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Gay GOP former congressman calls for UAFA passage

Kolbe testifies before the Senate on LGBT-inclusive immigration reform

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Jim Kolbe, gay news, Washington Blade
Jim Kolbe, gay news, Washington Blade

Former congressman Jim Kolbe testified before the Senate on UAFA (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

A gay Republican former U.S. House member testified before the Senate on Monday in favor of including bi-national same-sex couples as part of comprehensive immigration reform ā€” an issue that affects him personally.

Jim Kolbe, who represented Arizona in Congress from 1985 to 2007, spoke during a Senate Judiciary CommitteeĀ hearingĀ about LGBT-inclusion in immigration reform both in personal terms and economic benefits for the country.

“While the bill you are considering is an excellent starting point for reform, I submit to you that it is still incomplete,” Kolbe said. “Families like mine are left behind as part ofĀ this proposal.”

Language to enable gay Americans to sponsor a same-sex partner for residency in the United States wasn’t included as part of the 844-page base bill for comprehensive immigration reform that was produced by the “Gang of Eight.”

Standalone legislation along these lines is known as the Uniting American Families Act. LGBT advocates say they’ve received assurances such language would be offered as an amendment ā€” possibly by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) ā€” when the committee marks up the reform legislation.

Kolbe is in an eight-year relationship with Panama native Hector Alfonso, who came to the United States on Fulbright scholarship to pursue studies in special education and has been a teacher for two decades. The couple had to endure a year-long separation whenĀ Alfonso had to return to Panama while immigration issues were being sorted out, although he’s now in the United States on a green card.

“It was a long process; it was an expensive far beyond the reach of most families,” Kolbe said. “We are immensely fortunate that Hector has now secured an investment visa that allows him to remain here with me. Many other couples, however, are not so fortunate. Their ability to secure a solution that will allow them to build a home, family and business together is elusive and difficult to realize.”

Kolbe, a trade expert who works at the German Marshall Fund think tank, also addressed economic benefits of passing language for bi-national same-sex couples as part of immigration reform ā€” particularly support for the provision among U.S. businesses.

“The comprehensive immigration reform bill now under consideration by this Committee includes important provisions to make U.S. businesses more competitive,” Kolbe said. “UAFA does the same, which is why it is supported by Fortune 500 companies like Intel, Marriott, Texas Instruments and US Airways, who have called on lawmakers of both parties to support its passage. The failure to recognize lesbian and gay families in our immigration laws has a direct impact on American business.”

As part of his testimony, Kolbe read a letter signed by 28 prominent American businesses calling for UAFA citing loss of productivity, costs of transferring and retaining employees and missed opportunities to bring talent into the United States as a result of the current system.

“It is time, Chairman Leahy and members of the Committee, to fix this part of our immigration law,” Kolbe concluded. “The opportunity is too rare, and the positive impact too great to leave anyone behind. Adding UAFA to the committee bill would be a big step toward making it a truly comprehensive bill.”

Kolbe and Alfonso plan to wed in D.C. on May 18. While straight Americans are able to sponsor their foreign spouses for residency within the United States, Kolbe doesn’t have that option because of the Defense of Marriage Act, which he voted for as a member of Congress in 1996.Ā The U.S. Supreme Court could address this problem if justices issue a ruling by June striking down Section 3 of DOMA as a result of pending litigation.

Steve Ralls, a spokesperson for the LGBT group Immigration Equality, said Kolbe’s personal story and background as a member of Congress make him an excellent spokesperson for UAFA.

“Congressman Kolbe is the perfect messenger to remind Senators that this is about families, not partisan politics,” Ralls said. “This issue impacts Republicans and Democrats, and it UAFAā€™s inclusion in the bill should garner bipartisan support, too.”

A number of Democratic senators on the panel expressed support for Kolbe and including UAFA as part of immigration reform, such as Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.). Republicans were present during the hearing ā€” including Ranking Member Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) ā€” but didn’t address Kolbe’s testimony or UAFA.

Franken, a UAFA co-sponsor, was among those who expressed support for including UAFA as part of immigration reform, saying he and colleagues will do “everything we can” to amend reform to include the measure.

“You’re not alone,” Franken said. “I’ve heard many stories from my LGBT constituents about how our immigration system is tearing their families apart.”

Franken cited a story from a constituent, whom he called “Mark,” a Fortune 500 company worker who has an Italian partner, Alberto, that intended to move to Minnesota under a waiver program for Europeans.

According to Franken, when they were identified as a same-sex couple by Customs & Border Protection at the airport, Alberto was interrogated, forced to surrender his personal email password and was eventually he couldn’t remain in the country. Alberto is now in the United States on a visa, but that’s only a temporary solution.

