Don't Just ASK for CHANGE - DEMAND IT!

ALERT: All same-sex binational couples and allies. We need you to take to your phones, email and social media accounts and make sure every Senator who is debating our inclusion in immigration reform be made aware that we are not asking them to consider including us. We are DEMANDING it.

Talking points:

•  Immigration reform is NOT comprehensive unless ALL families are included. That means LGBT families, specifically, same-sex binational couples.
• Including same-sex binationals in immigration reform IS NOT redefining marriage. Same-sex marriage is LEGAL in 12 states, the District of Columbia and 15 countries.
• Adding some 36,000 same-sex binationals to immigration reform WILL NOT kill the bill. What will kill this bill is hate and bigotry. 

Pick up your phones, fire up your email, stoke your social media and contact the following – not once, but as often as you can. If you are using Twitter, tag your tweets #binatlgbt

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Phone: 202-224-3841 (DC)
310-914-7300 (Los Angeles office)
415-393-0707 (San Francisco office)

Twitter: @SenFeinsetin

Additional phone numbers, email and snail mail contact: http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/

 

Key message: Sen. Feinstein insists that she is a champion for gays and lesbians. To her credit she did not vote for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and supports the repeal of that law. However, she insists that same-sex binational couples be legally married before we can be included in immigration reform. Same-sex marriage, though, is currently AGAINST the law in Sen. Feinstein’s own state! Senator Feinstein has often linked her gay rights cred to being the one who found Harvey Milk’s body after he was assassinated at San Francisco City Hall in 1978. We ask the Senator, “What would Harvey do?” for same-sex binationals if he were still alive? We think he’d be taking a leadership position – and that’s what we want Senator Feinstein to do.

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY)

Phone:  202-224-6542 (DC)
212-486-4430 (NY)
Twitter: @ChuckSchumer

Additional phone numbers, email and snail mail contact: http://www.schumer.senate.gov/

Key message: Sen. Schumer, another long-time champion for LGBT rights, is waffling on supporting our inclusion in immigration reform. In fact, he is so troubled about letting down his Republican cohorts in the Gang of 8, he claims to be LOSING SLEEP over his vote about whether or not to include us! Our message to him, via Twitter has been:  Losing sleep over gays in #CIR? @ChuckSchumer 40,000 same-sex binationals don't sleep well either. Vote yes on Leahy amendments. #binatLGBT

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Phone: 202-224-4242

Twitter: @SenatorLeahy

Additional phone numbers, email and snail mail contact: http://www.leahy.senate.gov/

Key message: Sen. Leahy has introduced two amendments to the immigration reform bill currently being debated. Amendments 6 and 7 call for including language from the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) and recognizing same-sex binational couples who are legally married for immigration purposes. We need all 10 Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee to vote YES on these amendments. Thank Senator Leahy for including us. Encourage his colleagues to vote YES on the Leahy amendments – or YES on amendments 6 and 7 in CIR.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Phone: 202-224-2152

Twitter: @SenatorDurbin

Additional phone numbers, email and snail mail contact: http://www.durbin.senate.gov/public/

Key message: Sen. Durbin says he supports LGBT rights and marriage equality. If that’s the case, then voting YES on the Leahy amendments to include same-sex binationals in immigration reform should be a matter of course.

Other Democratic Senators on the Judiciary committee include:

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Twitter: @SenWhitehouse / Add’l contact info: http://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/  

Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Twitter: @amyklobuchar / Add’l contact info: http://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/

Al Franken (D-MN) Twitter: @alfranken / Add’l contact info: http://www.franken.senate.gov/

Chris Coons (D-DE) Twitter: @SenCoonsOffice / Add’l contact info: http://www.coons.senate.gov/

Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) Twitter: @SenBlumenthal  / Add’l contact info: https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/

Note: These five Senators all come from MARRIAGE EQUALITY states. They are representatives of thousands of married gay and lesbian couples, and of course, same-sex binational couples.

