Out4Immigration Supports National Freedom to Marry Week
Notes that Inequality in Federal Marriage Law Denies Same-Sex Binational Couples Basic Rights.
San Francisco, CA, February 10, 2008 --(PR.com)-- The 11th annual Freedom to Marry Week (February 10-16) is here, and while some gay and lesbian Americans see this as a cause to celebrate how far the issue of gay marriage in the US has advanced, one sector of the community has good cause to say that domestic partnerships, civil unions and state marriage laws are not enough.
“Same-sex binational couples, in which one partner is American and the other is foreign born, suffer a unique and humiliating brand of discrimination when they try to keep their relationships intact on US soil,” explains Michael Lim, Vice President of the national grassroots organization Out4Immigration, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the discrimination LGBT Americans and their foreign partners face under current US immigration law.
“Unlike our heterosexual counterparts in binational relationships who can solve their immigration concerns through a marriage recognized at the federal level, same-sex binational couples, like all gay and lesbian couples in the US, are shut out of federal level marriage rights.”
One of the 1,138 rights that come with a federal marriage certificate is the right for an American citizen to sponsor a foreign partner for a green card. The toll this denial of rights takes on the estimated 40,000 same-sex binational couples living in the US, and those who have been forced into exile, is “incalculable,” says Lim. “The emotional and financial burdens of staying together in a climate of uncertainty is a scenario few couples—gay or straight—can be expected to endure.”
Since Out4Immigration’s inception in 2006, the all-volunteer run group has collected stories from its members that it posts on its website. The stories come from Americans in relationships with foreign partners from all over the world. Some of the couples have been lucky enough to see the foreign partner obtain a student or work visa—or the grand prize—a green card secured through employment that ends the couple’s no-win choice: leave the country or leave each other. Those who have been forced to make the decision between home and family detail the pain and heartbreak of leaving behind parents, adult children and other relatives, friends and communities; giving up careers; battling HIV/AIDS or other illnesses in countries where health care is substandard; denial of applications for political asylum that can send a foreign partner back to a hostile or violent environment; and tearful separations and breakups.
“It will break your heart to read these stories,” says Lim. “We applaud campaigns like Freedom to Marry that remind people that so-called ‘separate but equal’ ideas like domestic partnerships, civil unions and state marriage laws are inherently unequal. Many Americans dismiss those 1,138 federal rights that come with a federally recognized heterosexual marriage as ‘unimportant’. But these rights include critical issues like social security and tax benefits—as well as the right to stay in your own country with the person you love.”
The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) is a piece of legislation currently in Congress that seeks to circumvent the same-sex marriage debate and simply provide Americans in same-sex binational relationships the right to sponsor their partner for a green card. The bill (H.R. 2221; S.1328) sponsored by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) would add three words—“or permanent partner”—to existing immigration law wherever the word “spouse” appears. It currently has 88 co-sponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate. It needs 218 in the House and 60 in the Senate to go to the President for signature. While Democratic presidential frontrunners Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) say that they support passage of the UAFA, neither has signed on yet as a co-sponsor.
For more information:
Out4Immigration: http://www.out4immigration.org
Freedom to Marry: http://www.freedomtomarry.org/
The Uniting American Families Act (H.R. 2221): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR02221:
The United American Families Act (S.1328): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01328:
###
Out4Immigration addresses the widespread discriminatory impact of US immigration laws on the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV+ people and their families through education, outreach, advocacy and the maintenance of a resource and support network. For more information, visit www.out4immigration.org. To schedule interviews with same-sex binational couples who are available to speak with the media on this issue, including Spanish-speaking couples, please contact Amos Lim, amos@out4immigration.org, 415-375-3765 or Kathy Drasky at kathy@out4immigration, 415-606-2085. This press release was prepared for Out4Immigration by KazzaDrask Media. For more information on media coverage for your non-profit organization, contact: kazzadrask@yahoo.com.
“Same-sex binational couples, in which one partner is American and the other is foreign born, suffer a unique and humiliating brand of discrimination when they try to keep their relationships intact on US soil,” explains Michael Lim, Vice President of the national grassroots organization Out4Immigration, a group dedicated to raising awareness about the discrimination LGBT Americans and their foreign partners face under current US immigration law.
“Unlike our heterosexual counterparts in binational relationships who can solve their immigration concerns through a marriage recognized at the federal level, same-sex binational couples, like all gay and lesbian couples in the US, are shut out of federal level marriage rights.”
One of the 1,138 rights that come with a federal marriage certificate is the right for an American citizen to sponsor a foreign partner for a green card. The toll this denial of rights takes on the estimated 40,000 same-sex binational couples living in the US, and those who have been forced into exile, is “incalculable,” says Lim. “The emotional and financial burdens of staying together in a climate of uncertainty is a scenario few couples—gay or straight—can be expected to endure.”
Since Out4Immigration’s inception in 2006, the all-volunteer run group has collected stories from its members that it posts on its website. The stories come from Americans in relationships with foreign partners from all over the world. Some of the couples have been lucky enough to see the foreign partner obtain a student or work visa—or the grand prize—a green card secured through employment that ends the couple’s no-win choice: leave the country or leave each other. Those who have been forced to make the decision between home and family detail the pain and heartbreak of leaving behind parents, adult children and other relatives, friends and communities; giving up careers; battling HIV/AIDS or other illnesses in countries where health care is substandard; denial of applications for political asylum that can send a foreign partner back to a hostile or violent environment; and tearful separations and breakups.
“It will break your heart to read these stories,” says Lim. “We applaud campaigns like Freedom to Marry that remind people that so-called ‘separate but equal’ ideas like domestic partnerships, civil unions and state marriage laws are inherently unequal. Many Americans dismiss those 1,138 federal rights that come with a federally recognized heterosexual marriage as ‘unimportant’. But these rights include critical issues like social security and tax benefits—as well as the right to stay in your own country with the person you love.”
The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) is a piece of legislation currently in Congress that seeks to circumvent the same-sex marriage debate and simply provide Americans in same-sex binational relationships the right to sponsor their partner for a green card. The bill (H.R. 2221; S.1328) sponsored by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) would add three words—“or permanent partner”—to existing immigration law wherever the word “spouse” appears. It currently has 88 co-sponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate. It needs 218 in the House and 60 in the Senate to go to the President for signature. While Democratic presidential frontrunners Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) say that they support passage of the UAFA, neither has signed on yet as a co-sponsor.
For more information:
Out4Immigration: http://www.out4immigration.org
Freedom to Marry: http://www.freedomtomarry.org/
The Uniting American Families Act (H.R. 2221): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR02221:
The United American Families Act (S.1328): http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01328:
###
Out4Immigration addresses the widespread discriminatory impact of US immigration laws on the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV+ people and their families through education, outreach, advocacy and the maintenance of a resource and support network. For more information, visit www.out4immigration.org. To schedule interviews with same-sex binational couples who are available to speak with the media on this issue, including Spanish-speaking couples, please contact Amos Lim, amos@out4immigration.org, 415-375-3765 or Kathy Drasky at kathy@out4immigration, 415-606-2085. This press release was prepared for Out4Immigration by KazzaDrask Media. For more information on media coverage for your non-profit organization, contact: kazzadrask@yahoo.com.
Contact
Out4Immigration
K.T. Drasky
415-606-2085
out4immigration.org
K.T. Drasky
415-606-2085
out4immigration.org
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