Rea Carey’s “State of the Movement” Address at Creating Change Talks Immigration Reform, Too

by Kathy Drasky

Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force delivered the “State of the Movement” address to a standing-room only crowd at Creating Change here in Dallas yesterday. She wasted no time calling out the “fierce advocate” for LGBT rights in the White House and said, “It is 2010 and we have waited long enough!” Her job was to fire us up – and baby, she had us at “fierce advocate”!

Her call for LGBT immigration rights was right in the mix with all the other rights we need now – not a little bit at a time.

“Reforming our nation’s cruel and broken immigration system must be on our agenda,” she said – and identified three groups within the LGBT community who are suffering unjustly.

“The undocumented LGBT youth who know no other country, the undocumented transgender immigrant left to die in detention, and the 36,000 binational couples.

“Immigration reform is an LGBT issue,” she said, to huge applause.