A blog about Americans who are in love with someone who is not an American, but cannot sponsor them to come to the United States because they are of the same sex. This blog addresses the grave injustice being done to Lesbian and Gay bi-national couples.
With all of the positive progress States are making on Marriage Equality, The Defense of Marriage Act being declared unconstitutional once again is great news.
The question that is on all bi-national Same Sex couples minds is this: What does this mean for us? Right now, it means nothing. As soon as we hear from Lavi Soloway or Out 4 Immigration, I will update this page.
To make things crystal clear, I believe our best bet is to get the Uniting American Families Act passed. We need to be actively contacting our Congress officials and asking them to pass the UAFA.
Today, 2/22/12, The Ballot Book reports the following:
KPCC: Congress members, advocates, officials gather in LA to discuss immigration reform
Congress members, immigration advocates and officials from U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services all met Tuesday in downtown Los
Angeles. The group has gathered to support President Barack Obama’s
recent attempts at immigration reform.
Again, make your voice heard and contact your Congress Members and let them know that we need the Uniting American Families Act passed. We are a small group, we need to band together and speak up for our families.
Prop 8 is overturned again. A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Proposition 8, the
2008 ballot measure that limited marriage in California to one man and
one woman, violated the equal protection rights of gays and lesbians.
Now, a forthcoming appeal could pave the way for the U.S. Supreme Court
to rule on gay marriage as early as next year.
A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 to uphold Walker's decision. "Proposition 8
served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status
and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California," the court said.
The Constitution "requires that there be at least a legitimate reason
for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people
differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been
enacted."
Currently, this means nothing for same sex couples as they still cannot start getting married. The proponents of Prop 8 will have a chance to appeal. If and when the appeal is filed, which it inevitably will be, gay marriage will be kept on hold "pending future proceedings." From everything I have read, experts believe that the proponents of Prop 8 will bypass the full Ninth District Court and will try to take the issue directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has the option to take up the case or not.
Rachael Maddow interviews conservative Republican Lawyer for Marriage Equality, Ted Olson
Washington State Legislature Passes Marriage Equality
Washington state lawmakers voted to approve gay marriage Wednesday,
setting the stage for the state to become the seventh in the nation to
allow same-sex couples to wed.
I, along with hundreds of thousands of Lesbians and Gays listened to the testimony given. On a personal note I would like to say the following: I am sick to death of the "Christian" religious right saying how that God feels that the act of homosexuality is a sin and an abomination. Such things spewed forth from the lips of conservatives like I was in Baptist Sunday School. We heard things like how much "in anguish" they were about this decision. We heard the ever tiresome, yet erroneous, "traditional marriage" argument again and again. We heard the flawed "marriage is for pro-creation" argument. Let us not forget the new argument that Representative Hargrove gave: Gays shouldn't get married because of a Super Bowl Ad.
The argument that is beyond me, however, is when they say that the gay and lesbian couples already have the same rights. In the state in which I live, I can still be fired just for being a lesbian. My wife and I traveled to Iowa to get married. My marriage is not recognized in my state of residency. I cannot sponsor my wife for a green card. So when they say that we have equal rights, they are as mistaken as when they say that the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin.
Right now, none of this really helps bi-national same sex couples at all. Immigration is a federal issue and all of this really fabulous great news is only happening at the state level. We can only hope that some of the court cases being brought against the mistakenly called Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA come up before the United States Supreme Court.
As bi-national same sex couples, we are the minority of a minority. We must all work together to get our Representatives and Senators to take notice of the Uniting American Families Act.
Only a fool would take such a strong stand against Same Sex Marriage without researching the subject completely. Why? Because so much is at stake for an entire group of people. Thousands of people, of Americans are being discriminated against without good reason...but some think they are doing what is right without having done the research or the work. This is irresponsible.
Quick facts about what the Bible says about it:
1. There are only six verses in the Bible that mention a "man lying with a man".
2. In the verses where it is called an "abomination", it is clear that the Bible is speaking of the rites/practices of idol worship.
