17.03.09
Obama, same-sex partners and US immigration
Obama & Leahy: A friend of a friend of Dorothy
In a letter to Alice B. Toklas of the LGBT Democratic Club, dated March 2008, the Senator from Illinois said he fully supported the gay community in their fight for equal rights and declared his commitment to extending the benefits to same sex couples under state and federal law.
One year later President Barack Obama’s support has remained open and consistent, an opinion apparent since his 1996 campaign for the Senate.
Publicly opposed to Proposition 8, the Californian constitutional change that censored marriage to that of ‘only between a man and a woman’, Mr. Obama has went on record stating, ‘when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that’s not what America’s about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don’t contract them.”
Indeed last week it emerged the President even sent a personal letter of support opposing Proposition 8 to the ‘No Vote’ leadership but they failed to release the information, a move likely attributable to 95% of African Americans voting for it.
But are views beginning to resonate toward a rainbow with a pink lining at the end of a very big gay political storm?
Last month, Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committe, fourth most senior Senator in the States and cameo actor in The Dark Knight, put the cogs in motion by introducing the ‘Uniting American Families Act’ (UAFA), to the Senate.
As same-sex hearings on the marriage bill begin in Leahy’s home state of Vermont, the man who was grabbed by the Joker (Heath Ledger) at the charity fundraiser for Harvey Dent and told, ‘You remind me of my dad’, might well be the Dark Knight for thousands of disenchanted Americans at a loss with the US visa policy.
The new legislation, amending US immigration law, includes conditions for ‘permanent partnerships’, a direct glimpse at the reality for thousands in the LGBT community and their fight for equal rights in their own country.
The UAFA defines Permanent Partnerships as follows:
- is in a committed, intimate relationship with another individual 18 years of age or older in which both parties intend a lifelong commitment;
- is financially interdependent with that other individual;
- is not married to or in a permanent partnership with anyone other than that other individual;
- is unable to contract with that other individual a marriage cognizable under this Act; and
- is not a first, second, or third degree blood relation of that other individual.
Senator Patrick Leahy, Happy St. Pats Day, we salute you!
Seantor Leahy believes the rules should apply to all and the new bill is a step towards equality in US immigration policy.
“If you’re married in a heterosexual relationship, you can get special visas to bring your spouse here to the U.S., if one is a U.S. citizen, I’m trying to do it for a same sex couple in a committed relationship,” says Leahy.
The Senator believes US immigration policy falls short on the global immigration front but believes he has support to get the UAFA pushed through.
“Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Israel, Brazil, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa and Sweden, now several of those counties are very conservative countries,” said Leahy.
In the words of Jon Stewart of the Daily Show, “Recently, the highest court in South Africa handed down a decision ordering the country’s parliament to extend marriage rights to all gay couples. So just to reiterate, American is now less progressive than South Africa.”
What are your thoughts on US immigration equality? Do you want the United States to recognise same-sex marriages and grant US marriage visas fairly? Do you know anyone affected by the current policy or are you against any such move? Leave your comments below.
Published by Gareth McConnell Global Visas in Global Immigration, USA Immigration and work visas
March 17th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Being an US citizen and seeing how the local and national governments are discriminating gay people is a disgrace. This country is founded on Freedom, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness but all that I am seeing and experiencing is bigotry and hatred. Church and state are supposed to be separate but there are not. America needs to let the people vote not the politicians or churches. Plus gay marriage, not a civil union or some other term, will stimulate the economy to help everyone out.
March 17th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
As an American, I am embarrassed that we have fallen so far behind other developed countries and even some third world ones that now recognize that we need to accept people for who they are. Someone finds someone they love – great! That person is from a different country – ok! They have to live several thousand miles apart????? Because some people in America are afraid of the gay “agenda”? Let’s grow up and face the facts. It is not 1955. American will not collapse if loving gay couple are allowed to share a household. Conservative Christians need to calm down and think about the fact that they are standing in the way of tens of thousands of loving couples who want to be together! It’s disgusting to get satisfaction out of denying other people happiness. And if I hear another person say “gay people do have the same rights. they can marry people of the opposite sex!” I will scream!!!
April 10th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I am affected by the immigration and the ban in america..i am a u.s citizen and i have to choose between my country and my lover..and my family who are all in america..i havent seen my family in over 2 years why, well of course cant aford it..but america of all countries is suppose to be the land of the free and is all about everyone bein equal..yes if your straight, i remember a time not to long ago when blacks or mix race marriage was frown apond and not legal..i agree with both ryan and spiro, america needs to grow up and get with the 2009 era..its not 1955 like said b4..oh yes church an state are to be separate but is that going to happen …..yah right..america contridicts itself so much!! i have to move to england just to be with my lover…when in reality we both want to live in america. If this immigration visa does work, yes it will be the best news ever!! its about time that all u.s citizens are equal after all it is america!!
