HR 4437 Threatens LGBT & HIV Positive Immigrants!

ATTENTION:

This message was taken from GMHC web site today (January-17-2007).
I do online advocacy for that organization too.
However, I don't think this bill was passed in both houses, or has been adequately addressed.
So in light of the new Democratic majority in both houses currently.
A fitting reminder would be very appropriate now.
Sincerely,
Derryck.

YOUR URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED:

HR 4437 Threatens LGBT & HIV-Positive Immigrants!


Dear Senator/Congressperson,

I am writing to ask for your support and immediate action in opposing HR 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, an anti-immigrant bill that will go to a vote in the House tomorrow, Thursday, December 15th.

This legislation would endanger LGBT and HIV+ asylum seekers and subject undocumented immigrants and their partners to criminal prosecution. It would authorize the prolonged and potentially indefinite detention of LGBT and HIV+ immigrants who suffer widespread abuse, discrimination and substandard medical care in detention.

"I live in your district, and I urge you to oppose HR 4437, the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. This bill would have a devastating impact on HIV+ and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender immigrants. It would gut due process and jeopardize the lives of the most vulnerable immigrants."
HR 4437 would: endanger LGBT and HIV+ asylum-seekers.

Under the bill, asylum-seekers will be jailed longer while awaiting their court dates, weighted with a much heavier burden of proof, and then stripped of most judicial review. If a person is convicted of unlawful presence, she could be subject to mandatory detention and made ineligible for asylum.

These changes are particularly dangerous for LGBT and HIV-positive asylum-seekers, many of whom arrive in the U.S. without proper documentation, having fled rape and police brutality at home. Many do not know when they first arrive that sexual orientation and gender identity persecution are grounds for asylum in the U.S.; even if they reveal why they fear being returned, they may face homophobic asylum officers and immigration judges who wrongly deny their applications.

Some provisions would also have a retroactive effect, barring many individuals who are already asylees and refugees from ever getting a green card. Place vulnerable populations in prolonged detention. Reporters and human rights organizations have documented the widespread abuse, harassment and life-threatening, negligent medical care that LGBT and HIV-positive immigrants face inside U.S. detention facilities.

This bill would intensify these problems by stripping judges of their discretion to release vulnerable detainees who do not pose a flight risk or danger to the community. It would overturn several Supreme Court decisions and allow for the indefinite detention of non-citizens who cannot be deported, including Convention Against Torture protectees.

For LGBT detainees who are targets of abuse and HIV-positive detainees who face negligent medical care, indefinite detention threatens their safety and very lives. Allow fundamental rights to be taken away without judicial review or with sharply limited review. By treating immigration cases differently, those facing detention or deportation could face dire consequences without the opportunity to challenge the case against them. criminalize so-called "illegal presence" in the U.S.

This threatens many not only with deportation, but with imprisonment. Even technical violations would be criminalized. Missing deadlines, failing to report address changes promptly, or failing to meet visa requirements for college course loads could become criminal acts punishable with imprisonment.

Expand the definition of "smuggling." U.S. citizens and legal residents who have routine contacts with undocumented people will be subject to criminal prosecution (regardless of whether or not they have knowledge of their immigration status).

HR 4437 is a all-out attack on the health and lives of immigrants in our communities.

Sincerely,

----------------------
Go to congress.org

Secret Societies Are Secret For A Reason?

January 06-2007:

Secret Societies Are Secret For A reason?
http://my.opera.com/BringBaka/
Excerpt from an article about the Free Masons:

We are the Masons. We believe in helping others. We believe there is more to life than pleasure and money. We respect the opinions of others. And we all want to grow and develop as human beings. Masons are moral, honest men who work together to improve themselves and their communities. Our motto is "friendship, morality, and brotherly love."
http://www.planetout.com/news/feature.html?sernum=3024&navpath=/news/


Any society that purports to be secret, is secret for a reason/s. And any society that requires exclusivity must be looked at with very scrupulous eyes! And the Free Masons is one of those societies.

Historically, they have been perceived as racist, Caucasian, and clandestine. Blacks were never allowed to join that society either. But for whatever reason, Blacks eventually began to create their own Free Mason societies. But the historical White oriented Free Mason societies, did not acknowledge these Black Masons as their own, as brothers, or as part of the Free Mason Society brotherhood. So that is why their is a distinction between Free Masons and Black Free Mason's societies.
I guess they are basically similar in intention or mission. But their recruits are from different backgrounds, status, and social standing. Whether or not the Black Free Masons allow Gays, or known Gay or Homosexual men within their midst, is anyone's guess. But I also assume that the homosexual element is never absent for most secret societies, where men pre-dominate. It seems to be the natural order of things. When a society of men get together, and debars women from being a part of that society. Who is to know for sure what really happens therein, or what activities are accepted or rejected therein?

So the concern that Gays may or may not be accepted in such societies (to my mind), is just speculation. Unless some member of that society, who may be Gay or Homosexual, does something that is considered embarrassing for the reputation or perceived integrity of that society!
Derryck S. Griffith
Educator-Advocate & Blogger.

Some Frustrations In Trying To Connect With People!

January-01-2007:

http://www.picturetrail.com/homePage/derryck

Trying To Make Contacts & The Ridiculous Questions Asked!

Have you ever tried to connect to someone on the Internet, and got the following questions in return.
But remember, you took the time to give the following information up front:

NAME.
LOCATION.
AGE.
SEXUAL PREFERENCES:
PHOTO LINKS:
AND E-mail references:
And yet most of the time, these individuals reply asking for the same things mentioned above.
That tells me quite VIVIDLY, that most people do not take the time to read your Personal profile, or your needs, desires, and preferences.
Or they simply cannot comprehend what they read, or have the patience or respect, for the time it took you to ensure, that all the information above mentioned is listed.

CONCLUSION:
I suggest that whenever you encounter such individuals, disregard them as possibilities. They are not yet ready for anything positive in any relationship.
Disregard such people as mere ignoramuses who feel they have the right to make requests from you, but do not feel compelled to do the same for others.

That is my New Year Resolution!
Derryck S. Griffith.
Educator-Advocate & Blogger.