So the United States Congress would discriminate against an entire group of people based on hearsay. I urge all of Congress to do research and read from both sides of the arguement.
Just because the church says something doesn't make it right.
*The Church said the Earth is Flat
*The Church said that the Earth was the center of the Universe
*The Church tortured and killed those who didn't agree with them
*The Church started wars in the name of God
The Founding Fathers believed that no one should push/impress their beliefs upon anyone else. That is why they believed in the separation of Church and State and religious freedoms.
Repeal the discriminatory so called "Defense of Marriage Act". Pass the Respect for Marriage Act. Pass the Uniting American Families Act. It is the right thing to do.
"Do Right Until the Stars Fall" -Dr. Bob Jones
This is the right thing to do. Give all Americans EQUAL rights.
Representative Lamar Smith from Texas, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has not allowed any Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill to come up for a vote in the committee. As a matter of fact,The Orange County Registerreports that the GOP called the president's action another move to grant “backdoor amnesty to” people who are in the country illegally.
Over and over again the GOP has mentioned that any sort of Comprehensive Immigration Reform like the "Dream Act" is nothing but granting illegals amnesty. The GOP current leader for the President of the United States nomination has taken the position, that all undocumented immigrants should be deported. As a matter of fact, his stance is so strong and negative that the GOP is doing damage control on Twitter by starting the @GOPLatino outreach. I believe that it is too little....and I hope it is too late. Again, I hope that this crumb that these GOP Leaders are throwing to the Latinos .... won't dupe them into voting for these prejudiced bigots.
We need the DREAM Act with the Uniting American Families Act to pass. It is amazing to me that we are told that we have to wait our turn, stand in line. Whereas there might be a line for some of these people, the wait is 10 to 20 YEARS (this is no exaggeration). For most bi-national same sex couples, there is not a line to get into. There is NO LINE for us. When I have mentioned this to some of our Honorable Elected Officials, I have been told (by those bothering to answer me) that we are not normal "nuclear family"
We need the Uniting American Families Act passed. We need DOMA repealed. We need to be treated like we are EQUAL.....because we are. While the Government ponders why our LGBT youth are dying from bullying and suicide, it is no mystery to me. They are taking their cue from our government who fights against giving us Equal rights, fights for religious rights to persecute the LGBT youth, who try to get bills like the Tennessee "Don't Say Gay" bill passed. It is because of this United States Government sanctioned hate, that our LGBT youth are dying.
I urge all of us to vote! Vote for our best hope in getting the Uniting American Families Act passed.... Vote for our best chance of getting DOMA repealed. In my conservative life, I have never voted Democrat (Yes, I voted for McCain in '08), I am voting for Barak Obama in 2012. It is our best chance for EQUALITY.
Well, it looks like, unless there is some huge shake up in the GOP, President Obama will be running against anti-immigration man, Mitt Romney. In statements over and over again he states that he is against amnesty, yet he does not offer any sort of Comprehensive Immigration Reform ideas. As far as any answers for bi-national same sex couples... well, that subject, that specific question has yet to be asked of any GOP delegate.
It looks like our strongest hope is to get President Obama re-elected. My fear is that because of Obama playing politics, he has offended many of the LGBT community and that will divide our vote. A man, for whom I have great respect, Lt. Dan Choi said that he would not support President Obama.
“I think if Obama doesn’t endorse my full marriage equality and my
person hood in this country, then I have no business supporting him and I
don’t think a lot of the people who are first time votes will either,”
Choi said at a panel called ‘What To Do When The President Is Just Not
That Into You.’
Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson got this responsefrom Choi, “Sometimes love comes in harsh forms. I
love my detractors enough to let them know when they are misguided and I
only regret that we are both suffering under a second-class citizenship
imposed by politicians who smile pleasantly while denying our fight for
justice. The harshest treatment would be our acquiescence to the view that we do not deserve equality.”