April 10th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
also when is this bill to be passes?? when will the immigration change then if passed?
April 24th, 2009 at 3:34 am
I am a South African, I am a lesbian and have been in a great and healthy relationship with my American partner for 3 years now. We want to get married and need to decide in which country to do so. Our biggest problem is the immigration issue as we want to adopt kids. But we cannot jump arround between countries just because we cannot get visas to help us settle… We would love to see the immigration laws change so we can have the same rights as my brother and his Sri-lankan wife…
Make it happen PLEASE!
April 28th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I am a U.S. Citizen. Born and raise in what seemed at the time a very liberal California! Unfortauntely, after meeting my wife and falling in love I was faced with choosing between her and my home. Being a huge family person leaving my extremely supportive family behind was and still is heart breaking! It’s not fair that there is no way that we can be in the place that I once called home. Not to mention it’s a disgrace to me to think that “the land of the free” prevents me from living my life as I see fit. I’m in no way asking anyone to accept what they choose not to. Just let me be me and love who I love. Now together 6 yrs and married happily 4, our dream remains to reunite with the family that never gives up hope! Someday I will be -home- again and my wife will be there with me.
May 5th, 2009 at 7:53 am
I am an american citizen, my partner is a british citizen. We’d met nearly six years ago, lived together for four and have been in our civil partnership for two and a half years. Our situation determined it would have been sensible for us to live in the states, as I was applying for college in chicago, and my partner already had an established career as an engineer. He has no close family ties, where as my family is large and close knit. I also suffer from seasonal affective disorder, and the british weather is far from ideal. But we were left without a choice. I gave up on college, and my family to persue our life together.
Four years on we feel isolated, stifled, and I have been battling with my depression which has considerably worsened due to the gloomy weather. I really miss my family with all my heart, my partner has never had the chance to meet them. Life just seems empty and pointless, and it is really weighing heavily on our relationship. It’s at the point now where I’m having to decide between not only my relationship and my family but my personal health as well.
I would like to say I missed the states out of some political patriotism. But how can I miss something that has cause so much turmoil in my life? How can I be patriotic to a country that’s turned it’s back on me for something I or no other gay person has control over? I resent it for that, I hate it for that. And I hate the people who think they have some right to impose their personal opinions and beliefs on others. Some right to cause so much pain and suffering in someone elses life. Who decides who plays god?
May 24th, 2009 at 10:00 am
I am in love with my family, and will give my life for them.
I love my country, and have put my life on the line for my country on 2 gruesome tour of duties thru Iraq.
I fell in love with Juan-Jose, and we have been together now for over 4 years.
Together in-Exile.
I had to choose between my family, my country and/or the man I love. I had to choose between my past and my future.
It was my country – the same country for which I placed my life in jeopardy willingly – that has treated me as a second class citizen thru a number of its policies : “don’t ask, don’t tell”, DOMA, and a warped immigration policy.
Some will ask, why I join the Army in the first place.
9-11 hit me hard….my mother died in the first tower.
I was moved by the desire to protect both my family and country. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was just an inconvinience.
Some will ask, why did I fought for a country that already was treating me as a second-class citizen….I lived my live as I wanted, and the issue of marriage wasn’t in the forefront of a 21 year-old college graduate.
Some will ask, why did I fell in love with a foreigner.
Does anyone has control over “LOVE” ?
Nope…Love finds you, it happens.
So, here, I am in Exile.
An the irony of it all – is that any minute, I can be call back into duty.
Mr President Obama, Senators, Representatives – please, please help me. We are not asking for a “tour-of-duty” – just to pass UAFA (HR 1024, S 424)
July 4th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I thought i was American, but I am almost too ashamed to even use that title now. It’s disgusting; it’s a disgrace; and it’s a horrible injustice. it’s not better than what women in Saudi Arabia face. it undermines the very foundations of this “great nation” and disregards fundamental principles of humanity. telling anyone who they can or cannot love is an obvious abomination to the spirit of nature by which we are all bound. it attacks the very heart of existence and seeks to rule it – which is impossible, without repercussions, and simply inappropriate.
no doubt every country,person, or people have been the cause of terrible injustices throughout history, but the point is progression and evolution – to change, and hopefully, get better over time. why do we reject this logical path?
without regard to any organized religion, or any human-created belief system, this is wrong by ignoring nature its course and by ignoring the universal pillar of reason
August 11th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I have been in a committed relationship for 7 years with a British citizen. We got married last year in the short period when it was legal to do so in California. I want to come home to America and she wants to come with me. But the UK will have us and America won’t, so we are here. Still waiting.