“Mark is prohibited from sponsoring Alberto for permanent residency,” Franken said. “Under current law, Mark must choose between his career and the person he loves. It isn’t fair, it’s wrong and I just wanted to tell you that I and many others senators on this panel are going to do everything we can to try to see that we amend this bill to protect all families, including those of all LGBT Americans.”

Another question came from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), another UAFA co-sponsor, who asked how the issue for bi-national same-sex couples would be affected if the Supreme Court strikes down DOMA. Kolbe said it’s not clear what the ruling of the Supreme Court would be in June, but emphasized the legislation isn’t about marriage.

“This bill does not deal with the issue of marriage at all,” Kolbe replied. “While DOMA defines marriage as between a man and a woman for federal purposes, this legislation simply says for immigration purposes, an individual can immigrate into the United States.”

Following the hearing, Kolbe told the Washington Blade that nothing the senators said surprised him and other issues related to immigration reform, such as temporary employment for migrant workers, were more controversial than same-sex couples.

“There was nothing that was terribly surprising in the questions,” Kolbe said. “I think it went pretty much as expected. I think all the members are really focused very heavily on this H-1B program and how that’s going to be made to work.”

Kolbe said he believes the committee has the votes to amend the immigration legislation, but whether that will remain in the bill as the legislative process goes forward remains in question.

“I think it’s very likely that it will be included in the bill when it goes to the Senate floor,” Kolbe said. “What will happen on the floor ā€” and even more critically, what will happen in the House of Representatives ā€” I think it’s just way to early to tell yet.”

Read Kolbe’s written testimony here.

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Congress

House passes spending bill as Greene threatens to oust Johnson

51 of 52 anti-LGBTQ riders were defeated

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks at a press conference on Sept. 20. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The U.S. House of Representatives averted a government shutdown on Friday with a vote of 286-134 to pass the $1.2 trillion spending bill, over the objections of hard-right members like U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

The congresswoman subsequently filed a motion to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who is himself an ultraconservative legislator. The move marked the second time in six months that the party has called for a vote to oust their own leader.

ā€œToday I filed a motion to vacate after Speaker Johnson has betrayed our conference and broken our rules,ā€ said Greene, who refused to say whether she would call up the resolution to call for a snap vote, which likely means the matter will be delayed until after the two-week recess.

Greene and Johnson are at odds over the content of the minibus appropriations package, with the congresswoman calling it a “Chuck Schumer, Democrat-controlled bill” that does not contain conservative policy demands on matters like immigration and LGBTQ issues.

The speaker, meanwhile, proclaimed, ā€œHouse Republicans achieved conservative policy wins, rejected extreme Democrat proposals, and imposed substantial cuts while significantly strengthening national defense.ā€

With respect to anti-LGBTQ riders submitted by Republican members, more than 50 were ultimately stripped from the bill, which the Human Rights Campaign celebrated as “a victory,” crediting lawmakers for their “bipartisan, bicameral negotiations.”

Of the 52 anti-LGBTQ riders, only one survived in the $1.2 trillion package passed on Friday: A ban on flying Pride flags at U.S. embassies.

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Congress

Massive defeat for anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ riders in spending bill

Proposal has only one rider that would target community

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U.S. Capitol
U.S. Capitol (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

On Thursday, Congress unveiled the much-anticipated spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The bill, which includes funding for major government departments such as Health and Human Services and Education, featured fierce negotiations over conservative ā€œpolicy riders.ā€ 

These policy riders included bans on coverage for gender-affirming care, DEI bans, sports bans and more. Despite some indications that Democrats might compromise due to the sheer number of conservative policy riders, it appears those fears did not come to fruition. Democrats held firm in negotiations, and the most impactful anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ riders were nowhere to be found.

One policy rider proposed for the Food and Drug Administration would have defunded any hospital that ā€œdistributes, sells or otherwise uses drugs that disrupt the onset of puberty or sexual development for those under 18,ā€ a measure targeting not only transgender youth but also those experiencing precocious puberty. 

Another rider sought to bar any government funding toward ā€œsurgical procedures or hormone therapy for the purposes of gender-affirming careā€ in the Department of Health and Human Services. This move would have significantly impacted private and subsidized insurance in the Healthcare Marketplace. It also aimed to bar the enforcement of President Joe Bidenā€™s executive order titled ā€œPreventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity,ā€ which broadened anti-discrimination protections for trans individuals.

Additional riders included bans on funding for any organization thatĀ ā€œpromotes transgenderism,ā€Ā Title IX protections for trans youth, bans on legal challenges against states over anti-LGBTQ+ laws, book bans, DEI bans and more.

In total, over 40 riders were proposed and negotiated in the spending bills. None of these were found in the final bill.

Ultimately, the final spending bill released contained only a single anti-LGBTQ rider: A ban on Pride flags being raised or displayed above foreign embassies. The policy, while certainly qualifying as anti-LGBTQ and a regression to Trump-era policies, notably does not bar personal displays of Pride flags by embassy workers.

