Politics
Could UAFA pass as a floor amendment to immigration reform?
LGBT groups support bill despite exclusion of bi-national gay couples


Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has raised the possibility of UAFA as a floor amendment. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
In the wake of a Senate committee decision to exclude bi-national gay couples from immigration reform, LGBT rights supporters are turning to a possible floor amendment as a way to salvage inclusion in the bill.
LGBT groups working on the issue ā Immigration Equality and the Human Rights Campaign ā told the Washington Blade they’ve asked Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to offer the language as an amendment when it comes before the full Senate as expected this month.
Steve Ralls, a spokesperson for Immigration Equality, said discussions are underway to push for a floor amendment along the lines of UAFA, which would enable gay Americans to sponsor their foreign partners for residency in the United States, but a lot depends on the case before the Supreme Court challenging the Defense of Marriage Act.
“I can tell you if the immigration bill is moving toward a vote before we have a Supreme Court DOMA ruling ā or after we have a bad Supreme Court ruling ā a floor option is something we very much want to look at,” Ralls said. “We’re kind of in two competing timelines here; it’s not entirely clear how quickly the immigration bill will move forward for a vote, and we don’t know exactly when we’re going to have a Supreme Court ruling.”
Bombarded by accusations on his Facebook page that he betrayed the LGBT community by asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold off on the amendment, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in response raised the possibility of a floor amendment.
“I’ve been a lead sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act for a number of years and I believe and desire that its principles should be included in the immigration bill,” Schumer writes. “There will be an opportunity to add it to the bill on the Senate floor.”
But none of the groups involved say they’ve received commitments from Leahy that he’ll introduce the amendment on the Senate floor, nor has the Vermont senator publicly committed to offering the amendment.
Jessica Brady, a Senate Judiciary Committee spokesperson, said she doesn’t have anything to offer in terms of public commitment for offering UAFA as an amendment on the floor.
“Iām going to have to refer you back to Sen. Leahyās comments in the markup, when he said he would continue to fight to take discrimination out of the law,” Brady said. “He didnāt specify if he would offer an amendment on the floor.”
Moreover, finding the 60 votes on the Senate floor to end a filibuster on UAFA is significantly more difficult than obtaining the simple majority needed for passage in committee.
Assuming all 54 members of the Democratic caucus support UAFA ā and the votes from Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Mark Landrieu (D-La.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who don’t support marriage equality, are in question ā five Republicans would need to vote “yes” in addition to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the only GOP co-sponsor. The Democrats are now short one vote following the death of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.).
Ralls said finding the necessary 60 votes to end a filibuster on the Senate floor will be “tough,” but he expects Schumer and other Democrats in committee who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for amendments out of fear of losing Republican support for immigration reform to find support for a measure for bi-national couples on the floor.
“I think all of the Democrats on that committee who told Sen. Leahy not to offer the amendment last week owe to our families and they owe it to Sen. Leahy to find the path to 60 votes if we need them to get us there,” Ralls said.
The White House has talked about the possibility of UAFA as a floor amendment to immigration reform once it reaches the Senate floor. Under questioning from the Washington Blade on Friday, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said he thinks “there is an amendment process on the Senate floor where this could be considered, so I donāt want to predict the outcome at this point.”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Schumer said he expects the immigration bill to see action soon on the Senate floor ā meaning the question of whether UAFA will be introduced as a floor amendment will have to be answered soon.
āWeāre going to put immigration on the floor starting on June 10. I predict it will pass the Senate by July 4,ā Schumer said. āWeāre hoping to get 70 votes ā up to 70 votes, which means a lot of Republicans.ā
LGBT groups continue to back reform
Even without the provision for gay couples, LGBT groups are continuing to say they support the measure because it contains other provisions that would directly impact the LGBT community and provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 267,000 LGBT people who are among the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.
Among the provisions that directly impact the LGBT community is repeal of the one-year deadline on filing for asylum ā a deadline that many LGBT asylum seekers in the United States miss because they’re unaware of it or lack the financial resource to meet it ā and improvements in immigration detention facilities to benefit transgender detainees.
In a conference call with reporters, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLAAD and GetEQUAL highlighted these aspects of immigration reform to bolster its support among LGBT people.
Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, was among those who said the provisions related to asylum and detentions facilities are important to the work done by LGBT advocates.
“We also recognized early that the bill will impact many more LGBT people than simply would be impacted by UAFA,” Kendell said. “We have seen some of the most horrific stories of damage done, discrimination, harassment, terrorizing [involving] LGBT asylum seekers and detention facilities in this country.”
Ralls acknowledged that Immigration Equality continues to support the immigration bill despite discontent over the lack of UAFA-like language in the legislation.
