Steven and Sean’s marriage was not recognized by the federal government. Now they don’t have to be separated.
The deportation proceedings of a gay Colombian man who is married to an American citizen were immediately stopped by a New York City immigration judge only minutes after the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was struck down by the Supreme Court.
The DOMA Project, a campaign launched in October 2010 by a group of married binational couples, physically ran the ruling five blocks to the immigration judge. The group's aim is "to raise awareness of the cruel impact of [DOMA] on married gay and lesbian bi-national couples and to bring an end to that discrimination."
Source: domaproject.org
I am no stranger to injustice. I am black, gay, I came of age at a time when de-segregation had been fought for, and though not complete, had started changing society. Living through this upheaval and becoming well-adjusted as a double minority is not the sum total of my experience. Coming to terms with being black and gay, I found myself in my fifth decade of life contending with a new identity as half of a binational gay couple.
Initially the green card request was denied because the hardship the deportation would have on his spouse was not recognized as a valid reason. Today's ruling is one of the first of many for binational couples like them.
According to a UCLA analysis cited in the report Living in Dual Shadows: LGBT Undocumented Immigrants by the Center for American Progress, "There are at least 267,000 LGBT-identified individuals among the adult population of undocumented immigrants."
Via: Mark Wilson / Getty Images
