DOMA deportation

I don't know the exact numbers, but a lot of couples are separated each year by deportation. In the U.S. a person is allowed to apply for a green card as a spouse of a U.S. citizen. There are other ways to do so, but that is one of the easiest, as it is the easiest to prove. However, DOMA stops gay couples from doing so. Even if they are married legally, as thousands of couples are due to marriage laws in Iowa, Connecticut, New York, and what happened in California (Before Prop 8). Because green cards are issued by the federal government, and so receiving one is a federal benefit. And DOMA prohibits the federal government from giving marriage benefits to gay couples.

These People are married. Legally. Anthony is needed here. In the U.S. In San Francisco, with his husband, where they have made a home. And yet, he was denied a green card. He is legally married to a U.S. citizen. Tell me that isn't UNequal protection under the law.

I'm really grateful to DHS for their evolving policy, and I hope DOMA is done with soon. My heart is with the families affected by DOMA and other related policies.

I probably won't post for a couple of weeks, because I'm moving to college. However, once I get there I'm going to get involved with the QASU (Queer and Allied Student Union) and do some campaigning to help my home state with their Constitutional Problems. (MN, I'm looking at you) I'll probably update a lot more frequently after that.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. -Mohandas Gandhi
Love,
Wren

Profound love

As much as I want to start this off with something amazing and hopeful, I can't. There is so much love and hope in this world, but there is so much fighting against it, and I think attention needs to be brought to that. The DOMA, a 1996 law, disallows same-sex couples from receiving federal marriage benefits. That means that even if a couple is married legally in their state, they cannot file federal taxes jointly, or file for immigration benefits.

This is what happens when a couple is denied that right. That makes me so sad. But it shouldn't. It shouldn't make me sad, because what do sad people do? They cry. They become overwhelmed and they shut down. So It's not going to make me sad. It's going to make me mad. I am going to do whatever I have to to right this wrong in my lifetime. I never want to watch my kids go through that. I want to be able to look my children in the eye someday down the road and tell them that I, that WE, fought so hard so they don't have to. That they have the right to love who they want, and protect their loved ones.

So that is my call out for the day. We're going to fight for our right, and I think we're going to win. Because Jack's from the 51st century, and we may have a long way to get there, but we're going to. :D

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. - Native American Proverb

And I intend on leaving the earth better than I found it.

Love,
Wren