I've spent some time writing about immigration reform as an LGBT issue. The more time I've spent exploring the issue, the more I see visible intersections between undocumented immigrant and LGBT communities. Consider the mistreatment many LGBT people face in their daily lives, from employment discrimination and fear of coming out at the workplace to verbal abuse/physical violence to being unable to take one's significant other to a high school prom. There are even funded organizations, from Focus on the Family to Catholic and evangelical church denominations to "ex-gay" organizations dedicated to stamping out homosexuality and laws dedicated towards equal rights. Undocumented immigrants face similar opponents in the form of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Minutemen, as well as their own degrees of abuse, ranging from their own communities to Lou Dobbs and xenophobic members of Congress. Others, like LGBT people, face hardships in employment- undocumented immigrants are often targets of wage theft because they are unable to go to the authorities, and are forced to work "under the table". Undocumented youth are often unable to attend college because they don't have a proof of citizenship, or are charged out-of-state tuition in a state in which they grew up, or don't have access to financial aid. These aren't just everyday abuses that can be easily corrected by a change in, say, income- many exist simply because of one's status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
So when I saw the undocumented immigrant youth community has adopt a tactic made perhaps most well-known by Harvey Milk as a means to achieving social justice, the resemblance between the two communities grew ever-more striking. From the NYTimes:
In advance of the March 21 rally, young immigrants in several cities have been holding "coming out parties" where they disclose publicly that they do not have legal immigration status. In downtown Chicago on Wednesday, eight immigrants made such declarations. Among them was Tania Unzeuta, a 26-year-old student from Mexico, who stood by a sign that read "Undocumented and Unafraid."
From the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights:
National Coming out of the Shadows Day
10 Mar 2010 (All day)
The Immigrant Youth Justice League is working with community organizations for a mass youth-led immigrant rights mobilization in Chicago, and national coordinated actions by youth and students starting on March 10th, 2010 in support for a path towards legalization.
Reunion Time: 11:00a.m.-1:00p.m. Union Park ( W. Lake and N. Ashland)
March Step Off Time: 1:00 p.m.
Arrive at Federal Plaza and Coming Out Event : 3:00 PM
IYJL members have been "coming out" or openly identifying as undocumented immigrants, and speaking about their stories, as a strategy to get the issue of immigration in people's minds, and on the national agenda. In collaboration with the national youth-led network United We Dream, students and youth from around the country will be organizing "coming out of the shadows" actions between March 10th and March 21st, starting right here in Chicago.
Here's a video from the Chicago rally, with stories of those who came out of the shadows:
Inevitably, many LGBT people face a high risk/high reward by coming out- severe hardships in family life, school, employment. The high upside is not having to hide anymore. For the undocumented immigrant community, it is the same- those who "come out" expose themselves to very real legal danger. But on the other hand, coming out, for them, acts as an educational tool for peers who didn't know their friends, classmates, employees, relatives were undocumented. It acts as an educational tool the same way. One community has its "closet", the other its shadows.
National Coming Out Day, which is on October 11th every year, has for years been a day of awareness, discussion, and of course, coming out. I will be interested to see if March 10th becomes the same for our undocumented brothers and sisters, who face many of the same challenges that LGBT people have known their whole lives.
Awhile back, I did a piece looking at the map of results in Maine, and noted the results in small towns where we lost badly. Mike Lux asked me what the campaign did to organize in some of these towns. I wrote at the time:
In truth the campaign did a great deal to organize in smaller towns, but there is one tactic no political campaign can fully execute with money or resources or organizing. Part of the reason these small towns are so hardcore against marriage equality, Mike noted, is because in many of these communities, there are no gay people, or if there are, they are usually closeted. To some extent, no amount of TV advertising or direct mail or surrogate work will work as well as person-to-person communication with gay people in your community.
The more I think about this, the more I realize it's true- but it's greater than just gay people coming out. That was Harvey Milk's perhaps most central organizing tactic to win the Briggs Initiative in 1978. But that was 1978.
In 2009, coming out is just as important, but our side has to do more. We need to talk about marriage. And it can't just be up to the gays. I need to ask many of you- straight allies- to help as well. I wrote about this in a magazine piece last week:
Our movement needs more people involved in these fights, needs more people to heed Harvey Milk's call to come out of the closet and more straight allies to tell stories of their gay family members, friends and colleagues.
We have to have one-on-one conversations about marriage equality, and the holidays are the perfect time to do that. There is no better way to reach your friend or family member, and there is nothing better- not direct mail, or TV, or any campaign tactic- to win people over.
To that end, Courage Campaign, which did a lot of work in Maine, has set up a Courageous Conversations tool. Make a pledge to have a conversation with a family member who is opposed to marriage equality. If you're straight, you can even pledge to do it in the name of an LGBT person you know. Your first name and that of the person you're talking to will appear on an interactive map next to the thousands of other people who are doing the same thing. If you don't have any idea how to start, they have a great How-To guide to get started and help you through it. And you can report back on how it went, which will help Courage Campaign learn lessons about what kinds of conversations are best.
You can also Tweet about it:
Give the gift of equality for the holidays with a Courageous Conversation http://bit.ly/79FrlC #LGBT
I made a pledge. It's the least I can do- in between football and eating- to move the ball forward. I hope you'll join me. Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for helping our movement.
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