The other day I wrote a piece about how the Gutierrez bill on immigration reform does actually contain provisions that affect LGBT people in a significant way. Specifically, the provisions related to a pathway to citizenship, the DREAM Act, and immigration detention.
In response, commenter filler wrote two comments (I condense here to summarize filler's argument and the points I want to look at, but feel free to go here and here to read both comments and responses):
It seems to me that the points you list don't actually help LGBT people--they help immigrants, some of whom just happen to be LGBT...
It's the equivalent of saying that food stamps are pro-LGBT because some poor people are LGBT.
It's like saying that military spending is pro-LGBT, because LGBT people are defended by the military too, all while ignoring the fact that LGBT individuals aren't allowed to serve in the military.
I think that's an entirely fair point, but there's another aspect to this, and it got me thinking a little bit about how I classify legislation as significant towards the LGBT community or not.
STATE BLOGS
