Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 11:07:56 -0700
From: dragodes@ix.netcom.com (JB Wiley)

Here's a letter we recently sent to editors of the gay and straight press
in the Bay Area. More information and a call to action letter against CA AB
1982 can be obtained from:

Lesbian and Gay Immigration and Asylum Rights Task Force
c/o National Center for Lesbian Rights, Att: Shannon Minter
870 Market Street, Suite 570, San Francisco, CA 94103

Tel: (415) 392 6257 * email: dragodes@ix.netcom.com

==================================================================
Dear Editor,

As members of the Lesbian and Gay Immigration and Asylum Rights Task Force
(LGIRTF), we are concerned about the invisibility of immigration issues
within the lesbian and gay community. We are especially disturbed when the
issue of same-gender marriage, so crucial to women and men in binational
relationships, is discussed only in terms of financial benefits or
minimized as largely "symbolic."

Try explaining that to a binational couple like M & G, who have been living
together for 18 years. G's visa expires in two months and a very solid,
loving relationship is suddenly at risk of being torn apart. Why? If they
were a straight couple, they could get married. Normally, immigration law
protects the right of a U.S. citizen to get permanent, LEGAL, residence for
their non-U.S. partner. But because M & G are queer, they have no such
rights. 18 peaceful, loving years count for nothing as M & G plan to move
underground toward the alienation of immigrants with no legal status in
this country.

We at LGIRTF continue to fight for relationships between U.S. citizens and
partners from other countries, to repeal the ban on HIV+ immigrants, and to
provide resettlement for lesbians and gay men seeking asylum on the basis
of sexual orientation. Part of that battle is against legislators who are
backing Assembly Bill 1982, the vicious anti-gay, anti-marriage legislation
that has already passed the California Assembly and is currently up for
consideration in the California Senate.

We urge all members of the lesbian and gay community to join us in
recognizing and fighting for the rights of binational couples like M & G.
For those of us in binational relationships, the right to marry is not just
a symbol or a personal choice, but often the only way to protect our
partners from the threat of deportation. AB 1982 blatantly discriminatory,
singling out lesbians and gay men as second-class citizens and attempting
to deny us this right just as it is about to be won. AB 1982 is also a
devastating blow to lesbian and gay couples who are struggling for
recognition under U.S. immigration law.

Please join the effort to defeat this hateful bill, and to ensure that the
needs and experiences of lesbian and gay immigrants are included in our
larger civil rights agenda. We must defeat AB 1982.

Sincerely,

Shannon Minter/NCLR
JB Wiley
Stafford Hemmer
and the membership of LGIRTF

JBWiley at DRAGO design: Mac consulting, design and production, training
and other FUN stuff! 510-204-9612