While I understand Choi's opinion and I respect his stance, to vote for an independent delegate would only allow Mitt Romney to be able to defeat President Obama. It would not allow the independent delegate to win. I feel that a second term for Obama is what we need to get equal marriage rights and equal immigration rights. The Lieutenant has time on his side. We as bi-national couples do not. We are apart from our spouses, we live in exile, we live under the wire, looking over our shoulders. With Obama not having the need to win a third term or kiss up to people for votes, I believe that he will work to get rid of DOMA and help get the Uniting American Families Act passed.
Regardless who wins the GOP nomination, we cannot divide our vote to let these anti-gay (which all GOP's have professed to be) people take office.
No one is more aware of the President's instructions to ICE to use discretion when deporting the undocumented than bi-national same sex couples, but he has not told them to stop. He has not told them to give us an avenue to sponsor our spouses for immigration. He has not made it legal for us to be able to be with our life partners.
We have a lot of work to do in 2012. I, as a conservative, will be voting Democrat for the first time in my life. I urge you to do the same. We need DOMA gone, we need the Uniting American Families Act passed and we need to be able to be with our spouses/partners/sweethearts (whatever term you prefer). We need legal recognition. We need to be equal citizens of these United States of America.
Why do you suppose folks who rarely pick up a Bible can almost quote word for word the verses that they erroneously think condemn same sex relationships?
Why do you suppose these same people refuse to acknowledge the fact that the Bible calls their sins abomination?
Why do you suppose time after time, the same people are brought down for doing things that are less then ethical?
I have two sons.
I believe in family values.
I am married.
I have high morals, I have never cheated on my spouse. I am honest, truthful and a hard worker. I have worked for the same company for 20 years.
I believe in defending marriage. I think that the decline of the family and marriage is appalling.
My family attends church regularly.
My Boys are boy scouts.
They attend AWANA every Monday night.
My boys are both exceptional students with straight A's.
How can people be against my family and my marriage? How can people say that I am not for family values because I am a lesbian? How can people say that I am less than them and that I don't deserve the same rights as a heterosexual couple?
I would like for my marriage to be recognized by the State and Federal governments. I would like to not have to hide my relationship for fear of bullying. I believe that the government is responsible for the bullying of the Lesbian and Gay people because they have not made us equal. Bullies will always pick on someone that they perceive to be inferior to them and the US State and Federal government's failure to recognize us as equal, feeds right into their bullying. I am not the exception in the Lesbian and Gay community. I am the rule. Our families....our values.... our morals......... We are pro family. We are pro marriage. We are for family values. We would like to be treated equally as our heterosexual counterparts.
How can the US Government refuse my family equal rights and equal protection? To continue to discriminate against us is immoral, anti-family, anti-marriage, and unAmerican.
Congratulations to these young ladies. While many folks may not understand the hoopla and the fanfare around all of this and the importance of this kiss, same sex couples everywhere hail this as a historical kiss.
Bi-national same sex couples look upon this as it being sweet, sweet indeed. However, there is a sense of jealousy and longing. While these two get to hold each other and kiss for all to see, we hide in civil disobedience, talk on Skype, live in exile. We wait for our country to give us equal (not special) rights.
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton made the historical speech to the UN about LGBT rights are human rights and human rights are LGBT rights. We would like for that to extend to the United States of America. We would like our human rights. See Clinton's historical speech:
We would like to be able to kiss our loved one in public without fear. We would like to be able to kiss our spouse without the worry that they will have to leave again soon. We would like to kiss our sweetheart on American soil as they are granted legal status.
We are American Citizens who are in love with someone who is not an American Citizen. We cannot sponsor them because we are of the same sex. We are asking for the right to be allowed to be with our spouses.
While we are encouraged by this kiss, I look forward to the day when bi-national couples can "kiss in the sunlight and say to the sky...behold and believe what you see. Behold how my lover loves me."
