by Kathy Drasky
Two other workshops I attended at the NGLTF Creating Change conference in Dallas went hand in hand for grassroots activists.
"WTF Is Going on in Congress" is self-explanatory -- the packed room wanted to know exactly "WTF" is up with bills that will move our equal rights forward: Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT), the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the Respect for Marriage Act, and of course the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA).
We were asked to step outside of this LGBT legislation for a moment and consider the the health care reform bill. Basically, all subsequent LGBT legislation is riding on its passage. If we get this all-important reform bill through, it will set the stage for reform in America in general -- and that reform includes both LGBT equality measures as well as immigration reform. Everyone on hand agreed -- if the general scene for "reform" is not set now in America, it will be 20(!) years before a next real call for reform in America will occur.
As I pointed out in earlier posts from Creating Change (see below), a major theme called for by both NGLTF Executive Director Rea Carey and keynote speaker Thomas Saenz, President and General Counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is that the LGBT and immigrant communities need to come together to create a powerful coalition -- an "I'll have your back if you have mine" political strategy. This means not only do we -- the LGBT community support immigration reform for all immigrants (not just those of us calling for UAFA for our own families) but that the immigrant community get behind LGBT equality. Together we can form a coalition that stands up to those who call themselves Americans, but behave in a way that defies everything our Constitution spells out as American.
Obviously, UAFA is the bill that can link our communities -- and that's where we, the activists and members of Out4Immigration need to take a lead, working with immigrant rights' groups in our communities to get them to support us, while we, as LGBT people also talk to our families and friends about how important it is that they support Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR).
The Senate will be driving CIR (since the House drove health care) -- and the continued delay from the Schumer camp needs to be seen as an effort to make sure this bill is inclusive. Schumer is working with Lindsay Graham (R-SC) on the legislation, but backroom chatter is that another Republican senator may be being brought into the discussions.
Julie Kruse, Policy Director from Immigration Equality, who talked about UAFA on this panel indicated that the bill Schumer and the Republicans come out with may be a "very basic and pared down" bill, yet one that is "very broad" and includes LGBT immigration rights for same-sex binational couples and our families. There is still no reason to think that the bill won't include us. Julie referenced all the things Tom Saenz talked about on the Friday panel on LGBT immigration rights.
It was agreed by all the panelists that ENDA and DADT were the two "hot button" issues of the moment, and if either ENDA passed soon or DADT was repealed, other LGBT bills and equality measures would have a much easier time. Once a member of Congress is on record supporting one LGBT issue, they are identified as our "friend". By supporting just one LGBT issue, the extreme right-wing puts them in their "enemy" category, which makes it much easier for this Representative or Senator to support additional LGBT legislation down the line -- they've already lost the hard-core right-wing base vote.
Which brings me to let you know about this great online Wiki that tracks our friends and foes in Congress and the status of our bills: ACT On Principles' Public Whip Count. This handy tool tracks co-sponsors of UAFA, RFA, ENDA, DOMA and DADT repeals in the House and Senate and other LGBT and LGBT-friendly legislation. In addition to co-sponsors whose support we know we have, it also tracks those who are "leaning yes" in our favor or "leaning no".
The ACT On Principles session at Creating Change was a great chance to learn how to use the Wiki and their site, as well as hear from the founders whose inside tip to working on getting support for our legislation was "to focus on those leaning 'no' -- as everyone knows those 'leaning yes' can be counted on as 'yes' votes".
Currently UAFA has 118 co-sponsors and 80 "leaning yes" for a total of 198 yes votes in the House. This is not enough, and we need to focus on those 207 "leaning no's".
Bloggers and webmasters out there interested in putting the ACT On Principles Public Whip Count on their site can easily embed their widget (we did!). And, by signing up as a member, you can add in info you come across in your grassroots work that indicates any member of Congress's status on a particular piece of legislation that affects our community. ACT On Principles strives for "full disclosure and transparency" -- so instead of saying "WTF Is Going on in Congress" we can keep daily tabs on how we make change.
