"U.S. immigration law prioritizes family unity. Marrying a citizen is still the most common way to get residency, and everyone knows there are more than a few scam marriages squeaking through. Yet for gays, it's a very different story. Since federal law only recognizes marriages between men and women, gay partners are left with no way to sponsor each other to stay in the country.
"Now that Arizona's 'papers please' law has pushed immigration reform to Washington's front burner, Democrats propose allowing 'permanent partners' to be treated the same as spouses under immigration law. While 19 countries have similar policies, it won't be an easy sell: The gay lobby fears they'll be sacrificed as a bargaining chip to get Republicans on board, while pro-immigrant groups worry that adding in gays will ruin any chance for reform for everyone else.
"While critics say le
Search results for a, practical, wedding, celebrating, freedom, vermont
Worlds apart (Freedom to Marry)
Posted by
BinationalHope 704 days ago
(http://www.freedomtomarry.org)
Obama and LGBT Rights
Posted by
UnitedByLove 704 days ago
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com)
For supporters of LGBT rights, the election of President Obama represented an apparent historical turning point for sexual minorities in our country. As a presidential candidate, Obama had said all of the rights things: he criticized the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (DADT); he called for the enactment of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would protect employees against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination; and called for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
But now that almost a third of Obama's first term has gone by, there is growing despair among many of his LGBT supporters over how little the administration has accomplished on gay rights. We have been here before. Eighteen years ago many gay rights advocates celebrated the election of President Clinton, the first presidential candidate to reach out to the LGBT c
But now that almost a third of Obama's first term has gone by, there is growing despair among many of his LGBT supporters over how little the administration has accomplished on gay rights. We have been here before. Eighteen years ago many gay rights advocates celebrated the election of President Clinton, the first presidential candidate to reach out to the LGBT c
A Binational Xmas Wish in A letter to President Obama
Posted by
BinatUK 878 days ago
(http://lezgetreal.com)
Mr. President, with great respect, I am mentioning this during the holiday season because this time for many is fraught with sadness, fear and pain. Exiled Americans, who are with their spouses, cannot come home to spend Xmas with extended families and if they do, they have to leave spouses abroad. Tens of thousands of same sex couples are unable to spend these holidays together because they are stuck in different countries. These families cannot wait any longer. Our binational spouses and partners are being turned away at US airports, even as I write these words, at the arbitrary instance of an ICE officer....
Desperately Seeking Freedom (Newsweek)
Posted by
USABound 900 days ago
(http://www.newsweek.com)
"For straights [Brazil] is dangerous, but for gays it's worse," says Luiz, 42. Though he hasn't talked to his family in close to 25 years because of their disapproval of homosexuality, coming to the United States has allowed Luiz to begin a new life, one in which he can openly live as a gay man.
The time is now, lest immigration be maligned further. A nation born of immigrants, whether Hispanic, Asian, African, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, we are forgetting the forbearance shown our forefathers and forgoing the ... U.S. Representative Mike Honda, who represents California’s 15th Congressional district (including Silicon Valley) has long been a supporter of immigration reform. In today’s Roll Call (popular in-game newspaper on Capitol Hill), there is an opinion piece by Congressman Honda that refreshingly includes binational same-sex couples while giving examples of why the current immigration system must be reformed....
Another constituent, Judy Rickard, will permanently leave America this November in an effort to keep her family together. Under U.S. law, she cannot be reunited with her partner, Karin Bogliolo, a UK national. Judy would have preferred to
Another constituent, Judy Rickard, will permanently leave America this November in an effort to keep her family together. Under U.S. law, she cannot be reunited with her partner, Karin Bogliolo, a UK national. Judy would have preferred to
American Gays and Lesbians find refuge in the Netherlands
Posted by
NLXile 1023 days ago
(http://lotusopening.blogspot.com)
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. From Love Exiles Foundation. Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Four hundred years after Henry Hudson first set...
A Gross Unfairness (I Said I Do Today)
Posted by
Fight4theRight 1028 days ago
(http://isaididotoday.com)
A report issued in 2006 by two nongovernmental organizations, Human Rights Watch and Immigration Equality, describes the written response made in 1975 by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to an American citizen's petition to sponsor a foreign same-sex partner for legal residency in the United States. The INS denied the petition for the following reason: "You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots." Except perhaps in the explicitness of language, federal policy toward same-sex binational couples has changed little since then. On June 3 of this year, Congress held its first-ever hearing on the plight of such couples and brought attention to the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), sponsored in the Senate by Patrick Leahy and in the House by Jerrold Nadler (and subsequently folded into a larger immigration reform bill). Introd
A Gross Unfairness The Workings of the Straight State (The Nation)
Posted by
BinatUK 1028 days ago
(http://www.thenation.com)
It is not really news that inhabitants of the United States are governed by what historian Margot Canaday calls, in the title of her excellent book, a "straight state." For some time now, scholars of sexuality (following in the footsteps of those who have studied and challenged the race and gender hierarchies embedded in state policies and actions) have professed the analytical goal of what historian Lisa Duggan, writing in 1994, called "queering the state." These scholars have argued that the supposed naturalness of the heterosexual couple, and the unnaturalness of alternatives, is presumed and reinforced in the ordinary workings of government. Canaday's substantial contribution is to trace, in gripping and at times horrifying detail, exactly how the United States came to operate in this fashion over the course of much of the twentieth century. The Straight State provides a compelling
Freedom To Marry Our Pets
Posted by
SFbeat 1054 days ago
(http://bullybloggers.wordpress.com)
Why not march for more open immigration policies rather than hope to bring just their legal spouse into the country? All the broader economic issues you mention around universal health care and immigration seem a lot more urgent to me than marriage.