The final Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI). While she is not from a marriage equality state, she does support marriage equality. Twitter: @maziehirono / Add’l contact info:  http://www.hirono.senate.gov/

Key message to all of the above: Please vote YES on Senator Leahy’s amendments 6 and 7 to the immigration reform bill. Immigration reform is NOT comprehensive unless it includes ALL families. Same-sex binational couples NEED your support. 

And – if you are tweeting this, tag your tweets #binatlgbt

The Republicans – While we do not have much hope for getting YES votes out of any on the Judiciary committee, we are TIRED of their demeaning talk and their blustering that our inclusion will kill the bill. That is the message THEY are sending out to the American public and we NEED to turn it back on them.

Same-sex binationals WILL NOT kill immigration reform. Hate and bigotry will. 

And Senators Graham and Flake, two members of the Gang of 8 who are on the Judiciary committee need to hear from YOU.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Phone:  202-224-5972 (DC)
Twitter: @GrahamBlog

Additional phone numbers, email and snail mail contact: http://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/

Key message: Sen. Graham is the one leading the charge against us, saying that our inclusion in the bill will derail it. He accuses those who want to add same-sex binationals to the bill as “redefining marriage”. Funny, coming from a guy who has never been married! Be respectful, though. Tell Senator Graham to STOP redefining COMPREHENSIVE. STOP demeaning our families. DO the RIGHT thing and include ALL FAMILIES in immigration reform. And – as a long shot, remind him that we are talking about denying tax-paying AMERICAN CITIZENS the right to live in their own country.

Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Phone: 202-224-4521 (DC)
602-840-1891 (AZ)
Twitter:  @JeffFlake

Additional phone numbers, email and snail mail contact: http://www.flake.senate.gov/public/

Key message: As a member of the Gang of 8, along with his cohort Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Flake has committed to keeping us OUT of immigration reform. Tell him his bill is NOT comprehensive if it does not include ALL families. Remind him that by not includeing same-sex binationals in immigration reform he is DENYING tax-paying AMERICAN CITIZENS the right to live in their own country.

Remember, you DO NOT have to live in these jurisdictions to contact these Senators. Although their staff may tell you differently, be POLITE, but FIRM. 

YOUR FAMILY hangs in the balance of the votes these lawmakers are about to cast. If you cannot get through on the PHONE or EMAIL, taking to Twitter or sending a letter via snail mail is just as good. In fact, in some cases it may turn out to be even more POWERFUL.

Thanks to our social media savvy volunteers who continue to post VITAL contact information. This document could not have been put together so quickly without your contributions.

Our Story: Judy and Karin

U.S. Citizen Turning 65 Appeals to Senator Dianne Feinstein for Help

Binational Same-Sex Couples to Congress: “Enact LGBT-Inclusive Immigration Reform!”

In 2005, Karin and I met via an online dating site. I hadn’t had much luck with online dating before, but a friend convinced me to try one more time. I gave it my best shot — a long, thoughtful profile and several photos. One day, I saw that someone had clicked on my profile, but hadn’t sent me a message. I messaged her, which freaked her out a bit. But she decided that someone who had spent so much time on their profile deserved an answer, which led to a flurry of online messages.

Messages turned into phone calls, and our ignorance about U.S. law allowed us to develop a relationship without knowledge that the U.S. government would eventually stand in the way of our being together. At the time, we didn’t know how much — the bliss of ignorance about the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a big factor in our early days. I am embarrassed to say I didn’t know much about the issue, though I have been actively working on LGBT civil rights since the 1970′s when I came out. Karin and I have learned that many, even in the LGBT community, don’t know about the problem that binational same-sex couples face when trying to be together. In fact, most binational same-sex couples learn about the DOMA discrimination challenge the hard way — in the trenches.

Photo: Lavi Soloway/The DOMA Project

Karin was visiting from France and knew nothing about DOMA. She hadn’t intended to enter into a long-term relationship — but both of our lives have changed dramatically as a result of that fortuitous click on my profile. It was only as our connection and our relationship began to deepen that we discovered the horrible truth that American citizens are forced every day to make a choice between love or country, spouse or career. I don’t think any American citizen should have to face this choice!

Because I chose Karin, I had to take early retirement and months-long forays out of California so that we could stay together.

