'Tis the Season to Make a Donation to Out4Immigration

We know the holidays can be difficult for many binational couples – forced to live in exile away from family members, separated from one another for months at a time, uncertainty about the future.

2011 will be remembered as a rollercoaster year for same-sex couples in binational relationships. With President Obama’s declaration and decision back in February that federal courts stop defending DOMA, tens of thousands of same-sex binational couples believed relief was finally in sight after many years of discriminatory immigration laws. Additionally, a number of recent court decisions have stayed or dropped deportation proceedings of gay and lesbian immigrants legally married to Americans.

We were further encouraged when the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency issued a statement in June granting agents guidelines for prioritizing deportations. The Morton Memo, as the statement was called, made partners in binational relationships a low priority.

However, additional ICE guidelines issued in November fail to specifically mention gay and lesbian binational couples, and while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an impassioned plea to the international community this month to recognize the full human rights of LGBT people worldwide, same-sex binational couples are still separated, unable to sponsor their partners and forced to make choices between their families and their country.

Why Donate to Out4Immigration?

We are an all-volunteer, grassroots organization – and we rely on your kind donations throughout the year to help us stand with our allies GetEQUAL and Stop the Deportations at rallies for couples like for couples like Henry & Josh and Alex & Doug. We march in parades, attend conferences and speak at community events. Every time we make contact with someone, we share our printed materials like our stickers and fact sheets to let people know who we are, the challenges we are facing and what needs to change so that all loving and committed couples have the same rights and opportunities to live their lives together.

Out4Immigration Goes to Washington, Headlines LGBT Immigration Panel in San Francisco

Out4Immigration is an all-volunteer, grassroots group made up of people in same-sex binational relationships and our supporters. We typically raise a small amount of money each year to cover the costs of sending volunteers like Gina Caprio to Washington DC for the PFLAG National Conference last month.

Gina took part in a panel discussion at the conference that also included author Judy Rickard ("Torn Apart: United by Love, Divided by Law") and Immigration Equality. The panel took the opportunity to educate PFLAG members about same-sex binational couples. Once again, we were reminded that even LGBT people and our strongest allies often do not know the difficulties faced by LGBT Americans with foreign partners.

Gina spent 2 days at the conference and did a great deal of outreach work from our information table. She had many conversations with people who wanted to know more about same-sex binationals and how they could help. One conversation in particular stuck out - Betty DeGeneres - Ellen's mom - introduced herself and spoke with Gina for several minutes.

Yes - we know Portia has her green card - but will Betty remind Ellen that getting a green card is not that simple for most foreign partners of gay and lesbian Americans? We hope so!

While in DC, Gina also attended an official briefing with Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA-15), sponsor of the Reuniting Families Act. Read all about that experience in Gina's Examiner.com column.

This Monday night, Erik Schnabel, another Out4Immigration volunteer, organized a panel discussion on LGBT immigration and the faith community in San Francisco. The panel included Erik, Chris Barnett (also an Out4Immigration volunteer), Blanca Hernandez (a DREAM Activist), Father Richard Smith of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist and Rachel Tiven, Executive Director of Immigration Equality. Kathy Drasky, another long-time Out4Immigration volunteer stepped up to moderate.

Erik and Chris shared their stories as the respective halves in same-sex binational relationships. The crowd was genuinely moved to hear the struggles these two men have endured over many years to keep their families together. (Erik, Chris and Kathy all shared their stories with their partners earlier this year in the DeVote Campaign's video about same-sex binational couples).

Blanca then talked about life as a DREAM Activist and the number of LGBTQ youth who are leading the movement. Father Richard discussed the role of religious leaders and church members in assisting the undocumented - and the awareness that LGBT people often straddle both groups. His parish, in particular, has a lot of LGBT and immigrant members and obviously, some are LGBT immigrants facing unique challenges. Finally, Rachel Tiven talked about the role a national organization like Immigration Equality plays. Immigration Equality assists LGBT immigrants with asylum cases and has been instrumental in getting faith leaders around the country on board to support the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). To date, according to Rachel, 1,508 clergy members in the US have signed on as supporters.

Note: UAFA added two new Congressional co-sponsors last week - Rep. Janice Hahn (CA-36) and Rep. Christopher Murphy (CT-5) - bringing totals to 127 in the House and 23 in the Senate.

Find out more about how you can get involved with Out4Immigration as a volunteer by contacting us at info@out4immigration.org. If you would like to make a donation to Out4Immigration to help us cover costs like sending volunteers to national conferences and the printing of materials to distribute at events we speak at, please click here.

Support Our Work and Get a Gift!

Dear Friend of Out4Immigration,

We don't often send out requests for donations.

As a grassroots, all-volunteer organization, we only do this when we know the money raised will be put to immediate use or for crucial events where we feel we need a presence to make a difference. Now is one of those times! We are now down to our last roll of stickers and with Pride events happening all across the Country, we really need to replenish our stock. Our stickers have been an awesome tool in reaching out to the public to raise awareness about our issue.

Your donation will be used for several key items that will help us reach more people about the important work of Out4Immigration. The first item will be printing about 15,000 stickers, which will cost about $1,100. In addition, we need money to help us pay for registration fees for Pride events. Can you help us by donating $10, $25 or $50 to support these activities? Your generosity helps us continue our efforts to change America's broken immigration system and continue to work toward legislation and administrative fixes that will stop the deportations, exiles and struggles same-sex binational couples face.

You can donate online directly and securely from our webpage at Out4Immigration.org - make sure you indicate "Out4Immigration" under Project. Our fiscal sponsor, Peace Development Fund, will handle the transaction and provide you with the necessary tax exempt receipt for your donation.

If you don't feel safe donating online, you can also send a check (instructions are on the Out4Immigration donate page).

All money raised goes directly towards these crucial expenses! Please consider making a donation today. No donation is too small, and every donation is both greatly needed appreciated.

As an added bonus, Judy Rickard has kindly autographed 10 copies of her book, TORN APART, and we will present you with a copy of the book when you donate more than $75!

Thank you!
Amos Lim, Treasurer and Director, Community Outreach