Immigration Equality Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force/L.A. c/o L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center / Legal Services 1625 North Schrader Boulevard / Los Angeles, CA 90028-9998 voice: 213.526.2915 / fax: 213.993.7653 / e-mail: lgirtf@abacus.oxy.edu web: http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/immigration/lgirtfla.html NEWSLETTER: April 1998 NEXT MEMBERSHIP MEETING SET FOR TUESDAY APRIL 14 at 7pm The next meeting of Immigration Equality will be on the second Tuesday of the month--Tuesday April 14--at 7pm at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center (1625 North Schrader Boulevard in Hollywood, two blocks west of Cahuenga Boulevard and one-half block south of Hollywood Boulevard). We will be meeting in Room 204 (on the second floor) in the library of the Legal Services Department. The topic this month will be on "Now what? Organizing after the new asylum deadline." EMERGENCY ASYLUM CAMPAIGN ENDS AS APRIL 1 DEADLINE PASSES For most applicants, April 1, 1998 was the deadline to file asylum claims based on sexual orientation persecution if you entered the U.S. before April 1, 1997. This is part of a new policy from the 1996 immigration "reform" act signed into law by President Clinton. From now on applicants have one year from the date of entry to the United States to file a claim of asylum. There is a waiver for some specialized circumstances. You should contact an immigration attorney if you have questions whether you qualify for the waiver. QUEER ASYLUM ADVOCATE JOINS L.A. GAY & LESBIAN CENTER STAFF Roger Doughty, an immigration lawyer from San Francisco, has joined the staff of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. Doughty was recently profiled in the daily California legal newspaper The Recorder as a premiere advocate for gay and lesbian asylum-seekers. As an associate with Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, Doughty was involved with numerous high profile asylum cases and has worked with LGIRTF and IGLHRC on many projects. He's currently consulting with the Immigration Law Project of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center on future projects. FIGHT FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE NOW WAGED IN COURTS OF THREE STATES As same-sex, binational couples await the Hawaiian Supreme Court's final ruling in Baehr v Miike, which could legalize same-sex marriage in that state, the fight continues in other states. In Alaska, a Superior Court judge ruled that state must show a ``compelling state interest'' (the same very high legal standard the state of Hawaii has failed to meet) for interfering with the fundamental right to choose a same-sex life partner. In Vermont, the state Supreme Court has agreed to hear in June 1998 an appeal of a lower court ruling which accepted only one of twelve reasons why Vermont should continue to ban marriages by same-sex couples. Stay tuned for more information for prospects about the legalization of same-sex marriage. You can contact the L.A. Freedom To Marry Coalition at 213.860.7352 or visit the website at http://www.freedomtomarry.org/ IMMIGRATION RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON THE WEB The Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force, our parent organization has a website at http://www.lgirtf.org/ The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which has an Asylum Project, is at http://www.iglhrc.org/ The American Immigration Lawyers Association has a very useful website at http://www.aila.org/ The Stonewall Immigration Group, our sister organization in the United Kingdom has a website at http://www.stonewall.org.uk/ Also, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has its official website at http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/ The law firm of Siskind et al has launched a website which has copies of actual INS forms at http://www.visalaw.com/ The Canadian law firm of SMITH & HUGHES has an OUT/LAW Immigration site at http://www.smith-hughes.com/olimm.htm The Queer Resources Directory, the oldest queer internet archive, has a section devoted to immigration at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/immigration Also Available: The Queer Immigration mailing list, QI@abacus.oxy.edu, is a mailing list devoted to the dissemination of information about the impact of immigration laws on gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender individuals. To subscribe, send the one-line email message (leave the Subject blank) to Majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu with the command subscribe qi.