A Crack in the Floodgates
Posted by
SFbeat 1095 days ago
(http://www.jerekeys.com)
I have a theory (it could be bunnies) about the current foot-dragging of the federal government around LGBT rights. Why has Obama forsaken us on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell? Why is the Senate considering stalling the Matthew Shepard Act by tying it once again into a defense spending bill? Why hasn’t the House moved on an inclusive Employment Nondiscrimination Act? Why won’t the government end the ban on HIV positive visitors or sponsoring same-sex partners for immigration to the United States? Why isn’t anyone talking about a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and a federal civil union bill (or marriage equality for that matter)? Why can’t we even get our goddammed legal marriages counted on the goddammed census?
For perspective, ask yourself when was the..
...sponsoring same-sex partners for immigration to ... repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and a fe
For perspective, ask yourself when was the..
...sponsoring same-sex partners for immigration to ... repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and a fe
A Practical Wedding: Celebrating Freedom In Vermont
Posted by
UnitedByLove 1139 days ago
(http://www.apracticalwedding.com)
meg, you rule. thanks for linking to the heartbreaking post about the mom facing deportation... there's a bill right now called the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA)...check out what you can do over at www.immigrationequality.org ...
A Gay Mom Faces Deportation
Posted by
JoseDFW 1139 days ago
(http://overturn8.nclrights.org)
She has 12 year-old twins with her partner of 23 years, but Shirley Tan can’t get her green cards by marrying - unlike heterosexual immigrants.
Out4Immigration Says State Law Still Excludes Gay Couples from 1,138 Federal Marriage Rights, including Immigration
MONTPELIER, VT — April 7, 2008 — The Vermont Legislature voted today to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The veto override will allow same-sex couples to marry and enjoy all the state benefits afforded to opposite-sex couples.
Vermont’s governor had argued that the state already had sufficient civil union laws on the books that gave gays and lesbians the same rights as married couples. State lawmakers and their constituents, however, felt that barring gays and lesbians from marriage and limiting them to civil unions was “separate but equal” treatment and not sufficient in maintaining equal rights for all Vermonters.
Vermont now becomes the fourth state to offer full state marriage benefits
MONTPELIER, VT — April 7, 2008 — The Vermont Legislature voted today to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The veto override will allow same-sex couples to marry and enjoy all the state benefits afforded to opposite-sex couples.
Vermont’s governor had argued that the state already had sufficient civil union laws on the books that gave gays and lesbians the same rights as married couples. State lawmakers and their constituents, however, felt that barring gays and lesbians from marriage and limiting them to civil unions was “separate but equal” treatment and not sufficient in maintaining equal rights for all Vermonters.
Vermont now becomes the fourth state to offer full state marriage benefits
A Closer Look at the President's Faith-Based Advisory Council
Posted by
DividedByLaw 1142 days ago
(http://blog.faithinpubliclife.org)
...advocates for Indian women who are victims of domestic abuse and other human rights violations. ... advocated for comprehensive immigration
Wedding Planning in Exile: Shirley Tan and Jay Mercado
Posted by
UnitedByLove 1142 days ago
(http://brideinexile.blogspot.com)
Right now, 95 Congressmen are co-sponsoring HR1024, the Uniting American Families Act, which will eliminate discrimination against same-sex couples in immigration cases, and 17 Senators are co-sponsoring the Senate equivalent, S424. ...
“How may I assist with these stories, if at all?...”
“My question back to you is how do we get immigration reform defined as a...”
“Watch the actual video on ABC 7's website, and you'll see that he's really...”
“Thanks. I shortened it through tinyurl. Works now....”
“Note from imeQ about this editorial: This is an independent project which...”
Feedburner
Promoting public awareness of the need for fairness in immigration policy particularly as it relates to the rights of same-sex bi-national couples in the United States who seek equal immigration rights; Providing information regarding political issues relating to gay immigration equality issues, rights and policy.