed energy and focus on the issue. And that, in turn, must be a wake-up call, and a rallying cry, for the LGBT community, too.
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.
What the bill does not include is language for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families.
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
Immigrant rights and LGBT activists have expressed dismay as a major immigration-reform bill introduced into the U.S. Congress by Rep. Luis Gutierrez failed to include key provisions they had sought.
Chief among these was an allowance for LGBT people to sponsor their same-sex partners for immigration—which would, at least in this regard, put gay couples legally on par with heterosexual married couples.
Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (and formerly that committee’s Republican Chairman), has signed on as a cosponsor of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA).

At last June’s Senate Judiciary Committee UAFA hearing, Specter expressed strong support for ending discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans and their families in immigration law. Immigration Equality applauds Senator Specter for his support for LGBT binational families.

Eight of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s twelve Democrats are now cosponsors of UAFA. A ninth, Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware, recently publicly stated his support for equal immigration rights for LGBT families
When it comes to immigration rights, detail the rampant fraud associated with religious workers visas and point out that there is no threat from same sex binational couples. With the LDS Church, point out their racist past and point out ...

At rallies today in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Fresno marking the somber first anniversary of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, organizers will announce the launch of the first major fundraising campaign to place a marriage equality initiative on the California ballot in November 2010.

Organized by Yes! on Equality and TruthandHope.org, in collaboration with Restore Equality 2010, the goal of the “Million for a Million” campaign is to raise the $1 million necessary to fund getting the more than one million signatures needed to place a marriage equality initiative on the ballot.

Undaunt
Gutierrez is a staunch champion of both LGBT issues and immigrant families, and legislation under his stewardship that is LGBT-inclusive will be instrumental in ensuring that our families are not forgotten. In short, his bill can be instrumental in putting Congress on notice that lawmakers who care about LGBT immigrant families will not allow those families to remain vulnerable and excluded from immigration reform efforts. Families in his district, and around the country, are counting on his continued leadership to end the discriminatory immigration laws that force them apart.
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.

Username:

Password:

Remember:

Follow on Twitter
Feedburner

Subscribe with Bloglines

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.