Comments on: LGBT Asian Americans enter immigration debate

By: sk

sk — Wed, 03 May 2006 22:23:48 +0000

Normally I love your posts, abhi, but I think that it would have been a lot more helpful to all of us if you had taken a momentary trip through google–or any area of U.S. Immigration law–to see how LGBT families are front and center of who gets victimized here. This is not a “peripheral” matter; anyone who cares about social justice for immigrants should make more of an effort to learn about the different ways immigration laws target LGBT people before making uninformed generalizations about “pigeonholing” and “opportunism.” You should spend just one hour, or one minute, talking to families who get divided or deported because they cannot marry their same-sex partners–if you did, I think you would understand quite well why this issue matters to the queer community, and should matter to the larger immigrant rights community at large.

This article (about a report issued by human rights watch on immigration) says it better than I ever could, and I hope that the thoughtful comments posted here will help you to rethink your perspective:

http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2006/05/02/5

By: someone else

someone else — Mon, 01 May 2006 06:32:47 +0000

what about the oppression that occurs within our communites..okay, i'm getting off topic..

In my opinion, this is not off topic, anjoo. I feel sad that you felt that way.

By: anjoo

anjoo — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 01:11:34 +0000

When there is injustice, it’s important that people can speak out against in from their community. While our homophobic politicians are not likely to be moved by this letter, it is yet another group that is organizing against these bills. And yes, demanding that their rights as LGBT people are also considered. I don’t think there is anything “opportunistic” about this. Just as there have been letters written addressing the needs of various ethnic communities, it is also important to consider the impact this legislation has on the LGBT community. And who else is going to be out there bringing up LGBT issues? I see very few allies in the so-called “progressive” spaces, which are mostly just concerned about how straight brown men are oppressed (which we do need to speak out against, but what about the oppression that occurs within our communites..okay, i’m getting off topic..)

By: AK

AK — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 05:09:26 +0000

Abhi, I’m not quite sure what you are identifying as “mistakenly conflated” issues — implicit in your post is the idea that there are no LGBT non-citizens affected by the immigration laws. That no LGBT “Muslim, South Asian, and Southeast Asian Americans have been improperly racially profiled and have not been afforded constitutional due process protections” (point 1 of the letter), and no LGBT non-citizens who are at greater risk if we usher in a policy of “local police enforc[ing] complicated immigration laws” (point 2). Which of course isn’t the case. Far from being peripheral to their mission, this letter might instead be understood as a sign that these groups are recognizing the diversity and intersectionality within Asian American LGBT communities, that there are LGBT non-citizens of Asian descent who will be deeply affected by the proposed legislation.

Moreover, as some of the earlier comments already have suggested, US immigration law has been deeply and systematically anti-LGBT for decades and decades (essentially point 3 of the letter), and continues to be so even as the rest of the law is inching — granted, inching — in more progressive directions (e.g., Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas, recognition of civil unions and same-sex marriage). What’s on the table and at stake right now is comprehensive immigration reform, and so all of these issues properly should be on the table together. If family reunification is a principle at stake in the immigration debate, which it is, why shouldn’t reunification of LGBT couples be part of that discussion? If we are making changes to the asylum rules, which these bills propose to do, why shouldn’t we be talking about gender and sexuality-based asylum claims?

But maybe I’ve misunderstood your point. I realize, after all, that this is not Internalizing Abhi who is writing this post, merely unconsciously regurgitating analysis he “loves” written by someone else many years ago, but rather NASABA Abhi, the saavy tort lawyer. Don’t want to be misunderestimating.

By: Hello my name is

Hello my name is — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 18:35:12 +0000

So it’s okay for Black people, Asian groups, Latino groups, Washington DC policy groups, the media, and everyone else who wants to (including Sepia Mutiny) to express opinions about the current immigration bills, but if a collection of groups comes together to express their sentiments, that’s somehow “opportunistic”? Have you met any LGBT people of color? I spoke to some at a queer desi party while i was trying to get a petition signed for a pakistani person who was being deported a few years ago and a lot of them have immigration issues of various kinds.