“Weāre very disappointed that the bill does not currently include binational families, but as the LGBT organization that speaks to more immigrants than every other group in our community combined, we support the bill, as it includes important provisions that would help many of those individuals, many of whom are our clients, too,” Ralls said.
Fred Sainz, HRC’s vice president of communications, also said his organization still supports immigration reform even without language for bi-national gay couples.
“We are committed to immigration reform,” Sainz said. “Undocumented individuals that happen to be LGBT will immeasurably benefit from immigration reform.”
Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled House has its own “Gang of Eight” working on its version of reform, although the legislation that group of lawmakers produces, as Ralls noted, isn’t expected to include a provision for bi-national gay couples.
“Our strategy all along has been we want to be in the Senate bill, that if a Senate and House bill go to conference, we can rely on our champions in both chambers to make sure that we stay in the bill that reaches the president’s desk,” Ralls said.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), sponsor of UAFA in the House, would likely be the one to amend the bill to include the provision, but given the conservative nature of the House, amending the bill in either committee or the floor to include UAFA seems unlikely.
Ilan Kayatsky, a Nadler spokesperson, said plans for what will happen with the House bill after it’s unveiled by the House “Gang of Eight” are unclear.
“We still donāt know what form or process the House CIR bill will take, so itās premature to sort out the UAFA specifics just now,” Kayatsky said.
What happens if the Supreme Court strikes down DOMA?
The best hope for bi-national couples may be a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on pending litigation challenging DOMA, the federal law prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriage. The Obama administration has consistently cited this law, and only this law, as the reason why married bi-national gay couples are ineligible for a visa through the marriage-based green card application process.
Moreover, UAFA would no longer be operable for these legally married couples if DOMA were struck down. Even though UAFA provides a path to residency for “permanent partners,” it would no longer provide relief for couples in these states because the law, underĀ Section 2, subsection D, only applies to those who areĀ “unable to contract with that other individual a marriage cognizable under this Act.”
But the situation is murkier for bi-national couples who live in states without marriage equality. Will someone living in Texas be able to sponsor someone as a “permanent partner” or will they have to travel to a marriage equality state, wed, and then apply for a green card through a marriage-based green card application process? What if they cannot leave the state out of financial constraints?
Ralls said the way Immigration Equality interprets UAFA, the law would still have some use in non-marriage equality states even if DOMA is struck down.
“In some ways, it would make it simpler for couples in non-married states, they would not have to travel, they would be able to apply from their home state for their green card,” Ralls said. “So, in some ways, it’s broader and it applies to couples in all 50 states without forcing them to travel.”
Jon Davidson, legal director for Lambda Legal, said he can’t say at this point under what circumstances a bi-national same-sex couple in a non-marriage equality state would be eligible to apply for a visa if UAFA were law and DOMA were struck down.
“I don’t believe there is a definition of that term in the bill and the focus has been on creating relief from DOMA, not the range of reasons that might make it impossible to travel to a state where same-sex couples can marry,” Davidson said. “Indeed, if the bill were to pass, a court might interpret ‘unable to contract’ to reference legal inability not practical inability in light of one’s personal circumstances.”
But even with the possibility of a Supreme Court ruling against DOMA that would allow at least married bi-national couples to stay in the United States, Ralls said it’s incumbent upon Congress to act.
“We think DOMA is unconstitutional, and we hope the court agrees,” Ralls said. “But when it comes to advocating for real families who are impacted by this, weāre not willing to put all of our eggs in a basket that hasnāt yet been delivered. I do not want to have to tell our couples, the day after a bad DOMA ruling, ‘I wish we had fought harder in Congress.'”
Congress
House Republicans advance two anti-trans education bills
Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, LGBTQ groups slammed the effort

Republicans members of the House Education and Workforce Committee advanced two anti-transgender bills on Wednesday, one that would forcibly out students in public elementary and middle schools to their parents and a second covering grades K-12 that critics have dubbed a “don’t say trans” bill.
More specifically, under the PROTECT Kids Act, changes to “a minorās gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form or sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms” could not be made without parental consent, while the Say No to Indoctrination Act would prohibit schools from teaching or advancing “gender ideology” as defined by President Donald Trump’s anti-trans Jan. 20 executive order, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), who was named national teacher of the year before her election to Congress, rose to speak out against the bills during the committee’s convening on Wednesday.
“Curriculum does not include teaching students to be something else. Curriculum does not include indoctrinating students to identify as gay or LGBTQ or other or anything. But federal law mandates that all students have civil rights protections,” she said.
The congresswoman continued, “I don’t really understand what the members of this committee think happens in schools, but my question is, what do we do with these children? The children who you are saying, on this committee, don’t exist, the children who are struggling with their identity and often times confide in their teachers and ask for support and help.”
