inside
V
olume
17 ♦ N
umber
2 ♦ N o v e m b e r 19, 1999
Portlan d , O r e g o n
FREE
Enough is enough
Tired of discriminatory immigration laws,
binational couples get organized
by
T.K. M antese
i
et’s say you’re a straight, single gal from
Spokane and you bump into Fabio at a
sperm bank in Las Vegas. As luck would
have it, he’s looking for a wife and
you’ve always wanted children with exuber
ant hair.
Fewer than 24 hours later, you marry at
the Hitching Post, and Fabio immediately
becomes eligible for permanent U .S. resi
dency.
This is a slap in the face to queer citizens,
who don’t have access to legal marriage,
which confers status upon a foreign spouse
that allows automatic entry. There is no
route of petition for a gay or lesbian foreign
national with a U.S. mate.
While foreign partners may qualify to
enter the U .S. under nonimmigrant or
immigrant visas, the requirements are daunt
ing.
The New York City-based Lesbian and
Gay Immigration Rights Task Force seeks to
end this discrimination. Incorporated as a
nonprofit organization in 1994, LGIRTF
provides support to lesbian and gay immi
grants and their U .S. partners, and fights
against discriminatory U .S. laws that grant
immigration privileges to heterosexual cou
ples but not to same-sex couples.
There are eight LGIRTF chapters nation
wide, situated in New York; Boston;
Chicago; Los Angeles; San Francisco;
Seattle; Washington, D .C.; and, most
recently, in Portland.
On Dec. 2, the Portland chapter is slated
to host a kickoff social and informational
forum.
Debby, who has been in the States since
1992 on a work permit, says the purpose of
the gathering is to give binational couples,
queers with asylum issues or HIV-related
immigration issues, and other interested par
ties an opportunity to meet each other.
“The movement in Europe is to recognize
same-sex partnerships. It is almost a nonissue
in [European] countries,” she says, pointing
out that anti-gay rhetoric in the United
States has politicized the matter.
Continued on Page 6
PHOTO BY LINDA KLIEWER
Editor’s note: Due to the immigration issues they
face, most of the binational couples in this article
asked that their names be changed and that spe
cific identifying information be omitted.
QMtections on being bom Hack,
discovering homosexuality
and becoming paraplegic
by
R upert K innard
Page 27
T