Last night, many of us watched the Senate Judiciary hearings on immigration reform with a heavy heart ...
Sen.
Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was forced to withhold critical amendments that
would have added protections for same-sex binational couples due to lack
of support from his own party.
We
needed all the Democrats on the committee to support these amendments.
Unfortunately, Senators Schumer, Feinstein, Durbin and Franken sided
with eight Republicans to ensure that the immigration bill moving
forward is not inclusive, is not comprehensive and will discriminate
against legally married gay and lesbian Americans with foreign spouses.
The
Democrats who sided with the Republicans - Schumer, Feinstein, Durbin
and Franken have betrayed the very LGBT constituencies who have
supported them throughout their political careers. It is questionable
whether any of them would be in power today without our votes. Each of
these leaders talks about marriage equality and ending discrimination
against gay and lesbian Americans, but last night, when they had the
chance to show they meant what they said, they failed the LGBT community
and all Americans who believe in equality and fairness.
We
thank Senator Leahy for his courage in this uphill battle against
bigotry and politicians like the Senators named above, along with
Senators Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Jeff Flake and John McCain, who
insisted that the inclusion of mere 36,000 people would derail a bill
that offers so much hope to more than 11 million.
Please take a minute to thank Senator Leahy for being a true hero and for having the courage of his convictions.
Call or tweet him today at 202-224-4242; Twitter: @SenatorLeahy
We
also thank our allies in the LGBT, faith and immigrant rights'
communities who have stood with us over the years, and especially during
this fight for our inclusion in the bill. We could not have brought our
issue so far, so fast without your help.
The question, of course, on all our minds is - what next?
We
are heartened, empowered and emboldened by these images that
collectively sum up our work over the years - and we will continue to
look to them for strength in the coming weeks.
Just
last week, a small army of our volunteers here in the San Francisco Bay
Area came to San Francisco City Hall to tell their stories of how
immigration discrimination and marriage inequality has impacted their
lives. We then rushed downtown to Senator Feinstein's office to hand
deliver a petition with more than 6,000 signatures urging her to support
the Leahy amendments.
“Never
doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever
has.” – Margaret Mead
Since the beginning of Out4Immigration, we
have urged couples to tell their stories. We have collected hundreds of stories
over the years. In the last few weeks we have been circulating these 24 stories
we
have collected since President Obama promised us in Las Vegas in January
that
we would be part of immigration reform. Each story we collect has a
photo. For every image there is another harrowing tale of
discrimination, denial, financial
hardship, career loss, separation, exile and decisions no American
should have
to make. And, yet each story is filled the remarkable love of two people
who remain committed to one another against all odds. Each story hangs
onto what each couple has left of hope that we will soon live in a world
where equality trumps bigotry and hate.
“I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but
without it, life is not worth living."
- Harvey Milk.
Two years ago, a group of us worked with Brynn
Gelbard and the DeVote Campaign to make a video talking about the lack of
immigration rights and DOMA. This was shortly after President Obama had
declared DOMA unconstitutional, but before he had announced his support of
marriage equality. It was at a time when same-sex marriages were only legal in a handful of states and
same-sex binational couples were often told not to get married because it could
jeopardize our immigration status. While we still wait for justice, much has
happened in our favor in the past two years.
Of most significance: At the time
this video was shot, just one couple was legally married. Today – everyone you
see in this video is legally married and ready to take part in equal immigration
rights, whether they come from our legislative, executive and/or judicial
branch of government.
“The work goes on, the cause endures, the
hope still lives, and the dream shall
never die.” - Sen. Edward Kennedy.
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