Pictured: Olivier De Wulf of Belgium and Steve Boullianne of Los Angeles, with their two adopted boys and UAFA lead sponsor Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY). They have few options open to them to remain together as a family, in Belgium or America. Their story is here.
The New York Times posted an article yesterday, "Obama Wins Unlikely Allies in Immigration," about the administration's efforts to rally support for comprehensive immigration reform by allying with Christian Evangelicals. The very fact that this is their strategy is troubling enough.
But buried at the at the bottom is this gem:
"the whole effort could implode if the final legislation extended family reunification provisions to same-sex couples where one spouse did not have legal status. For evangelicals, he said, "That would be a deal-breaker."
The full quote in context:
Mr. Staver was one of six evangelical leaders, including two prominent black evangelicals, who issued a statement last month advocating a comprehensive new law. One, J. Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican candidate for Ohio governor in 2006 and now a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group, said he expected more evangelical leaders to come on board.
But Mr. Blackwell said the whole effort could implode if the final legislation extended family reunification provisions to same-sex couples where one spouse did not have legal status. For evangelicals, he said, "That would be a deal-breaker."
Got it? Obama administration is allying with Ken Blackwell (yes, that Ken Blackwell) of the Family Research Council—who spent $25,000 lobbying to pass the Ugandan "Kill the Gays" bill—to find support for immigration reform.
Alas, the math of this unholy Holy alliance isn't even assured. The Times questions the power of the religious right to rally sufficient support over the forces of xenophobia raging in the GOP:
The support of evangelical leaders is not yet enough to change the equation. But they could mobilize a potentially large constituency of religious conservatives, an important part of the Republican base better known for lobbying against abortion and same-sex marriage. They already threaten the party’s near unity on immigration.
What's sure is this group's long history homo-bigotry will poison the well for any hope of relief for the estimated 30,000 LGBT Americans currently in bi-national relationships and being forced to choose between family and country.
Note too the use of term "final legislation." Leaving the Democrats free to make a big dog and pony show of reassuring our community we're included while the battle rages. But if the Evangelicals are calling us a "deal-breaker," the game is already fixed, and Blackwell's holding up the red flag.
The Christian Taliban are not going to budge, they're saying so right now. If they are going to get behind this bill, they will exact a price for support, and that will be the scalp of the gay community. Everything else will be mere kabuki to keep gays and their allies on board until just before the finish line.
Asked to choose between Evangelical support and our community's, you just bet your bottom dollar how this will play out. They'll string us along, using our community to rally other support, and in the end, a handful of people will go into a room to find a "compromise" and the LGBT community will get jettisoned, just like they did before. The game is now over for LGBT inclusion in comprehensive immigration reform.
Eventually the Democrats will send someone out to talk to our community and tell us, "Gosh, darn it, we really fought, but what could we do?"
And the DHS will continue indefinitely with its policy of deporting our lawfully wedded spouses and destroying our families. Same as it ever was.