Anyway, Siddhartha’s analysis is probably accurate (though I don’t understand why the Advocate published the text of the letter without offering at least a link to the list of the groups). The only way you’re going to get a progressive immigration bill is to enlish progressives of all kinds on this issue. You have to consider the context here–there’s reportedly a lot of racism and, I would guess–anti-immigrant sentiment in the predominantly White lgbt commnunity. To send a letter like this to the Advocate is an intervention in opening up the debate from an intersectional community and helping push forward a discussion betwee the two, instead of these idiotic “they’re cutting ahead of us in line” arguments that some people from other disempowered groups have been making.

Further, I’d note that one issue that’s been raised by the LGBT poc group Audre Lorde Project–repealing HIV bans on immigration–has made it into a comprehensive statement of policies by the National Network of Immigration and Refugee Rights (not a queer group), but is NOT here–so it’s not like this is the most radical assemblage of demands ever.

The issue of whether the groups are accountable to “all Asian Americans will feel the same way” is totally separate and worth considering. But I would ask you to apply the same analysis to Washington-DC based policy groups, “immigrant rights” non-profit organizations, Congress people, labor unions, and everyone else who is weighing in on this debate. Otherwise it’s just unfair.

By: layla

layla — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 02:42:40 +0000

i think this artice in samar gives good food for thought on why LGBT communities need to speak out on immigrants’ right issues: This contrast of victory and loss evinces the inequality perpetuated between “citizens” and “immigrants” within the “gay rights movement” in North America and most parts of Western Europe. The “gay rights movement” has been absent in the struggles of immigrants. In the United States, where I have spent the last ten years organizing around immigrant rights, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) and HIV/AIDS issues, the “gay rights movement” and immigrant rights movement have rarely shared the table with each other. As a result, both movements have severely suffered in developing a vision, larger base and political power. read full article: Why the “Gay Rights Movement” is Anti-Immigrant Rights” http://www.samarmagazine.org/archive/article.php?id=200

By: Anika

Anika — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 01:53:57 +0000

These folks say it better than I could. Having learned the lesson of the day, I cite rather than attempt to paraphrase.

the LGBT community and the immigrant community are not mutually exclusive. There are thousands of LGBT immigrants in this country . . . we recognize the historically interconnected nature of the immigrant and LGBT struggles--such as the ban on 'homosexual immigrants' that extended into the 1990s and the present HIV ban, which disproportionately impacts LGBT people--and we believe that only by understanding these connections and building coalitions can we ensure real social change for all.

By: dq2

dq2 — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 01:38:17 +0000

"Surely individuals in the Asian American LGBT will have a diversity of opinions on this issue since it doesnÂ’t seem to be related to discrimination or a denial of rights based on oneÂ’s sexual identity."

But all Asian Americans will feel the same way because...?

By: razib_the_atheist

razib_the_atheist — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 01:36:05 +0000

One of the main points of the social justice movement is understanding the connectedness of all forms of oppression. Showing support for causes that may not directly affect oneself builds coalitions.

i agree with the second sentence, that seems common sense, but the first one seems like a vacuous platitude.

By: queerdesi

queerdesi — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 01:26:22 +0000

"I often see various organizations (e.g. non-profits, non-partisan PACs, etc.) advocating for ideologies peripheral to their apparent mission, which results in an ultimately less effective/powerful organization."

One of the main points of the social justice movement is understanding the connectedness of all forms of oppression. Showing support for causes that may not directly affect oneself builds coalitions.

"they may be pigeonholing themselves into irrelevance" Is that worse than being marginalized out of social existence? It's hard enough to get people to recognize multiple identities (e.g. queer AND desi AND woman AND atheist AND ...) in this society; is speaking up for a relevant cause really going to push us further outside of social discourse?