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: May 1998 NEXT MEMBERSHIP MEETING SET FOR TUESDAY MAY 12 at 7pm The next meeting of Immigration Equality will be on the second Tuesday of the month--Tuesday May 12--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. This month's topic will be "Legislative update on marriage and immigration." BRITISH HETEROSEXUAL MAN FORCED TO LEAVE U.S. DUE TO NEW IMMIGRATION LAW In the Sunday, May 3, 1998 edition of the Los Angeles Times was an article entitled "Briton Snared by Immigration Laws" about Gerard Curran, a British (heterosexual) man who is married to a U.S. citizen, has fathered two children who are U.S. citizens and has resided "illegally" in the U.S. for twelve years. Even though Curran's wife has filed an application to adjust his status, due to the 1996 immigration reform law he would be subject to the new 10-year ban on entering the United States if he does not leave the country (and his family and job) to wait for his wife's application to be approved. The reason Curran is subject to the ban is that he has been living in the U.S. "Illegally" for more than one year. TAKE ACTION! Write the Los Angeles Times and let them know that immigration laws negatively impact other people besides straight white men! Write to letters@latimes.com or Letters to the Editor, The Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053 or FAX to 213.237.7969 BRAZILIAN GAY HIV+ MAN WINS ASYLUM IN WASHINGTON, D.C. The Washington Blade reported that an HIV-positive, gay man from Brazil was granted asylum to the United States by the INS Asylum Office in Arlington, Virginia. According to his attorney, Mark Levey, asylum was granted on the basis on the fear of persecution in Brazil on account of his HIV- positive status. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (415-255-8680) states that at least eight people from Brazil have been granted asylum to the United States based on sexual orientation or HIV/AIDS status. IMMIGRATION LAW PROJECT ASSISTING GAY MAN FROM CHAD WITH ASYLUM The Immigration Law Project of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center has agreed to assist a gay man from the African nation of Chad with his application for asylum to the United States on the basis of sexual orientation. If granted, this would be the first known case of a gay man from Chad being granted asylum based on sexual orientation to any country in the world. In 1996, the Center helped secure asylum for a gay youth from Russia. If you have information on conditions for gays and lesbians in Chad please contact Jeff Kim at 213.993.7674. NO MEMBERSHIP MEETING IN JUNE; NEXT MEETING TUESDAY JULY 7 There will be no meeting of Immigration Equality in June. The next meeting will be on Tuesday July 7, at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center as usual, but on the first Tuesday of the month. CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE ELECTIONS ON JUNE 2 On June 2, 1998 California voters will go to the polls to decide which candidates will compete in the November election for the top statewide post of Governor, as well as determine the fate of a number of ballot initiatives. The four main candidates for Governor are Jane Harman (Democratic congresswoman), Al Checchi (Democratic multimillionaire), Gray Davis (Democratic Lieutenant Governor) and Dan Lungren (Republican Attorney General). Harman was one of only 67 Congressmembers to vote against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (which President Clinton signed into law) but also voted for the current ban on immigration by people with HIV. Al Checchi has been heavily courting the Latino vote through Spanish TV commercial featuring his wife but has never held elective office. Gray Davis is the only one of the Democratic candidates who said he would not sign a gay marriage bill into law if he were governor, but has been endorsed by the Stonewall Democratic Club. Dan Lungren is a very religious Catholic, who as attorney general has opposed gay and lesbian civil rights in court numerous times, but who recently endorsed including transgendered people in hate crime legislation. Don't forget to go and vote on June 2! 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 Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the most prominent U.S. organization devoted to gay and lesbian legal issues has a section of its website devoted to immigration at http://www.lambdalegal.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