In the past, some embassies have gotten around such bans by not ā€œflying a flag over the embassyā€ but rather, painting portions of the embassy in rainbow colors or draping flags on the side of buildings.

News of the defeat of the most impactful anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ riders comes after a significant push from Equality Caucus Democrats and the Biden administration against the riders. ā€œAs you negotiate government funding for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), we write to strongly urge you to reject any attempts to include anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in any final FY24 funding agreement,ā€ said a letter signed by 163 representatives on behalf of the Congressional Equality Caucus to the Biden administration.

However, Republicans also pushed hard for their inclusion. In a shutdown threat issued Feb. 21 from the House Freedom Caucus, Republicans indicated that bans on gender affirming care and trans participation in sports were necessary to prevent a potential shutdown.

Previously, U.S. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) stated that such bans are the “hill we will die on.” In a report published by Axios, one Republican lawmaker stated, ā€œPeople are predicting a shutdown even if it’s just for a few days.ā€ Others concurred, citing gender affirming care riders as one of the potential reasons for such a shutdown.

Many anti-LGBTQ leaders in the Republican Party reacted negatively to the bill. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)Ā expressed angerĀ at funding for the New Jersey Garden State Equality in Education Fund, calling it ā€œforce feeding the LGBT agenda in schoolsā€ and stating that it enables ā€œgender mutilation surgeries in minors,ā€ ā€œbiological menā€ in womenā€™s bathrooms and trans participation in sports.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) decried the lack of a DEI ban. U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) stated that Republicans ā€œsurrenderedā€ to Democrats on hormone therapy. The House Freedom Caucus published a lengthy list of healthcare and equality centers that the budget would fund, urging the GOP to vote ā€œnoā€ and to shut down the government.

In a press release published by House Appropriations Democrats, they stated that the bill rejected over a hundred poison-pill riders, many of which targeted LGBTQ people. For example, the Labor-HHS-Education portion of the bill blocked provisions around gender affirming care, sports bans and nondiscrimination.

See the House Appropriations Democrats statement:

Press release, House Appropriations Democrats on Labor-HHS-Education

The bill must pass by Friday evening to avert a government shutdown, though the impacts of such a shutdown would likely not be felt until Monday. If passed, the bill would keep the government funded through September, at which point all of the riders could resurface during the peak of the 2024 presidential election.

However, for the next several months, LGBTQ riders will not pose a significant threat in a year where trans and queer individuals have faced attacks at historic levels.

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Erin Reed is a transgender woman (she/her pronouns) and researcher who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world and helps people become better advocates for their queer family, friends, colleagues, and community. Reed also is a social media consultant and public speaker.

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The preceding article was first published at Erin In The Morning and is republished with permission.

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Congress

Padilla, FCC introduce measure to improve 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

HHS launched effort in 2022

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U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) (Screen capture: YouTube)

U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), joined by U.S. Rep. Tony CƔrdenas (D-Calif.), Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, introduced a measure on Thursday to improve the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Calls are currently routed to mental health professionals and local public safety officials based on the caller’s area code ā€” even though, as the lawmakers and officials noted during their announcement ā€” in many cases, the area code, especially for cell phone numbers, does not match the location from which they are calling.

Under the new proposal, Padilla said, “We’re going to be in a position to be able to provide care as quickly and as safely as possible.”

“In the same way that 911 calls in the case of an emergency are routed to local providers, local first responders, so ambulances can come out and help quickly when you call 911, 988 should be tied to a caller’s location, not their area code,” he said.

Calling Padilla, Tillis, and CĆ”rdenas “great champions of mental health,” Rosenworcel noted, “that’s not our stock and trade” at the FCC.

“We are people who deal with technology and communications,” she said, “but we came to realize that we could work with Congress to make sure that everyone in this country who’s going through a crisis has someone to call and someone who can listen ā€” and that’s why in 2022, we set up 988, the easy-to-remember three digit number for anyone who is in crisis.”

A press release from Padilla’s office explains the details for how the update to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will work:

“The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) announced today seeks to address the discrepancies and inefficiencies of the current system by proposing the adoption of a rule that would require a georouting solution to be implemented for all wireless calls to the 9-8-8 Lifeline while balancing the privacy needs of individuals in crisis. 

Georouting refers to technical solutions that enable calls to be directed based on the location of the caller without transmitting the callerā€™s precise location information.Ā These solutions would permit wireless calls to the 9-8-8 Lifeline to be directed to nearby crisis centers based on factors such as the cell tower that originated the call rather than the area code of the wireless device used to place the call.”

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers LGBTQ-affirming counseling, which is accessible by pressing three.

A 2023 survey by the Trevor Project, which included more than 28,000 LGBTQ participants aged 13-24, found that 41 percent had seriously considered suicide within the past year and 56 percent wanted ā€” but were unable to get ā€” mental health care within the last year.

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