A GAY RIGHTS ISSUE THAT’S NOT ABOUT MARRIAGE

Imagine what it feels like to have a bad day. We can all do that. With the way the world is right now, with the economy failing, home foreclosures at an all time peak and unemployment figures reaching numbers we haven’t seen since the great depression. Now think about what that day would be like if you were being forced to go home to an empty house because the United States Governments immigration laws forbid you to legally be with the one you love. Think about how the United States immigration laws make it easier for you to acquire a pet visa or a mail order bride visa than it is to acquire a visa for your partner who is a foreign national.

Today, gay and lesbian United States citizens cannot sponsor their foreign born partners for immigration, no matter how long they have been together or how committed their relationship. United States immigration law is based on the principle of 'family unification.' Accordingly, it allows U.S. citizens to reunite with their parents, children, siblings and spouses by sponsoring these family members for immigration. Gay and lesbian families are not afforded this basic dignity. According to the 2000 Census, over 36,000 couples are affected by this discrimination. Many are forced into exile and move to one of the 19 countries that offer immigration benefits to same sex couples, where others, like myself are forced to be separated from the one I love.
On February 12, 2009 Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) re-introduced The United American Families Act, a bill seeking to enable gay Americans to sponsor their foreign same-sex partners for legal residency in the United States.

ITS NOT ABOUT MARRIAGE!!
The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) seeks to provide U.S. citizens the right to sponsor their partners for immigration- it does not redefine marriage. It has nothing to do with marriage.

WHAT ABOUT FRAUD?
Applicants for permanent partnership benefits would face the same interview process that married couples face. Criminal penalties and deportation for fraud would provide an increased deterrent against sham marriages, and they should do the same to deter against fraudulent permanent partnerships.

Despite what you may believe about same sex relationships, its cant be denied that they exist. And these relationships are families. The Uniting American Families Act is designed to keep families together legally not tear them apart as current immigration laws are forcing many into.
I urge everyone who supports families to contact their congress members and let them know that American families will grow stronger with the passage of the Uniting American Families Act. You can email them directly or find your congress members phone number through Congress.org

For More Information go to: out4immigration.org

WHAT I WISH TO SAY TO CONGRESS

American but less than equal. Growing up in a bi-racial family in the early 70’s in New York my sisters and I were told by strangers we were less than equal because we were mixed. Moving to a then rather affluent Marin County in the 1980’s, my predominately white classmates told me I was less than equal because I was black. At 17 I enrolled at San Francisco State University to study in a male dominated music engineering degree program and as the boys in my class proclaimed supremacy as I sat alone as the only girl amongst them, I was made to feel less than equal because I was a female. Despite the challenges that being a woman, black and white presented me all those years, there was never a moment I felt being denied the right to obtaining my goals. Regardless of the prejudices I faced, I never for once stopped believing I could be successful in anything that I worked for. That is until now. I am a 35 years old woman who is in a same sex bi-national relationship who is being denied my pursuit of happiness due to the unfairness of The United States Immigration laws. Its failure to recognize my relationship as well as those who have been married in other countries, defies all definitions of freedom that were embedded in my head during Civics classes. Same sex marriages should not be an issue that is determined by popular vote or state level. This is a civil rights issue and any discrimination towards same sex couples should be viewed as unconstitutional. In this day and age where greed and corruption is at its peak, I find it difficult to find a reason why the United States forbids me to be with the someone who makes me a better person, and therefore a better American. To say that America is not ready for such a radical change in our society is an excuse that is full of hate and shame for I am sure that this kind of rhetoric was stated when women fought for the right to vote or when slavery was abolished. If not now then when. I believe in America and I believe our country has a duty to show the world that Freedom is not for a selective few. I ask that you help push forward legislation that helps those like me be able to be a member of the American dream, the American Freedom and not one who is separate and unequal.