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The story in this video was first brought to my attention last week on Facebook. It is a story not unlike so many I have heard in my work with Out4Immigration. Josh, an American, married Henry, who is from Venezuela, in a state that recognizes gay marriages (Connecticut) last year. If Josh was "Jane", he would have been able to petition the federal government to sponsor his husband for a green card. While there may be a waiting period and even an "investigation", the couple would not be looking
“I don’t want to be an activist,” Josh Vandiver, a 29-year-old gay man explained.A Harvard graduate completing his Ph.D. at Princeton, with a focus on comparative ancient Greek and Renaissance political theory, Vandiver said, “I want to finish up my dissertation and become a professor… I’m a reclusive scholar. I like to be in the library all day.”Cristina Ojeda, a 24-year-old lesbian who came to the US from Mexico when she was 11 and became a citizen at the same time her father did, has more experience with LGBT causes. As an undergraduate at the University of California at Santa Cruz, she found herself amidst a politically charged student body. “It was natural to be involved,” she said.Still, when Ojeda, who grew up in California, moved to Buffalo to get a master’s in social work at SUNY, she found an apartment off campus in a low-income neighborhood where she felt uneasy leading a vis
Please contact your …Please contact your representative and tell them to support The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA, H.R. 1024, S. 424). I’m also a person that has to live out side of the USA because my partner is French. This is unjust and unfair! It’s time to make the law equal for everyone! Please support UAFA.
“I don’t want to be an activist,” Josh Vandiver, a 29-year-old gay man explained.A Harvard graduate completing his Ph.D. at Princeton, with a focus on comparative ancient Greek and Renaissance political theory, Vandiver said, “I want to finish up my dissertation and become a professor… I’m a reclusive scholar. I like to be in the library all day.”Cristina Ojeda, a 24-year-old lesbian who came to the US from Mexico when she was 11 and became a citizen at the same time her father did, has more experience with LGBT causes. As an undergraduate at the University of California at Santa Cruz, she found herself amidst a politically charged student body. “It was natural to be involved,” she said.Still, when Ojeda, who grew up in California, moved to Buffalo to get a master’s in social work at SUNY, she found an apartment off campus in a low-income neighborhood where she felt uneasy leading a vis
California’s Senate Judiciary committee may soon be holding an official hearing on AJR 15, a resolution if approved would confirm California’s support of the passing of a United States Congressional bill The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA-HR.1024 & S 424).

Authored by Assembly Member Kevin de Leon, CA-45, AJR 15 declares California’s disapproval of current US Immigration laws which forbids Same-Sex bi-national couples the opportunity from being able to sponsor their partners for immigration purposes.
A Brazilian man was reunited with his American husband this week after a U.S. senator pressed federal officials to temporarily allow the gay man back into the country on humanitarian grounds.

Nearly three years ago, the couple split when Oliveira was forced to return to Brazil after being denied permanent residency in the U.S. because the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages.

The pair maintained contact through online video chats and sporadic visits during holidays.

The case gained international attention from gay rights and immigrant advocates who criticized U.S. officials for separating the couple even though they were legally married.
Rare Permission by DHS for Binational CoupleLez Get RealHowever because gay people are unable to sponsor a spouse for immigration to the USA in parity with heterosexual couples, they were separated for nearly ...and more »

Tim Coco and Genesio Oliveira married in 2005, when same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts.

However because gay people are unable to sponsor a spouse for immigration to the USA in parity with heterosexual couples, they were separated for nearly three years with Tim in Massachusetts and Genesio stuck in Brazil..

In an extraordinarily rare show of compassion, the immigration officials granted permission for Genesio to enter the USA and remain here for one year on humanitarian grounds, clearing the way for him to try again for legal residency.


Coco said he has spent about $250,000 in legal bills. A h
A resolution supporting the federal bill that would allow gay U.S. citizens to sponsor their partners for a visa passed the California Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday and now heads to the Senate floor for a vote.