Showing posts with label Creating Change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Creating Change. Show all posts
Friday, February 12, 2010
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Mobilizing Catholic Support for LGBTQ Equality
by Kathy Drasky
Tom Tierney, a guy who really is a fierce advocate and volunteers tirelessly for UAFA and our inclusion in comprehensive immigration reform suggested I take in this Creating Change workshop. As someone who was raised a Catholic, and hasn’t exactly seen eye to eye with my friends and family over teachings of the church since oh, say 1975 you can imagine the “Ugh!” factor I gave this.
But after hearing Tom Saenz’ opinions that the Catholics could be swayed to support LGBT inclusion in CIR, I was happy to have this on the list. When I told Marianne Duddy, Executive Director of DignityUSA, the workshop moderator that I was from Out4Immigration and we wanted LGBT inclusion in CIR, she knew exactly what the problem was. “You have opposition from the Catholic bishops,” she said.
So did everyone else in this workshop -- most of whom had concerns about the hostility practicing LGBT Catholic youths and adults receive from the church hierarchy.
Marianne was quick to point out some major inconsistencies between those official hierarchical anti-gay statements and how the majority of Catholics really feel:
By the numbers above, though – it’s clear where Out4Immigration members who want to work with changing hearts and minds among Catholics must be done. We must convince them – our families, our friends in the church – that UAFA alone and/or its inclusion in CIR is not marriage – it gives us just one federal right, the right for an LGBT American to sponsor a foreign partner, the person with whom they are in a loving and committed relationship. It’s a right that should come with a civil union. It’s the right to keep a family together – and our families include not only our partners, but also our parents, siblings, children, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, friends and our community. Surely no person who believes in the teachings of Christ can say that it is right to separate anyone from their family.
Tom Tierney, a guy who really is a fierce advocate and volunteers tirelessly for UAFA and our inclusion in comprehensive immigration reform suggested I take in this Creating Change workshop. As someone who was raised a Catholic, and hasn’t exactly seen eye to eye with my friends and family over teachings of the church since oh, say 1975 you can imagine the “Ugh!” factor I gave this.
But after hearing Tom Saenz’ opinions that the Catholics could be swayed to support LGBT inclusion in CIR, I was happy to have this on the list. When I told Marianne Duddy, Executive Director of DignityUSA, the workshop moderator that I was from Out4Immigration and we wanted LGBT inclusion in CIR, she knew exactly what the problem was. “You have opposition from the Catholic bishops,” she said.
So did everyone else in this workshop -- most of whom had concerns about the hostility practicing LGBT Catholic youths and adults receive from the church hierarchy.
Marianne was quick to point out some major inconsistencies between those official hierarchical anti-gay statements and how the majority of Catholics really feel:
78% of American Catholics favor either civil unions or marriage for gay and lesbian couples (Harris Poll, 2008)That’s the good news.
48% of American Catholics support allowing gays to sponsor partners for immigration (Harris Poll, 2008)It’s the “back door to marriage” argument apparently, since the same poll found 46% of American Catholics support civil marriage equality (as opposed to the 78% who support “either” civil unions or marriage). Polls do have a way with wording questions, don’t they?
By the numbers above, though – it’s clear where Out4Immigration members who want to work with changing hearts and minds among Catholics must be done. We must convince them – our families, our friends in the church – that UAFA alone and/or its inclusion in CIR is not marriage – it gives us just one federal right, the right for an LGBT American to sponsor a foreign partner, the person with whom they are in a loving and committed relationship. It’s a right that should come with a civil union. It’s the right to keep a family together – and our families include not only our partners, but also our parents, siblings, children, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, friends and our community. Surely no person who believes in the teachings of Christ can say that it is right to separate anyone from their family.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Change is in the Air at Creating Change
by Kathy Drasky
Down here in Dallas, TX at Creating Change, it’s easy to coin a cliché on top of a blog post like this. But for those of us in same-sex binational relationships, where one of us is an American citizen with absolutely no rights to sponsor our partner for a green card, talk about Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) and the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in the same speech – let alone their mention together several times is indicative that something is up.
Thomas A. Saenz , president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), called for comprehensive and inclusive immigration reform at the opening plenary of the 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change last night. MALDEF is a national organization whose mission is to promote the civil rights of Latinos/as in the United States.
