Today April 10 is National Immigration Day of Action, a day where organizations and advocates across the country march to pressure Congress to pass fair and humane comprehensive immigration reform, and GLAAD and over 20 other LGBT organizations are standing in solidarity. See below for a list of the organizations.
In addition to supporting fair and humane comprehensive immigration reform, the groups call media to tell the stories of undocumented people that shed light on the many ways the broken immigration system harms millions of Americans, including through family separation and inhumane conditions and abuse in detention facilities.
At GLAAD we believe that it is important to tell to our own stories—whether we are LGBT or immigrants or both–because when we don't, we remain invisible, and prejudice and ignorance go unchallenged. Get to know the stories of undocumented people on platforms like United We Dream, Out4Citizenship.org and DreamActivist.org or the National Council of La Raza's blog, which features stories like "Why Do I Fight for Immigration Reform? Because My Children Cannot Be Separated from Their Father Any Longer."
Or watch this incredibly powerful and moving music video that humanizes immigrants that Los Angeles latin band La Santa Cecilia released this past Monday, April 8. As Upworthy requested of viewers: "You don't need to speak Spanish to understand this.So please look at this with an open mind. You just need to make it to 3:57 to understand how important it is. This story is universal."
“Federal immigration reform is about respecting the humanity in each and all of us, including DREAMers and our families, migrant farm workers, LGBT binational couples, and transgender people in need of asylum" - Jorge Gutierrez, project coordinator of the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP), a project of the United We Dream Network. Gutierrez is openly gay and undocumented.
"As a transgender woman who was detained by immigration authorities, I have first-hand experience with the inhumane treatment and abuse in detention facilities that for years have threatened the health, safety and even lives of millions of immigrants. I was sexually assaulted when I was forced to be housed in a dorm with about 100 men in a detention facility, and I was denied adequate access to HIV medication and hormone treatment. These are the harms countless transgender detainees face; we must put an end to these atrocities. We all deserve a chance to live with dignity, to pursue our dreams, and to work for a better future and better quality of life.” - said Bamby Salcedo, president of the Trans-Latin@ Coalition
You can follow the conversation along on Twitter at #TimeIsNow #A10 or #UniteUSA. Watch a livestream of the event here.
National LGBT Organizations in Support of National Immigration Day of Action:
American Civil Liberties Union
Center For Black Equity
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Freedom to Marry
Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)
GetEQUAL
GLAAD
GLAD
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network)
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Immigration Equality
Lambda Legal
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
Pride at Work AFL CIO
Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project (QUIP), a project of the United We Dream Network
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
The Trevor Project
Trans-Latin@ Coalition
