Many people in the LGBT and allied community in Arizona worked hard to defeat Proposition 107 – the “Protect Marriage Arizona” on November 7th. Though an important and hard-earned victory, the defeat of Prop 107 must be contextualized in relation to the broader setback for human rights and social justice that the November 7 election represents in the state of Arizona and nationwide. While Arizonans are the first voters to defeat a marriage amendment in the United States, Arizonans overwhelming approved four racist and xenophobic ballot measures. These measures do the following:
1. Mandate English as the official language
2. Bar undocumented migrants from state-funded education and child-care programs
3. Deny bail to undocumented migrants accused of serious crimes
4. Prevent undocumented migrants from suing for punitive damages or rewards
Before the election, Wingspan and Coalici??n de Derechos Humanos stood together in opposition to all of the racist, xenophobic, and homophobic ballot initiatives because we acknowledge the connectedness of the repressive scapegoating tactics used against LGBTs, migrants, and LGBT migrants.
The results of November 7 further the need to acknowledge that our issues cannot be faced in isolation, for despite the narrow defeat of Prop 107; it remains true that those who hate us come from similar and often intertwined ideological foundations. Our opponents continue to use “divide and conquer” tactics to carry out their racist, homophobic agenda, and their efforts are evident in the election results. Now more than ever, we must stand together.
As the great American human rights activist Audre Lorde once said, “your silence will not protect you.” We couldn’t agree more.
We ask LGBT people to speak out in favor of migrant rights. We ask migrants to speak out on behalf of LGBT rights. We ask you to continue to see the connections between the treatment of LGBTs and migrants in federal, state, and local policies. We ask you to acknowledge that some people are both migrant and LGBT and that community building must focus on all facets of the community.
We offer some action steps for you to take in making this stand:
1. Don’t refer to migrants as “illegal.” Human beings are not illegal.
2. Research the unfair global economic policies—often advocated by the U.S. government and U.S. big business—that depress economies in places like Mexico and lead to migration.
3. Research the good that migrants do for the U.S. economy and culture.
4. Join one of the many local migrants’ rights organizations, work for social justice, and learn about the inhumanity caused by the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Though we cannot change the passage of the four racist ballot measures, and we should be pleased with the defeat of the marriage amendment, we continue to ask you to take a pro-migrant, pro-LGBT, pro-human rights stand.
