AEGiS-AP: Gay rights groups target a barrier to immigration: U.S. immigration rules don't treat a same-sex couple the same as a heterosexual pair, and there's an attempt in Congress to change that

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Gay rights groups target a barrier to immigration: U.S. immigration rules don't treat a same-sex couple the same as a heterosexual pair, and there's an attempt in Congress to change that

Associated Press - Monday, November 24, 2003
David Crary, Associated Press

NEW YORK - The choices can be wrenching: circumventing the law, leaving one's country, splitting up with one's lover. Under U.S. immigration policy, those are the options facing many same-sex couples when one partner is American, the other a foreigner.

"They're in a double closet of being gay or lesbian, and being an immigrant -- people don't feel safe talking about it," said Sophie Fanelli, a French woman unsure whether she will be able to remain with her American partner in California beyond next year.

When a binational couple are heterosexual, the foreigner can emigrate to America as a fiancé or spouse. Not so with gay and lesbian couples. Under policies adopted with bipartisan support, they have no status in the eyes of immigration officials, even if they had legal same-sex marriages in the Netherlands or Canada.

Gay rights groups are trying to change the policy, backing a measure in Congress called the Permanent Partners Immigration Act. It would treat same-sex partners the same as heterosexual spouses for immigration purposes.

A TOUGH SELL

The act has nine co-sponsors in the Senate and 118 in the House, but supporters doubt that it will advance while Republicans are in power. Any loosening of immigration laws has been a tough sell since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and some Republican leaders want to strengthen -- not weaken -- the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition to same-sex unions.

"On both issues, the opposition is vehement," said Leslie Bulbuk, a California activist. "It's like we're fighting up two different hills simultaneously."

Although the Permanent Partners act hasn't yet been subject to hearings, it has drawn fire from some conservative groups. Glenn Stanton, director of social research for Focus on the Family, said the bill's central flaw is that it "looks at all relationships as equal."

"Marriage is more than simply a close, committed relationship between two people," Stanton said.

Said Robert Knight of the Culture and Family Institute: "Homosexual activists are nibbling around the edges, trying to validate their version of marriage without confronting the public head-on."

It's not known how many gay couples would benefit from the bill.

Bulbuk said many binational couples keep a low profile because of uncertainty over immigration status.

During years of legal limbo, Bulbuk and her partner, Brazilian-born Marta Donayre, considered moving to Canada -- where immigration officials recognize same-sex relationships even between non-Canadians. Donayre eventually obtained political asylum in the United States. The two now run a support group, Love Sees No Borders, that helps other binational couples.

GOAL OF 'STABLE LIFE'

Sophie Fanelli and her partner, Molly Sides, hope to avoid moving to France, but Fanelli is uncertain how long she can stay in the United States.

"We bought a house; we'd like to have a child and start a stable life," she said. "But it's difficult not to know where you're going to go next year. It's emotionally and financially draining."

Yet a group that favors tighter border controls, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, is skeptical of the proposed law.

'THE REAL BATTLE'

"Supporters of gay marriage are trying to use it as a vehicle for legal recognition of a status they've been unable to convince the public of," federation spokesman David Ray said. "The real battle for them is the right to marry, and the Permanent Partners act shouldn't be used to sidestep that debate."

The immigration policy for people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, also is a target of gay rights organizations.

The policy -- in place since the late 1980s, and affirmed by both Republican and Democratic administrations -- bars people with HIV from the United States, although waivers are available for brief professional visits and for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.

Victoria Neilson, executive director of the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force, denounced the policy as discriminatory. She said immigrants with other serious diseases, such as cancer, are allowed in, while people with HIV are rebuffed.

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