Say what you will about US Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III’s run for US Senator Ed Markey’s seat in the other Capitol Hill chamber. As congressman or candidate, the US Rep from Massachusetts is a strong LGBTQ ally.
On a late September campaign trip, Kennedy visited Worcester’s Hadwen Park Congregational Church to address some 30 LGBTQ immigrants receiving support from the LGBT Asylum Task Force. The group is based at the church.
“Our entire immigration system needs a complete structural overhaul,” Kennedy told them, adding, according to The Boston Globe, that the current system often treats immigrants and refugees like criminals “rather than people fleeing persecution, violence, destitution, and other forms of oppression.”
Reported the Globe:
Kennedy listened to personal stories and took questions from asylum seekers and recipients from Uganda, Kenya, Jamaica, Honduras, Turkey, and Jordan.
Lee Williams, 41, recounted his struggles and those of friends in his native Jamaica, where, he said, “It is illegal to be LGBTQ+ and punishable by law.”
“I have been attacked. I’ve been beaten up on several occasions. I was shot at. I was held at gunpoint in my office and threatened to be killed,” Williams said, going on to recall an incident when Jamaican police tried to blackmail him by threatening to “out” him as gay.
“The torture and constant threats forced me to flee my country, flee my job,” he said. …
Looking at the black and brown faces in the church pews, Kennedy drew parallels between their experiences and those of his ancestors, denouncing political rhetoric that frames immigrants as a drain on American society rather than contributors to the nation’s wealth and vitality.
“Both sides of my family came to this country fleeing destitution and persecution: my mother’s family a long time ago for religious freedom, my father’s family fleeing famine and oppression in Ireland,” he said.
“That is something to be celebrated, not something to be looked down on or dismissed.”
Williams said in an interview that he was impressed with Kennedy’s message and would vote for him next year, if he were a citizen.
“I think he’s in tune with what’s really happening in terms of immigration and the reforms that . . . need to take place,” Williams said. “I think he gets us as asylum-seekers. He understands that there’s a difference between just regular refugees and people who are seeking asylum for different reasons.”
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