“What we’re doing in this committee is focusing on a small population of students who are at a point in their life where they are struggling and school may, for many of them, feel like the only safe place or the only place where they can get support, or the only place where they can speak to a counselor,” Hayes said.
“And as a teacher, I don’t care if it was just one student that I had to reassure that they were important and they were valued and they belonged here,” she said. “I’m going to do it, and anyone who has dedicated their life to this profession will do the same. So the idea that you all feel okay with arbitrarily erasing, disappearing people, making them think that they they don’t exist, or they don’t have a place in schools, or the curriculum should not include them, or whatever they’re feeling should not be valued, considered, Incorporated, is just wrong.”
“So I will not be supporting this piece of legislation, as if that was not already evident, and I will be using all of my time, my agency, my energy, my advocacy, to ensure that every student,” Hayes said, “feels valued, respected, important and included in the work that I engage in on this committee.”
The congresswoman concluded, “when you are in a classroom and you are a teacher, and that door closes and a student falls in your arms and says to you, I am struggling, and I can’t go home with this information, and I need Help, you have a moral responsibility to help that child or you are in the wrong profession. I yield back.”
The Congressional Equality Caucus slammed the bills in an emailed statement from the chair, U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who noted that the legislation comes as “Donald Trump is illegally trying to dismantle the Department of Education and pass tax cuts for billionaires.”
“Extreme Republicans in Congress are trying to distract Americans by advancing cruel, anti-trans legislation,ā said the congressman, who is gay. āSchool districts, teachers, and staff best understand how to draft age-appropriate, inclusive curriculums and craft policies that both respect the important role parents play in childrenās education and the importance of studentsā safety.”
“Yet, Republicansā Donāt Say Trans Act would cut critical funding for schools if their teachers teach lessons or include materials that simply acknowledge the reality of trans peoplesā existence,” Takano added. “Republicansā forced outing bill would put kids in danger by requiring schools that want to take certain steps to affirm a transgender studentās identity to forcibly out them to their parents ā even if the school knows this will put the studentās safety at risk.”
The caucus also slammed the bills in a series of posts on X.
šØBAD BILLS ALERTšØ
— Congressional Equality Caucus (@EqualityCaucus) April 9, 2025
Today, the GOP-controlled Education Committee is voting on two anti-trans bills: One to force teachers to out trans students if they want to take certain steps to affirm the studentsā identities, and a āDonāt Say Transā bill.
Here's why weāre opposed: š§µ
The Human Rights Campaign also issued a statement on Wednesday by the organization’s communications director, Laurel Powell:
āInstead of putting our dangerous President in check and tackling the American economyās free fall, House Republicans showed where their priorities lie ā giving airtime to junk science and trying to pass more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
“Forcing teachers to āoutā trans youth rather than supporting them in coming out to their families and demanding that schools ignore the trans students who sit in their classrooms is a craven attempt to distract people from economic disaster by vilifying children.
“Even as they fire people whose jobs were to make sure schools have the resources they need, the Trump administration and their allies in Congress continue to attack vulnerable young people to score points with the far right.ā
Politics
Trump’s battle with Maine over trans policies escalates
State has filed a lawsuit, federal government has cut funding and launched investigations

A months-long standoff between between President Donald Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) continued to escalate this week with a lawsuit targeting the administration on Monday and cuts to federal grants to the state on Tuesday.
The conflict kicked off on Feb. 21 at the White House, where the president threatened Mills with retaliation after she declined to say that her state would not comply with his executive order barring transgender athletes from competing in school sports. The governor and other officials have said the policy is in conflict with provisions of the Maine Human Rights Act, while the president argued his executive action supersedes state law.
While the heated exchange between the two concluded with each party vowing to see the other in court, developments in the time since suggest that Trump and Mills are likely to square off over legal questions far broader than whether the White House can prohibit trans girls in a blue state from joining the field hockey team.
In a complaint filed on Monday, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey argued U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had unlawfully frozen funding for “certain administrative and technological functions” in schools in his state after concluding, in the absence of a formal investigation, that some of their programs violated Title IX rules. A letter last week from Rollins notifying Mills of the USDA’s decision warned that it was “only the beginning.”
Then on Tuesday, the Maine Department of Corrections said the Justice Department had cancelled several grants, which according to the Maine Morning Star would have supported “drug treatment for adults in reentry, programs that foster engagement between incarcerated parents and their children, and resources for corrections agencies to improve post-release supervision in order to prevent recidivism and reduce crime.” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said during an interview that the move came in response to the state’s incarceration of a transwoman in a women’s prison.
