#binational couples

By: SheWired Editors

LA-based queer filmmaker Brynn Gelbard founded the DeVote Campaign to help shine a light on the plight of same-sex binational couples whose relationships are not recognized on the federal level under DOMA. Brynn teamed with LGBT immigration attorney Lavi Soloway (founder of the DOMA Project) to travel throughout the country interviewing same-sex binational couples fighting DOMA for a series of short films entitled Love Stories: Binational Couples on the Front Lines Against DOMA.

By DANA AMIHERE 

Maryland’s same-sex couples may have won the right to marry on Election Day, but binational couples like Kelly Costello and Fabiola Morales continue to fight to have their unions recognized. 

The Defense of Marriage Act prohibits LGBT Americans from sponsoring their foreign-born partners for residency, forcing many to live worlds apart or even abandon their homeland for a chance to be with the person they love.

BY SUNNIVIE BRYDUM

After Erwin de Leon successfully defended his dissertation, he felt relief at being closer to earning his doctorate in public and urban policy. But the achievement also meant that time was running out to find a way to stay in the United States.

Despite the fact that de Leon, a Philippine international student, is married to a U.S. citizen, John Beddingfield, both live in uncertainty about the future of their family.

The hopes of de Leon and other activists were raised earlier this year when President Barack Obama declared that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional. This section defines marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman”.

http://www.change.org/petitions/president-of-the-united-states-issue-an-executive-order-to-grant-immigration-rights-to-lgbt-americans LGBT US Citizens who are in binational relationships are unable to sponsor their same-sex partners and spouses for legal residency in this country. Heterosexual US Citizens can get married and sponsor their spouse this way. However, because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), LGBT US Citizens are prevented from doing this. Recently, President Obama has stated his support for same-sex marriage, and has already gone on record in stating that DOMA is unconstitutional. As a result, his administration has stopped defending DOMA in the courts. Yet, until the US Supreme Court rules that DOMA is unconstitutional, many of the provisions of DOMA remain enforceable and in place. One of the most urgent aspects of DOMA is the inability of Americans to sponsor a foreign partner or spouse for immigration and legal residency in the US. As a result, same-sex partners are being deported, are forced to live apart, or are otherwise discriminated against with adverse effects not only for the couple, but for everyone to whom they are closely connected.

Current bills in Congress, including the Uniting American Families Act and the Respect for Marriage Act, would change this grave injustice. Yet much like the DREAM Act, Congress refuses to act on these bills. President Obama could, and can, issue an executive order to change this and end this discrimination, much as he has done for DREAMers. But he needs to hear from concerned citizens in order to act. That is why we are issuing this petition- We want to ask President Obama to act on the plight of same-sex binational couples and end our heartache. Specifically, we are calling for President Obama to:

1) Immediately stop the deportations of same-sex foreign partners currently living in the United States

2) Hold in abeyance any green card applications from same-sex couples applying for immigration benefits until DOMA is settled by the US Supreme Court

3) Allow couples where the US Citizen has left the United States to be with his partner and are currently living in exile to return and bring their spouse/partner home

4) Allow couples who are separated because of this unfair law to apply for a fiance visa for their foreign partner so that they can come here and eventually get married."