Our cover story this week, "Worlds Apart," tells the story of three Bay Area couples whose lives would be changed by the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), a federal bill that allows "permanent partners" to be treated the same as straight spouses in immigration matters. Currently, gay couples have no legal pathway to sponsor their foreign partners to stay in the country.


While the federal UAFA bill is on hold while lawmakers decide whether to include it in the comprehensive immigration reform, California legislators such as Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced a resolution last year urging the U.S. Congress to pass the s
THE LGBTQ community is on the MARCH again on SUNDAY, March 21st — in Washington, D.C. Lincoln Memorial 1 p.m.

This time for LGBT Immigration Domestic Partnership Rights and Immigration Reform!!!

Please join the Parade in D.C. (see below) or by bus from NYC:
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....
Here is the plan – I will post a new true life story, bi- monthly featuring a story of one binational lesbian or gay couple who are either in hiding in the US, waiting for a visa to run out, living in exile or living alone unable to be with a beloved partner. I vow to do this until one of two things happen first:

a. UAFA (or equivalent) is passed into law, giving us our equal right to sponsor our partners for green-cards, equally; or

b. I run out of binational couples – The estimate is between 40,000-100,000 binationals which means I can keep writing – lets see- 2 per month for 12 months – divide into – lets do the smaller amount in case the big amount is inaccurate – so divide 24 into 40,000 = 1,666 years – please check my math….. okay I hope “a” happens first!
There has been a recent bevy of co-sponsors signing onto the Uniting American Families Act, the legislation that seeks to provide Lesbian and Gay Americans with the right to Petition for their same-sex spouses/ partners to live in the USA. This law merely seeks to place the words “permanent partners” into the existing Immigration and Naturalization Act. This is no time to let up, but rather imprtant that we make the most of the momentum. I have 14 couples I am trying to help remain together in the US. That is a tip of the iceberg. They are all desperate. They want to stay together and they want to stay at home. We need UAFA legialstion and awareness of the binational issue more so than ever. Please I am asking for your help.
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Today the news was immense when Senator Arlen Specter sign his support to the Bill. In June this year the Senator attended and spoke at
Two days after signing the historic Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act--the first federal law to extend protections to GLBT Americans--President Barack Obama addressed two other issues seen by gay Americans as crucial to the cause of equality.

The president signed into law legislation that re-authorizes the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act. The law provides funds for another four years to programs that provide medicine and care for needy people living with HIV/AIDS. An estimated 500,000 individuals rely on the program to maintain their treatment regimens...
When we hear this tried crap about Obama being too busy for gay rights, and how he's got bigger things to deal with, it helps, but remains unfortunate, that we have stories like Genesio "Junior" Oliveira and Joe Smith (a fake name) — two men forced to leave the United States because this nation endorses discrimination.

Wasn't assistant attorney general Tom Perez — Obama's "civil rights czar" — just saying how he was going to stick up for queers? Yes, he was: "We must fight for fairness and basic equality for our LGBT brothers and sisters who so frequently are being left in the shadows [and to] ensure that there's a level playing field in which our LGBT brothers and sisters are judged by the content of their character."

So how come it's Perez's own Justice Department that just let expire an asylum claim from Oliveira, who was raped in his native Brazil and fled
I walked with purpose, my boots hitting the floor in a tempo that echoed my urgency. My mouth was dry and anxiety had sunk into the creases on my face. My family walked behind me, no one daring to talk in case my composure collapsed. I knew where to go and what to do. In my hand — now sweaty — I gripped an unassuming brown envelope that carried my family’s future in it. Our Canadian immigration papers.

It was just after midnight in early March 2007. We were walking down a wide hallway from the plane into Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, towards a glass window with signs directing new immigrants inside. We entered the room and went to the last counter that was open, handed our papers over to a small woman who, in a matter of fact way, stamped our papers, took our photographs and confirmed our permanent resident status before shuffling us toward customs. Like it was..

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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.