Statement for American Conference of Cantors co-Sponsors UAFA

The American Conference of Cantors is proud to be a co-sponsor of the Uniting American Families Act,
now making its way through the US Congress, which seeks equality under immigration law for families
in the LGBT and HIV-positive community.

There are currently thousands of bi-national LGBT families in the US—many with children—at risk of
being separated. This act would make it illegal to discriminate against immigrant partners and spouses -
many of whom fled to our shores needing asylum - based on sexual orientation or HIV status.

America has always been a haven for immigrants: some coming for better lives; many to escape
tyranny—including generations of our own people. In this Pesach season as we recall our liberation from
Egypt, the words of our haggadah remain urgent: “b’chol dor vador…in each generation, we must act as
if we ourselves had come out of Egypt.”

We therefore join with our partner organizations: the Union for Reform Judaism, the Religious Action
Center, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis; in urging Congress to uphold the ideals for
which America, and the Jewish people, has long stood, and pass the UAFA.

About the American Conference of Cantors
Founded in 1953, the American Conference of Cantors is the pre-eminent professional organization of
Cantors in North America, currently representing over 450 cantors in North America and around the
world. As clergy committed to Judaism and Jewish Music, the membership of the ACC serves the diverse
needs of the Jewish people. As an affiliate of the Union for Reform Judaism, the ACC supports its
members in their sacred calling as emissaries for Judaism and for Jewish music, providing a unique and
dynamic vision of programs and initiatives that respond to the needs of the greater Reform community.
For more information, please visit the ACC’s website at www.accantors.org.