Crossing Borders from Advocate.com

The Advocate has published a story this month about same-sex partner immigration.

Bills addressing immigration rights for gay couples have been percolating in Congress for almost a decade, but none have gained traction on Capitol Hill until now. One of the movement’s newest allies is California representative Mike Honda, a Bay Area Democrat who in June introduced a bill that includes gay couples in expediting immigrant family reunification. “I couldn’t say I was working for all families if I didn’t include a category of committed partners whom I would certainly consider to be equal,” Honda says.

What the hell is wrong with republicans?

Joe My God published survey results today that shows that, while democrats and independents have increasingly approved of marriage equality, republicans have gone in the opposite direction, becoming more OPPOSED to marriage equality. Yet another of numerous signs that republicans are completely out of step with the mainstream of American culture.

Fucking hateful idiots.

That's So Emma & Julia!

Maine Marriage Equality at Risk.

We all know that this movement is not about marriage, it never has been. Its about hating gay people and wanting to destroy them. We all know that to be true.

Tell Congress how DOMA affects YOU!

HRC has initiated a campaign to repeal the 'Defense of Marriage Act.' They are asking people to go to their web page to fill out a 5-minute survey to show how DOMA has affected you. They will forward all responses to Congress and the White House. Link here.

Over the past few weeks, we've helped build unprecedented momentum to repeal DOMA. But President Obama has yet to take action against DOMA, and Congress still isn't getting the message. We need to keep up a constant stream of pressure if they're going to act.

Until DOMA is repealed, gay and lesbian married couples will be denied the federal rights straight married couples enjoy, like Social Security survivors' benefits, putting a spouse on a health plan without tax penalties, the right to take family and medical leave to care for a spouse, and equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws... The list goes on.

It's up to us to make sure Congress understands the impact of their inaction on thousands of married couples who remain strangers under federal law.

OBAMA: does he or doesn't he?

Washington Post article on Obama's stance on same-sex marriage:

Even if Obama does in fact believe in marriage equality, he hasn't done -- and is unlikely to do -- much to forward the cause. And apart from some toothless sniping from a handful of gay activists and donors, he seems to be getting away with it. In this way, the presumed (yet secret) good intentions of Democrats can wind up doing more harm than good: They tell the gay community that Democrats are at least better than the GOP, thus providing an excuse that can be employed endlessly while they stall.

For some time, liberal politicians have taken a largely wink-and-nod approach to gay issues. They've done so with the excuse that the culture must catch up before any progress can be made (an excuse that conveniently doesn't apply to other liberal interest groups, such as unions and trial lawyers, that do very well when Democrats are in power). Obama paid tribute to this timeworn tactic recently when he told gay activists at the White House: "I want you to know that I expect and hope to be judged not by words, but by the promises my administration keeps. By the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration."

U.S. Census Bureau WILL report married same-sex couples in the 2010 census.

In Reversal of Bush Policy, U.S. Census Bureau announced that they would report married same-sex couples in the 2010 census!

This is an important step forward, and one we hope signals the federal government's burgeoning commitment to including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in data and reporting on a broad spectrum of critical matters, such as those related to our community's health, economic issues, safety and life circumstances.

Story here.

Good Blog About LGBT Immigration Issues

I found a great blog for reading about and sharing the stories and the nightmares that same-sex bi-national couples face:

As gay and lesbian Americans, many laws and rights do not apply to us, but this is especially so when it comes to immigrating our family members or loved ones. Once we are put in a position of having to choose between the love of our lives and the love of our country we are left with very few options. When the lack of immigration equality becomes apparent, what comes next is a dark road for many who choose to stay in the country---not knowing when the day will come when they are found out, their loved one deported, fined or put in jail. Many of us take our hopes, our money and our dreams and pack up and move in order to have some sense of normalcy. But, a simple task of returning home to visit our families for a special occasion can quickly become a nightmare when we are cruelly separated from our partners who are held or detained without reason. This site showcases our immigration nightmares as same-sex binational couples and reveals how our lives and the lives of our families are being outright and openly discriminated against on the federal level by the United States government. Same-sex binational couples deserve immediate remedy and restitution for the deliberate pain and suffering caused by psychological abuse and undue hardships caused by our lack of immigration equality in US immigration law and policy. We will be happy just to have our lives back.

Check it out here.

Amsterdam mayor marries U.S. gay couples

The mayor of Amsterdam married five American-Dutch gay couples on Saturday in an implicit criticism of the lack of same-sex marriage and immigration rights in the U.S.

Full story here.

The problem is that Americans can't be shamed into doing the right thing. They won't do it until they're forced to.