march 17,20ÛÛ »
D
uring the past few years, defense-
of-marriage mania has swept the
country. But in Congress, amid the
occasional screech about the
“sanctity” of heterosexual mar
riage, a pragmatic bit of legislation has quietly
been assigned to committee.
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Demo
crat, has introduced a measure known as the
Permanent Partners Immigration A ct of 2000.
The bill, HR3650, seeks to extend to com
mitted same-sex couples the immigration rights
heterosexuals often enjoy.
Current immigration law is based on the
principle of family reunification, but gay and les
bian families are not acknowledged.
A heterosexual U.S. citizen who falls in love
while working or studying abroad, for example,
has the option of getting married. T he Immigra
tion and Naturalization Service may not always
make the process easy, but U.S. citizens can
sponsor their noncitizen legal spouses for immi
gration purposes. Once the paperwork is done
and the foreign spouse is settled, the couple can
go about life without fears of deportation.
Gay and lesbian couples in the same situa
tion face an unending barrage of complex visa
applications, staggering legal fees and extended
separations. And visas are finite; each one buys
only a year or two of security after an application
process that can take months.
Nadler s bill seeks to remedy the situation by
adding “permanent partners” to portions of the
Immigration and Nationality A ct that refer to
spouses.
The hill defines a permanent partnership as a
“committed relationship...in which both parties
intend a lifelong commitment.” T he partners
must be 18 years of age, financially interdepen
dent, not married to or partnered with anyone
else, legally unable to marry each other, and not
“first, second or third degree blood relation(s).”
Two Oregon Democrats, Reps. David Wu
and Peter DeFazio, have signed on as co-spon
sors. (Wu is himself an immigrant from Taiwan.)
At press time, the bill had nearly two dozen
co-sponsors. Another Oregon Democrat, Rep.
Earl Blumenauer, is actively considering the bill.
The Portland chapter of the Lesbian and
Gay Immigration Rights Task Force has
launched a letter-writing and petition campaign
in support of the bill. Members are also attempt
ing to schedule meetings with Oregon’s congres
sional delegation.
The Portland group started last August, join
ing LGIRTF chapters in seven other U .S. cities.
Meetings usually draw eight to 10 people, hut
about 50 supporters subscribe to the local e-mail
list.
Most of the members are binational couples
in the Portland metropolitan area, though the
i L et ’ s M ake I t P ermanent
Congressional committee is considering a measure that could make life
a little easier for gay and lesbian binotional couples by Irene K. Hislop
f i
i I I \'
"Across the globe, and now here
at home, political leaders are
recognizing that gay and lesbian
couples should not be torn apart
by unfair immigration laws . *
— Lavi Soloway, Lesbian and Gay
Immigration Rights Task
Force national board chair
U .S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N .Y., at a March 1 Capitol Hill news conference
"Recent polling has indicated
that Americans and Oregonians
are very supportive o f changes
in the law that ensure everyone's
basic rights, especially in
employment and housing. I think
[im migration rights] would
be received similarly."
— Maura Roche, Basic Rights Oregon
group is conducting outreach to other parts of
the state and welcomes anyone interested in the
issue.
Basic Rights Oregon, a statewide queer polit
ical organization, and the Lesbian Community
Project have also generated publicity about
HR3650.
Maura Roche, BR O ’s government relations
consultant, calls the bill “a good and needed
step.”
She adds: “Recent polling has indicated that
Americans and Oregoniaas are very supportive
of changes in the law that ensure everyone’s
basic rights, especially in employment and hous
ing. I think [immigration rights) would be
received similarly.”
T hat’s encouraging news for binational cou
ples such as Leslie and An, who asked that their
real names not be used, given the legal tightrope
they are walking to maintain A n’s visa status.
“It controls my life,” An says of her restric
tive visa and the couple’s efforts to renew it. “We
don’t have time to do anything else. You feel
guilty if you don’t work on it every day.”
The duo know another binational couple
who have spent $50,000 on various legal fees
and travel expenses in their efforts to stay
together.
The expense involved is often made worse
by restrictions on the foreign partner’s right to
work and earn an income.
“It eats at your self-esteem,” An says. “W hen
I went home recently, I felt so good because 1
was normal. I had rights.”
“They should allow you the right to be a fam
ily without going through hell,” says Leslie, who
adds that legalizing same-sex marriages would be
far easier and less expensive for couples and for
the government than creating a patchwork of
domestic partnership laws.
Leslie says she is not optimistic about the
Nadler bill’s chance of becoming law, but she
feels its introduction represents progress.
“The gauntlet has been thrown,” she says.
“There’s no way you can ignore this for much
longer.”
Indeed. The issue has reached as far as the
White House. At a fund-raiser last fall, Presi
dent Bill Clinton expressed support for chang-
ing the law to allow U .S. citizens to sponsor
same-sex partners for immigration.
“Across the globe, and now here at home,
political leaders are recognizing that gay and les
bian couples should not be tom apart by unfair
immigration laws,” says Lavi Soloway, LGIRTF
national board chair.
Thirteen other countries— including Aus
tralia, Canada, France, South Africa and the
United Kingdom— currently recognize same-sex
relationships for immigration purposes.
The Permanent Partners Immigration Act of
2000 has been assigned to the House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims.
Openly gay Massachusettes Rep. Barney Frank
is a member of the committee, as is conservative
Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., who sponsored the
Religious Liberty Protection A ct last July.
■ The L es b ia n a n d G ay I m m ig r a t io n R ig h t s
T a s k FORCE Portland chapter can be reached at
(503) 471-1568 or lgirtfpdx@ aol.com .
Performance artist T im MlLLER m il bring his
show Glory Box to Portland on April 2 9 .The piece
is about the immigration struggles o f M iller’s Aus
tralian partner. The perform ance will take place at
Echo Theatre, 1515 S .E . 37th A v e., and some pro
ceeds will benefit the Portland chapter o f LGIRTF.
For more information, call (503) 203-3305.
IRENE HlSLOr is a free-lance writer based in
Portland.
You’re invited to a Walt Disney Special Event
The Art of
Winnie the Pooh & Friends
From the Hundred Acre Wood
Saturday, M arch 25th
Noon - 5 pm
An exhibition of over 150 original, hand painted pro
duction cels and rare one-of-a-kind drawings from the
Walt Disney Studios. None previously seen by the
public. Also showing for the frist time anywhere, origi
nal drawings from the new release; The Tigger
Movie.
womu 0
^
.
Gallery International
10024 SW Canyon Rd
Portland, Oregon 97225
503-644-9766
toll free 800-776-9766
ANI MAT ON ART
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