Do gay couples give up their U.S. citizenship?
Posted on Apr 28, 2010 at 11:33 am
American expatriates are having a more difficult time living and working abroad, a recent "New York Times" article found, causing a small but growing number of them to renounce their United States citizenship.
But there’s another group of Americans who could be adding to that tally: same-sex couples.
Our story: A gay couple, torn apart by DOMA
Posted on Apr 20, 2010 at 01:35 pm
The federal government helps keep binational families together by letting U.S. citizens sponsor non-citizen spouses for a marriage-based “green card,” which gives immigrant spouses permanent resident status. Green card holders aren’t U.S. citizens, but can get a Social Security number, can work, and can get a driver’s license.
As this Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) DOMA story shows, however, the federal government doesn't recognize married same-sex couples - it sees them as strangers. A green card simply isn’t an option for them.
Rufus Wainwright wants to marry his partner
Posted on Apr 04, 2010 at 10:43 am
Singer Rufus Wainwright is supporting the fight to legalize the freedom to marry in the U.S. - because he'd love to marry his long-term German partner Jorn Weisbrodt.
Voice for Equality: Rufus Wainwright
Posted on Apr 04, 2010 at 07:45 am
Freedom to Marry salutes Rufus Wainwright as a Voice for Equality. Mr. Wainwright is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks, including the soundtrack for the film Moulin Rouge.
On April 2, 2010, it was reported by starpulse.com that Wainwright, out since his teens, supported the legalization of the freedom to marry in the United States.
Alert: Two DC Area Dialogues on Race, Faith, and Marriage Equality
Posted on Mar 25, 2010 at 12:51 pm
People of color and people of faith are often charged with blocking lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights. But DC's recent marriage equality victory showed that organizing people of color and people of faith was crucial.
Two panels - one at Georgetown University and another at Howard University - will examine the role race and faith played in securing marriage equality in Washington, D.C.
National Center for Lesbian Rights: Why LGBT People Must Demand Immigration Reform
Posted on Mar 19, 2010 at 04:42 pm
There is a large battle looming in Washington over legislation to reform our nation’s immigration laws. This coming Sunday, March 21, many LGBT immigrants, their families, and allies will march in support of immigration reform. Now is the time for us, as LGBT individuals, families, and communities, to understand why immigration reform is so critical.
Amsterdam sends a marriage equality message to America
Posted on Aug 03, 2009 at 12:41 pm
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
Posted on Jun 17, 2009 at 07:13 am
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
Posted on Jun 15, 2009 at 12:12 pm
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
Posted on Jun 10, 2009 at 02:43 pm
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]