One of Trump’s day-one executive actions targeting trans rights included a provision directing the AG and the Homeland Security secretary to ensure that women’s prisons and detention centers do not detain or house “males” or trans women, though here and elsewhere the administration deliberately does not make the distinction ā and in Section 2 of the order, establishes that the policy of the federal government will be to treat gender as a binary that is fixed at birth, a narrow definition that denies the biological reality that people can be intersex (meaning their sex characteristics cannot be clearly distinguished as male or female) while others, like trans individuals, may experience incongruity between their gender and birth sex.
Leading up to this week, other major developments following the Feb. 21 White House confrontation between Trump and Maine’s Democratic governor include:
- A probe in late March by the U.S. Department of Education into whether policies in Maine schools that protect the privacy of students by prohibiting disclosures to parents about the sexual orientation or gender identity of their kids may violate federal law,
- Trump’s demand for an apology from Mills on her refusal to do so, both in late March,
- DOE’s determination in late March that schools in the state were violating Title IX by allowing trans women and girls to compete in sports, which came after the Trump administration reversed that portion of the Title IX guidance issued under former President Joe Biden,
- An announcement in mid-March by the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights that the Maine Principalsā Association and Greely High School violated Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete in sports,
- The USDA’s decision in early March to hold up funding for universities in the University of Maine system pending the conclusion of the agency’s probe into possible violations of Title IX and Title VI, which was subsequently reinstated after a couple of weeks,
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s withdrawal of funding in early March for the University of Maine’s Maine Sea Grant program, which was followed less than a week later with the U.S. Department of Commerce ‘s announcement that it would be renegotiated, and
- HHS’s determination in late February that the Maine Department of Education violated Title IX, a conclusion reached just four days after an investigation was opened and without any interviews, data requests or negotiations.
Congress
Chris Pappas launches Senate bid in N.H.
Video references ‘political extremists who want to take rights away’

Gay U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) launched his bid for the seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) with a video posted to X Thursday morning and kickoff event planned for the evening in his hometown of Manchester, N.H.
āIām running for Senate because our economy, our democracy, and our way of life are on the line, and New Hampshire deserves a senator who is grounded in the people, places, and values of this state,āĀ he said in a press release.Ā āGranite Staters know my record of taking on the big fights and looking out for them ā pushing tax cuts for working families and small businesses, taking on predatory companies and corporate polluters, and standing up to Big Pharma to lower drug costs.”
Pappas’s statement continued, “Like Sen. Shaheen, Iāll always put New Hampshire first. You can count on me to lead the charge to confront this administration, self-dealing billionaires, and extreme politicians who threaten our future and our ability to get things done for New Hampshire.ā
In his video, the fourth-term congressman pledged to rein in the power of big corporations, and he addressed “veterans, parents, small business owners,” and the “people who have done everything right” but are “asking ‘why does it feel like the system is rigged?'”
Referencing concerns with the Republican administration and GOP majorities in Congress, he said, “You think about the social security office that’s gonna be closed in Littleton, drastic cuts to Medicaid, all in the name of giving big tax breaks to billionaires like Elon Musk.”
Pappas also seemed to allude to anti-LGBTQ moves by the White House and congressional Republicans, promising to stand up to “political extremists who want to take rights away.” The ad wrapped with a shot of the congressman with his husband Vann Bentley. “We will get our country back on track. Stronger, fairer, freer, working for everyone.”
Iām in.
— Chris Pappas (@ChrisPappasNH) April 3, 2025
Today Iām announcing my campaign for U.S. Senate because New Hampshire needs a fighter who gets things done.
Letās do this. pic.twitter.com/bAyE5u4LSk
Freshman U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) is also considering a run for Shaheen’s seat while former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu are mulling campaigns.
Pappas was endorsed by the LGBTQ Victory Fund, whose newly seated CEO Evan Low released a statement:
āRep. Chris Pappas has a long and storied history of serving New Hampshire, and LGBTQ+ Victory Fund has been right by his side since he ran for state office 23 years ago. He has a track record of taking on big fights for his constituents and has proven that he can win tough races, outperform expectations, and flip key Granite State seats. Whether its strengthening the economy, protecting bodily autonomy or taking on price gougers, Chris will continue to be an important voice that looks out for the people of New Hampshire.
āWe need Chrisās pro-equality voice in the Senate, where right now we only have one LGBTQ+ member. He will be a strong fighter against anti-equality forces in the current administration and extreme politicians looking to erase our rights and existence.
āHis presence in the Senate will be critical to retake the majority and ensure that Granite State voters wonāt get a raw deal. Chris deeply understands New Hampshire, and his record shows that he is laser-focused on getting things done. We are thrilled to endorse Chris Pappas for a history-making place as the first out LGBTQ+ man to serve in the Senate.ā
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