WASHINGTON – Last night, Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL) urged leadership and his colleagues to work toward inclusion of domestic partnerships in comprehensive immigration reform and the principles of the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). UAFA amends immigration laws by extending the rights currently afforded to permanent partners of United States citizens to bi-national same-sex couples and their children as well.  Quigley delivered the following speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives:

“Madam Speaker, as we begin to consider substantial comprehensive immigration proposals, I strongly urge my colleagues to remember what it means to achieve “comprehensive” reform.

We cannot forget a very important immigrant group in our country: Bi-national, GLBT couples.

If we are to consider a proposal deemed “comprehensive” we must truly include everyone.

We must mean it when we say that you can be an American no matter the color of your skin, your religion, or who you love.

Congressman Honda has been courageous enough to tackle the issue of amending the nation’s immigration laws to allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for family-based immigration through the Uniting American Families Act.

In this debate, we’ve talked about keeping families together, but we cannot turn a blind eye to the children who have been taken from a family because they have two moms or two dads and one doesn’t live in this country.

We talk about doing what is right, what is fair, and what is just – but we neglect to imagine the pain and the suffering these families are going through because we as a government think it’s our right to tell people who they can love.”

A longtime and tireless leader in the fight for equality, Quigley has emerged as a national advocate for the LGBT community, cosponsoring over a dozen bills that work toward equal rights in his first six months in office. Quigley also spoke recently at a Washington, DC rally calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

Following is a list of organizations, multi-national corporations, religious institutions, labor unions, and businesses that support the Uniting American Families Act.

National Organizations:

General

Democrats Abroad

U.S. Conference of Mayors

United States Students Association (USSA)

LGBT Organizations

CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers

COLAGE

Council for Global Equality

Family Equality Council

Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)

Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA)

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

Immigration Equality

Lambda Legal

Love Exiles Foundation

Love Sees No Borders

National Center for Lesbian Rights

National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF)

Out & Equal Workplace Advocates (Out & Equal)

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

Stonewall Democrats

Unid@s LGBT

United Nations Gay and Lesbian Organization (UN GLOBE)

Civil Rights, Civil Liberties & Immigration Organizations

American Families United (AFU)

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)

Amnesty International

Anti-Defamation League

Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC)

Immigrant Legal Resource Center

Legal Momentum

Mexican-American Legal Defense Education Fund (MALDEF)

National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)

National Immigration Forum (NIF)

National Immigration Law Center (NILC)

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health

National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights (NCWIR)

People for the American Way

Professional Associations

American Bar Association (ABA)

American Council of Personnel (ACIP)

American Psychological Association (APA)

Labor

Association of Flight Attendants – CWA

Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE)

Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU)

Pride at Work – AFL-CIO

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Corporations

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Intel Corporation

Omnicom

Pfizer Inc.

Faith Organizations

American Jewish Committee (AJC)

Call to Action

Church World Service, Immigration and Refugee Program

Clergy United, Inc.

The Episcopal Church

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC)

United Methodist Church

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Local Organizations:

AIDS Legal Council of Chicago

AIDS Legal Referral Project

AIDS Project Los Angeles

Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality

Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California

California Democratic Council

California Faculty Association

California Nurses Association

Congress of California Seniors

El Cerrito Democratic Club

Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club

Equal Rights Advocates

Equality California

Gray Panthers

Kol Ami Congregation

Legal Aid Society- Employment Law Center

Legal Momentum- California

Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center

La Mesa Community Church

Marriage Equality California

Metropolitan Community Church Los Angeles

Metropolitan Community Church San Francisco

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund- California

Older Women’s League of California

Our Family Coalition

Out and Equal Workplace Advocates

Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays (PFLAG) Pasadena, Ventura County

People for the American Way- California

Pioneer Congregational Church

Pride at Work- Southern California

San Diego Democratic Club

San Francisco AIDS Foundation

San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission

Santa Clara Valley American Immigration Lawyers Association

The Center- San Francisco

SIREN

State of California Commission on the Status of Women

State of California Office of the Attorney General

Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento

Stonewall Young Democrats of Los Angeles

Transgender Law Center

Wesley United Methodist Church

West Hollywood Presbyterian Church

City Councils/State Assemblies:

The California State Legislature

The City of West Hollywood

The City of Los Angeles

The City of San Francisco

The City of New York