Saenz identified five key similarities between the LGBT and Latino communities as reasons our communities need to stick together:
Saenz called for inclusion of UAFA in upcoming CIR, and said the biggest flaw in the CIR bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Luis Gutierrez late last year was “its failure to include the Uniting American Families Act.”
“We must stand united that CIR includes everyone [and that it] is truly comprehensive and includes UAFA…. The Latino community, LGBT community and anyone who cares about civil rights needs to support UAFA.”
Saenz received a standing ovation from the nearly 500 LGBT activists who packed the room.
His tough talk on UAFA comes at the end of a week for those of us in the equal immigration fight in which we’re hearing about a new ten state grassroots campaign to mobilize support for UAFA co-sponsors, particularly among Hispanic caucus members in key states like Texas (C=IIR), as well as dealing with a rumor sweeping through our community within a community of same-sex binationals that we won’t be included in Sen. Schumer’s upcoming Senate CIR bill. [Call Sen. Schumer’s office now at 202-224-6542 and let his staffers know that comprehensive immigration reform means “inclusive” immigration reform – you can’t leave out one group of people who need this system fixed as much as the next group.]
And just to make sure our emotions are completely mixed, we get the good news the other day that we have another House co-sponsor for UAFA, Rep. Dan Maffei (D-NY-25; see post below). Rep. Maffei is a freshman Democrat in a district that had been held by Republicans for 40 years. Change in the air? Maybe so.
Down here in Dallas, TX at Creating Change, it’s easy to coin a cliché on top of a blog post like this. But for those of us in same-sex binational relationships, where one of us is an American citizen with absolutely no rights to sponsor our partner for a green card, talk about Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) and the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in the same speech – let alone their mention together several times is indicative that something is up.
Thomas A. Saenz , president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), called for comprehensive and inclusive immigration reform at the opening plenary of the 22nd National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change last night. MALDEF is a national organization whose mission is to promote the civil rights of Latinos/as in the United States.
Saenz identified five key similarities between the LGBT and Latino communities as reasons our communities need to stick together:
1) Members in both communities “live in silence and shadows”. In the Latino community this is the state of the undocumented worker; in the LGBT community, this is the state of continuously being marginalized. When an LGBT person is also undocumented – Houston (or Dallas), we have twice the problem.
2) Both communities are seen by the mainstream as “single issue movements”. For Latinos this is immigration reform; for the LGBT this is marriage equality. If both communities got these core reforms, folks over at Fox News and their ilk – on their best days – assume we will just go away.
3) We are both facing forces in Washington seeking to discount us in the 2010 census.
4) On the back of that both communities are “victims of the courage deficit” in DC. Continued failure most recently to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) and to get a truly inclusive comprehensive immigration reform bill in place, are but two examples of this.
5) Finally, significant portions of both our communities remain “outside the boundaries of constitutional law”. LGBT people and undocumented people do not have equal protection under US law.
Saenz called for inclusion of UAFA in upcoming CIR, and said the biggest flaw in the CIR bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Luis Gutierrez late last year was “its failure to include the Uniting American Families Act.”
“We must stand united that CIR includes everyone [and that it] is truly comprehensive and includes UAFA…. The Latino community, LGBT community and anyone who cares about civil rights needs to support UAFA.”
Saenz received a standing ovation from the nearly 500 LGBT activists who packed the room.
His tough talk on UAFA comes at the end of a week for those of us in the equal immigration fight in which we’re hearing about a new ten state grassroots campaign to mobilize support for UAFA co-sponsors, particularly among Hispanic caucus members in key states like Texas (C=IIR), as well as dealing with a rumor sweeping through our community within a community of same-sex binationals that we won’t be included in Sen. Schumer’s upcoming Senate CIR bill. [Call Sen. Schumer’s office now at 202-224-6542 and let his staffers know that comprehensive immigration reform means “inclusive” immigration reform – you can’t leave out one group of people who need this system fixed as much as the next group.]
And just to make sure our emotions are completely mixed, we get the good news the other day that we have another House co-sponsor for UAFA, Rep. Dan Maffei (D-NY-25; see post below). Rep. Maffei is a freshman Democrat in a district that had been held by Republicans for 40 years. Change in the air? Maybe so.
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