Amsterdam sends a marriage equality message to America

Crosscut
August 3, 2009
Sunday afternoon aboard a boat sailing the canals of Amsterdam, Mayor Job Cohen performed five marriages in a row, each between a Dutch and an American citizen. The nuptials were timed to celebrate the 400-year-long cultural connection between Old Amsterdam and Nieuw Amsterdam (New York). [Link]

HRC criticizes Obama over DOMA brief

Washington Blade
June 15, 2009
The Human Rights Campaign took President Obama to task following the release of a controversial Justice Department brief last week that defended the Defense of Marriage Act. In a letter sent to Obama on Monday, HRC President Joe Solmonese contests certain arguments made in the brief and urges the president to move to repeal DOMA, which prevents federal recognition of same-sex unions:

When a woman must choose between her job and caring for her spouse because they are not covered by the [Family Medical Leave Act], DOMA is not 'netural.' DOMA is not a 'neutral' policy to the thousands of bi-national same-sex couples who have to choose between family and country because they are considered strangers under our immigration laws. It is not a 'neutral' policy toward the minor child of a same-sex couple, who is denied thousands of dollars of surviving mother's or father's benefits because his parents are not 'spouses' under Social Security law. Exclusion is not neutrality. If we are equals, if you recognize that our families live the same, love the same, and contribute as much as yours, then ... we call on you to put your principles into action and send legislation repealing DOMA to Congress.

[Link]

Immigration law divides gay couples

Houston Chronicle
June 14, 2009
Joseph Racicot and his partner, Roland, will celebrate their eighth anniversary as a couple on Tuesday. They will spend their anniversary some 1,500 miles apart because under federal law, gay and lesbian U.S. citizens are not entitled to apply for legal status for their partners, even if their marriage is recognized by state law. “The bottom line is that we wouldn’t be going through this if, as an American, I had the right to sponsor my partner,” said Roland. [Link]

Gay couples forced to flee US over immigration law

The Associated Press
June 10, 2009
The mayor of San Angelo, Texas offered a stunning explanation when he suddenly resigned: He was in love with a man who was an illegal immigrant and had gone to Mexico. His local prominence and his run for the border on the day he was supposed to be sworn in for a fourth term caused jaws to drop, but it also became a high-profile example of the thousands of Americans who face a similar choice — separate or move abroad — because they can't secure green cards for their partners like heterosexual spouses can. [Link]

What's there to "Get" about Marriage Equality?

The Huffington Post
June 10, 2009
Jennifer Brunner, the Secretary of State of Ohio, writes:

...it is time for marriage equality to be available to all, straight or LGBT. We are a community, and in these times, we must support and depend on each other as people do in a real community. ... A good start is to recognize family in all the ways it emerges, for a stronger social fabric that will support us as we pursue the founding ideals of our country for years to come. Marriage equality's time is now.

[Link]

Uniting American Families Act Senate Hearings - Video

Pam's House Blend
June 3, 2009
Julian Bond, the Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP, testified last Wednesday at the UAFA Senate Hearings before the Senate Judiciary on the discrimination LGBT couples face regarding immigration laws. Mr. Bond's statements included the following:

The definition of family should not be interpreted so stringently as to exclude loving couples who happen to be of the same gender. Family sponsorship accounts for more than 85% of legal immigration in the US; the system has not been updated in 20 years.

Click on video below:



[Link]

Calif. Lesbian Mother Given Deportation Reprieve

Associated Press
April 24, 2009
Shirley Tan, a Filipino immigrant facing deportation and separation from her partner and family, will likely be allowed to remain in the U.S. through next year after Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced an emergency immigration bill in Congress that would give Tan two years to apply for a new visa or for permanent U.S. residency. [Link]

EDITORIAL: A test case on same-sex fairness

San Francisco Chronicle

April 1, 2009

The Chronicle urges the passage of the Uniting American Families Act, citing the case of Shirley Tan, a Filipino immigrant who could be separated from her partner, Jay Mercado, if she is deported Friday under federal immigration laws that fail to protect gay families. [Link]

Binational, Same-Sex Couples Face Immigration Problems

San Jose Mercury News

March 29, 2009
Binational gay couples discuss how the so-called DOMA and non-inclusive federal immigration laws negatively effect their lives, affirming their support for a change in federal law that would grant gay partners the immigration protections afforded to straight married couples.[Link]

EDITORIAL: Separation Anxiety

The Washington Post

March 16, 2009

"The Uniting American Families Act would allow gay and lesbian Americans and permanent residents to sponsor their foreign-born partners for legal residency in the United States. The bill, introduced last month in the Senate by Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and in the House by Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), would add 'permanent partner' and 'permanent partnership' after the words 'spouse' and 'marriage' in relevant sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If passed, it would right a gross unfairness." [Link]

U.S. immigration won't allow family unification for same-sex couples

South Florida Sun Sentinel
October 8, 2008
A bill that would grant immigration protections to gay couples so they can stay together in the U.S. has stalled in Congress. [Link]
Learn more about why marriage matters to binational couples.

Asian Pacific American Legal Center Calls for Passage of UAFA, Repeal of DOMA

Indybay
September 30, 2008
The Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (APALC) called for an end to immigration discrimination against same-sex binational couples in a detailed report, “A Devastating Wait: Family Unity and the Immigration Backlogs.” [Link]

U.S. law sends some bi-national, same-sex couples into exile

Independent Weekly
September 17, 2008
Like thousands of other gay and lesbian couples in this country, and countless more abroad, they were caught in a little-known intersection of two controversial public policy issues: gay rights and immigration. (Link)

Should You Believe in Obama?

Advocate
September 9, 2008
His promises to gay people -- full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, a reversal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” immigration rights for same-sex couples, a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and passage of the Matthew Shepard Act, which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to federal hate-crimes laws -- go further than any presidential nominee in history. [Link]

Love in exile: One year later, Brazilian spouse still blocked from returning

Bay Windows
August 13, 2008
While immigration law allows spouses of American citizens to obtain legal permanent residency, under DOMA Coco and Oliveira are not considered spouses. The couple is considering filing a legal challenge to overturn DOMA in federal court, but Coco told the crowd at the vigil that he and Oliveira have become activists by necessity, not by choice. [Link]

Marriage Equality in California: until deportation do us part?

Washington Post
July 2, 2008
A profile of a binational couple with a child who will not be protected from deportation by getting married in California since immigration status is a federal issue. (Link)

Immigration Not an Option for all Couples

OC Register
April 14, 2008
Binational same-sex couples seek ways to stay together, even though their unions are not recognized under federal immigration law. [Link]

MA Man Can't Get Passport Under Married Name

The Sun Chronicle
March 21, 2008
The U.S. State Department denied a passport to an international AIDS counselor using his new married name because the department refuses to recognize his marriage to a man in Massachusetts. [Link]

A Very Surreal Victory, Tempered By Two Things...

Pam’s House Blend
February 2, 2008
Well, what a great notice that came through on my listserv last night! New York Appellate Court rules that out out of state marriages must be recognized! Woo HOO! Yay for all NY couples who married in Massachusetts, or Canada - and yay for ME ! I got married in Canada last September! And we live in New York! But...wait a minute. My partner is here on a temporary visa. [Link]

Gay Couples Left in a Legal Limbo

The Sacramento Bee
October 21, 2007
With the broadening view of human rights around the globe and acceptance of gay relationships, 19 countries now permit citizens or legal residents to sponsor same-sex permanent partners for legal residency. The United States is not among them. [Link]