September 27th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I have a partner who is in currently in the US because she was petitioned by her parents. She will soon be a US citizen and we’re not sure where that would lead our serious relationship to since I’m in the Philippines. We’re very much in love and have worked things out through a long distance relationship but would really want to live together. We’re hoping together with a lot of others more that this is finally legalized.
September 28th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Great, good for you. The USA is a great place.
October 7th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I am a Bahamian citizen and my partner of four years is an American. I came to the US for college having no intent on staying here after graduation, but I met her and we fell in love. Now, if I want to maintain our beautiful relationship without being an ocean a part, I am forced to come and go every six months on a tourist visa. This is an unsure and dangerous practice to continue because at any time I could be reprimanded and banned from the country if I am thought to be living here. But, I am in love and want to spend the rest of my life with this woman so it is a sacrifice I feel I HAVE to make. However, it is extremely difficult since, coming and going every 6 mths makes having a job or any type of financial stability almost impossible for me. I am college educated but broke and jobless due to this miserable situation we are in. I have basically given up my dreams just because I love another person who happens to be a female and also happens to be American. How is it fair that just because one of us does not have a penis, we can’t be married and be happy together without one of us having to leave every few months?It is coming up on the end of my six months here very soon (in a few weeks). We have both already started the crying spells because leaving each other is always so difficult. I am desperate for some type of reform SOON. We want to have a life together and a family one day but that cannot happen until we are both legally able to be married and have that marriage recognized on the federal level so that I can gain citizenship. We don’t want to hurt anyone, we just want the freedom to love.
October 16th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Sound like a wonderful thing. It happens all the time and never fails to make me smile. I love a great romantic story. We can help you – call us:)
December 29th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
is there anything we can do to put pressure on US politics?
we are a binational couple living in England thanks to my status as a European Union citizen. I am so proud of Europe and happy to be able to live my life as a human being with all my rights. It breaks my heart to see my american husband (since married in Spain, but recognized in England) torn between his love towards me and missing his family.
I feel so much anger towards those who feel they have the right to say who we can love or where we can live.
January 6th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Well FREEDOM is the biggest load of hog wash. There is nothing you can do about it. Where ever you vote the system will never change. It is best to accept it and roll with it.
Some would say love is over rated!
January 11th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
I am a German, living in the Netherlands and in love with an American woman. We can’t live together in the USA because of this stupid regulation.
Immigration laws just haven’t caught up with the rules of globalization. 30 years ago we would probably never have met. Each of us would have been living in their little local shell.
Nowadays we can connect over the interwebs with people from all over the globe. We can have our refrigerators made in China, our cars made in Japan and our sneakers stitched in the Philippines, and have all of them shipped to our homes. We can invest our money in Asian growth funds or Icelandic banks, we can send long-distance rockets to Afghanistan and Iraq who never caused us any harm, just because we disagree with their leaders and because we’re after their resources, we can lie on the beach in exotic countries – but we’re not supposed to fall in love with someone from another continent and expect to be able to live with them just like that. It’s stupid and anything but contemporary.
We’re planning for a future in Canada now (because English is a language we are both able to speak). She will have to put her house on the market, quit her job, lose her social network and move away from her family thousands of miles.
Maybe 20 years from now we will tell our war story to the young generation of disbelieving cosmopolitans who will then have the freedom to freely choose where they live and work. Right now, it just sucks.
March 7th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
i’m from thailand. my gf for 3 years is an american. i can’t live with her in the u.s coz i can’t get a visa and she can’t petition me. i miss her so much.. i haven’t seen her for a year now.she’s alone taking care of her 4 year old daughter. i love them both. i’m afraid to lose them..we talked everyday in the fone and i see her on the webcam 24/7..but still its not enough..i wanna be with her. spend the rest of my life with her and her daughter. im hoping that uafa will be passed. hope the congress will listen and understand our situation.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:44 am
USA is indeed a country which I has a great respect for, but seeing that same sex couples are not able to sponsor their foreign partner is a huge shame.
It is very much depressing to see that while hetrosexual couples have greater jurisdiction to bring their foreign partner to US and the same sex couples dont. This is seen as discrimination. I am pretty glad to see that smaller developed countries like New Zealand is doing a great job in promoting human rights and one of that is recognition of same sex relationship in their immigration law.
However, I have huge respect for US and I hope they revive their immigration law soon.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Its time that the government makes good immigration changes that allow legal and law abiding citizens the rights to get there partner here in this country legally by following all the proper steps, but being turned down.That seems to be UNFAIR WHEN illegals are being offered legal status after breaking laws and having no regards for our immigration system. Families come in different compositions and same sex couples have the same rights as any other couple in the USA. And this bible thumping and hate mongers should realize there opinion is not worth any more then the gays you are discriminating against in the land of the supposed free.