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by Kathy DraskyThe story in this video was first brought to our attention last week on Facebook. It is a story not unlike so many of ours. Josh, an American, married Henry, who is from Venezuela, in a state that recognizes gay marriages (Connecticut) last year. We all know the drill - if Josh was "Jane", he would have been able to petition the federal government to sponsor his husband for a green card. While there may be a waiting period and even an "investigation", the couple would not be looking down the barrel of being forced apart, and would most likely end up living happily ever after in the US.But Josh is a man and so is Henry, and as another Congressional session comes to a close with more co-sponsors of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) than ever before, but still no debate, much less a floor vote and our secure inclusion in Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) as "iffy
by Mark GerardyBack on election day 2008, it was a great day - a Democrat president after an eight-year hiatus, a Democrat-majority in the House and Senate, many Democrat governors, almost everything was perfect - except California's anti-gay Proposition 8 narrowly passed.Wouldn't it be nice to be able to get everything that you want in one full-swoop?Some elections, it has been good just to get anything that you want. Any victory, anywhere. Rarely, if ever, does anyone get every single thing that they want, either for Christmas or on Election Day. It's life.Election Day 2010 probably will not be as good as 2008, and there will be fewer presents. I am fairly certain that despite my best efforts, unfortunately one of the Colorado Senate seats will go to openly-homophobic Republican Ken Buck. Between that and less Democrats in the Senate and House, things are not going to look very good f
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
THE LGBTQ community is on the MARCH again on SUNDAY, March 21st — in Washington, D.C. Lincoln Memorial 1 p.m.

This time for LGBT Immigration Domestic Partnership Rights and Immigration Reform!!!

Please join the Parade in D.C. (see below) or by bus from NYC:
On Sunday, March 21st, thousands will march in Washington for March for America, to call on Congress for comprehensive immigration reform. Please join NCLR and Immigration Equality and send a message that comprehensive reform must include LGBT families too!

Current immigration policy unfairly discriminates against LGBT binational couples by not allowing U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to sponsor foreign-born partners for immigration. We must call on Congress for the swift passage of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), proposed legislation that would provide LGBT couples with the same immigration benefits as different-sex couples.
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
Congratulations to Shirley Tan and Jay Mercado and the boys and Mommy. Shirley was named ADVOCATE MAGAZINE ’s Activist of the Year for 2009. This is well deserved. However they may have been used in a way that could result in resentment from the community rather than the applause they deserve: Here are the comments from Immigration Equality’s (IE) BLOG site where IE makes the announcement: Quoting the Announcement by IE on their BLOG:
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
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
Congress has promised to begin the process of reforming America's broken immigration system later this year. There is widespread consensus that reform is urgently needed, and a growing insistence among lawmakers that any reform effort must adhere to our nation's long-standing commitment to family unification. Under current immigration law, millions of families remain separated because of inexcusable visa backlogs, unnecessary bureaucratic paper trails and discriminatory policies that do not recognize lesbian and gay families for the purposes of equal immigration rights.

For all of those families, time is of the essence. Every day, loved ones are forcibly separated from each other. For too many, the American dream is one that cannot yet be shared with their spouse, sibling or significant other.

As Congress begins to debate immigration reform, all of our families
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.
You might even call their activism a lifestyle, rather than something likely innate, such as sexual orientation. Bailes has chosen to be an activist.

"We're also going to see our representative, Mike Thompson," Bailes adds of their D.C. trip. "We're going to speak with him about why he hasn't come onboard with marriage equality and immigration equality. He's usually onboard, so I wanted to speak to him and find out why."
If I take it on, and it will be at no charge, will you be willing to stand up for UAFA? ”Jay did not think for even a moment when she responded, “Melanie, if we can keep Shirl here we will do anything for UAFA.” ... This adventure to D.C., now their second was sponsored by Immigration Equality. Who would have thought where that one call by Molly would lead. It just goes to show what going that extra mile can do. So well done Tan Mercado family you have been true to your ...
Many things have been written on whether one should march or not march Oct. 11 in Washington, D.C. Let me make it easy for you.

Are you really happy with the progress we have made over the last eight months with this Administration and Congress? Are you really happy with the progress we have made on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ) ? Do you think that the leaders of our political parties have embraced marriage equality and our God given rights, benefits and protections that come with it? Are you content, relaxed and happy with where we are at this moment in history in the struggle for freedom?
Ahonen-Jover, 52, and Bare, 46, agreed that the first year of President Barack Obama's administration provides an opportunity for movement on LGBT-related legislation such as repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," reforming immigration policies to include binational couples, and access to health care without discrimination.

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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.