2 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

February 27, 2009

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www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

Partner immigration bill has a better chance this year

by Eric Resnick

Washington, D.C.-Two lawmakers want the partners of gays and lesbians to be able to immigrate to the United States as married couples can, and have introduced bills to make it happen.

Currently, only legally married spouses are permitted to sponsor their wives or hus-

Senator Patrick Leahy

bands for immigration. This often makes it impossible for bi-national same-sex couples to stay together in the United States.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat representing Manhattan, introduced H.R. 1024 in the House on February 12, and Sen. Patrick

Leahy, D-Vermont, introduced the nearly identical S. 424 the same day. Both measures are known as the Uniting American Families Act of 2009.

They will add the phrase "or permanent partner" after "spouse" to every section of the Immigration and Naturalization Act that applies to legally married couples. The change would apply only to same-sex couples.

"Permanent partner" is defined as a person age 18 or older, who can prove a domestic partner relationship and is unable to marry their partner because they are the

same sex.

Countries that already allow gays and lesbians to sponsor their partners for immigration include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

There are approximately 40,000 samesex couples in the United States threatened by the inability to sponsor partners for immigration, according to the latest Census figures cited by Immigration Equality, `which lobbies for LGBT people and people with HIV. Of those, 45 percent are raising children, and a significant number are caring for elderly parents. The average age of the partners is 38.

Nadler is a long time champion of immigration equality, having introduced similar bills in every congressional session since 2000. Until 2007, they were called the Permanent Partner Immigration Acts.

In 2004, Leahy began introducing companion bills in the Senate.

There has always been support for the legislation among lawmakers in both chambers who are gay affirming.

The current House bill has 84 cosponsors at press time, including the three openly gay Reps. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jared Polis of Colorado. Ohio Reps. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland and Betty Sutton of Akron are also original cosponsors.

There are 14 original cosponsors in the Senate including Ohio's Sherrod Brown.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler

All of the sponsors in both chambers are Democrats. The number of sponsors has changed little in the nine years since the measure was first introduced.

It has never gotten very far, especially in the post-September 11 anti-immigration

environment.

Both bills have been assigned to each

chamber's Judiciary Committee. The Senate panel is expected to consider it.

Leahy chairs that committee in the Senate. Michigan's John Conyers, who is also a cosponsor, chairs it committee in the House. Congressional staffers speaking on background say that, especially in the House, the climate for passing the measure is the best it has ever been.

However, they also concede that the bill may not get much attention due to other priorities, including the economy. This has taken the time needed to reach out to members for support, making the bill's passage "uncertain."

The measure, which is fairly short, could also be attached to other legislation.

Nadler's press secretary Ilan Kayatzsky said the bill is "critically important," and said Nadler is "more hopeful than ever that the bill will move through the House."

Nadler has long called the measure “simply a matter of common sense and fairness,” adding that the current situation is "tearing apart committed and loving couples just because of who they love."

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama indicated qualified support for act, but added on his Human Rights Campaign questionnaire, “I also believe that changes need to be made to the bill to minimize the potential for fraud and abuse of the immigration system."

The "potential for fraud and abuse" argument is most often cited by opponents of the

measure.

It is not clear whether or not the measure as written will satisfy the president. As a senator, Obama was not a co-sponsor of the measure. The White House did not respond to questions by press time.

W.Va. anti-marriage group chided for 'gay sniper' ad

by Lawrence Messina

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Charleston, W.V.-A group trying to amend West Virginia's constitution to ban same-sex marriage is running an online ad that likens same-sex marriage supporters to snipers targeting families.

The group, the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, has yet to register as a charity with state officials, though it's reportedly raising enough to trigger that requirement.

The organization's president Jeremy Dys announced on February 18 that hundreds of churches across West Virginia would take part in "Stand4Marriage Sunday" March 1 as part of its campaign.

The group has posted a five-minute video on one of its web sites and on YouTube. "Marriage began in the heart of God," the narrator says as the ad starts.

About a minute into the video, the crosshairs of a rifle scope appear over the image of a family blowing bubbles. The narrator warns that “same-sex marriage is a closer reality in West Virginia than you may think," and that activists are "working tirelessly to define marriage away from God's design."

Dys did not respond to e-mail and voicemail requests for comment.

The video has caught the attention of bloggers and other media this week. The Huffington Post was among those dubbing it the "gay snipers" video. It also received online mention from the Washington Monthly and Politico, earning it tens of thousands of views on YouTube.

"This kind of overheated rhetoric creates a climate where hate crimes can occur," said Wayne Besen, executive director of the LGBT organization Truth Wins Out. “We demand that the Family Policy Council of West Virginia apologize and take down this violent ad. This video is reckless, wrongheaded and irresponsible."

But some of campaign critics believe the video diverts attention from the effort's possible political agenda.

"There are a lot of fingerprints on this campaign that are not from West Virginia," said Seth DiStefano of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Both of the council's web sites were created with the help of CampaignSecrets.org, a Georgia firm that says it is “focused exclu-

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sively on electing Republicans to local office." The council also commissioned a GOP-allied company from Nebraska, Advantage Inc., to poll West Virginians on the marriage question.

The president of the Georgia firm, Mark Montini, said he provided the council with software to set up its web sites through a separate division of his company, but was not otherwise involved in the marriage campaign.

DiStefano cited use of such ballot initiatives as partisan wedge issues in other states, particularly in 2004. He also noted the failed 2006 effort by Massey Energy chief executive Don Blankenship to oust Democrats from the state House of Delegates with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign that invoked gay marriage.

Dys said earlier that the council was an independent group allied with similarly named organizations in nearly 40 other states and with the national Focus on the Family.

"We have no legal and no financial connection to any of them," Dys said. "We're completely supported by the faith-

based giving of West Virginians.”

The council was called the West Virginia Values Coalition when it formed in late 2005, and it obtained tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service the following year, according to its filings with the secretary of state's corporations division.

But that office's charities division lists no registration for the council, though it requires one from groups that solicit at least $25,000 in West Virginia donations in one year.

The council raises funds through both its web sites. Its latest available filing with the IRS, from 2007, lists $170,320 in contributions. By then, it had changed its name to the Family Policy Council and made Dys, a lawyer who came to West Virginia from Florida, its president.

Two weeks ago, Dys filed new registration papers for the council with the corporations division. He also renamed the entity that originally registered as the Values Coalition as the council's education fund.

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