The difficulties of binational same-sex couples became crystal clear after Karin was detained for hours in the San Francisco International Airport when we came home together in April, 2009. She had been out of the country for six months and I went to visit her, taking extra unpaid time off of work before we flew back home together. As I was getting our luggage, I turned and saw that she was no longer at the passport desk. She had disappeared! After standing there for a half hour or so, I was told that I had to leave — I couldn’t loiter at the luggage area. “But my friend isn’t here yet,” I told the guard. We couldn’t be truthful about our relationship, we learned, at passport crossings.

Over three hours later, Karin emerged in the international lobby, exhausted and shaken. She explained what had happened to her and shared that three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials had questioned her and told her she was visiting the U.S. too often. They told her to leave the country for a long time. That night we had a big dose of what so many others suffer from being same-sex binational couples. It put us into high gear about seeing what we could do to get this situation fixed. When I went to work a few days later, I told my boss that I would have to quit my job and take early retirement, so that I could be together with my wife. No one could believe that we had faced this situation at the airport, that our future was so heavily impacted. Karin was able to stay with me for four months, but then she had to leave “for a long time” — still an unspecified length of time by the federal government.

I am now retired. I have a pension that is smaller than it would have been if I could have worked to age 65, but we’re doing everything we can to ensure that we can be together and we won’t stop fighting for the solution we all need. In August, 2010, I got the bug to write a book about people like us. Torn Apart: United by Love, Divided by Law was another labor of love, and we have used that book to share our story and the stories of many others, as well as key information on groups working toward a solution to this problem. Proceeds from sales of the book are donated to Out4Immigration and two other groups. Karin and I speak about this issue at conferences. We have been on TV and radio. I have preached about it in church. I keep a blog and website going with stories and resources and upcoming events about our issue. It’s exciting and exhausting. We find that it is hard to document your life while you are living it — but we think it’s worth it (even on our bad and cranky days!).

The end of another year approaches and Karin and I are now calling ourselves Prisoners of Love instead of Love Exiles. Why? Because we are “under further review” with USCIS, the federal customs and immigration service. We cannot leave the U.S. together because Karin would not be allowed back in. She is not out of status, since she is in proceedings, but our status has not been finalized, either. So instead of being out of the country together as Love Exiles as we have been for six months at a time in the past, we are now home (two years in February 2013), though constantly on edge because of the threat of deportation. We’ve watched weddings via Skype, we’ve helped friends heal from surgery via phone, we’ve experienced grandchildrens’ graduations through photos — we’re literally watching our families’ lives pass us by from afar — and we’re angry about it!

In January, 2012 I applied for a marriage-based green card for Karin as part of The DOMA Project's effort to achieve full adjudication and, eventually, approval for all our green card cases (www.domaproject.org). Because of DOMA, our green card petition cannot yet be approved, but we decided not to let a little thing like an unconstitutional federal law stop us. We are pushing the envelope and helping break the wall of discrimination that all same-sex binational couples face by demanding to be treated with dignity and respect even as DOMA blocks our path to full equality. We will not settle for less, and therefore we decided will not wait any longer to take up this fight.  We are legally married and we want the federal government to recognize our relatioship and treat us like all married couples should be treated.  Along with dozens of other couples in The DOMA Project we have had our green card interview and are presenting our arguments to have our green card case put on hold until DOMA has been ruled upon by the Supreme Court.

Karin and I are in our golden years. She turned 72 this year. I face 65 in the first week of 2013. We don’t want much — we just want to be together, safely and legally. And if we can be healthy and happy and wise, that’s the icing on our cake! We love the Out4Immigration folks we have met on this journey. We love those we have met from other groups, too. We donate what we can to GetEQUAL and other LGBT equality/civil rights groups, and we share stories and information online and in person as often as possible. And we won’t stop until DOMA is relegated to the dustbins of history and we can live our lives in peace!

Are you a same sex binational couple?  Do you have families / friends affected by this issue?  Please contact us at http://bit.ly/O4ICountMeIn if you are interested in sharing your story.