NCLR Calls on You to Call on President Obama to Move Forward with the UAFA, LGBT Rights

by Kathy Drasky

Many of us have sat by quietly since the big Stonewall Day meeting at the White House with the President back on June 29. If you look at the big picture, the gesture of the President and First Lady meeting and greeting a roomful of LGBT activists from around the country was certainly significant and a testament of how far we've come. Could you imagine the Reagans doing this? Heck, even the Clintons back in the day couldn't have pulled it off.

But that was then and this is now. Sure, we understand the President has a lot on his plate, but, as Kate Kendall points out in her blog for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), "LGBT people cannot wait to be the dessert course on even the most carefully planned four or eight-year presidential menu."

The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) wasn't even relegated to the after-thought dinner mint at the powwow 2 weeks ago. I know I read the entire transcript looking for the slightest mention of LGBT immigration rights and was disappointed -- especially after our all-volunteer grassroots efforts earlier this year contributed to a Senate Judiciary Hearing on the bill. (Results of that hearing still being anxiously anticipated.)

When I talk about the UAFA with two of Out4Immigration's founders, Amos Lim and Belinda Ryan, they remind me that our job is "to push from all sides" (Amos) and "keep rattling the cage" (Belinda). This week, Kate Kendall gives us five steps to do just that -- not just for UAFA, but for the big picture: full and equal rights for all. The time has come for a full course of LGBT rights. Put down the dessert fork, and get started by clicking here.