Love in Exile, an Update

Some of my truckbuddies may remember the story I posted here on the Blue Truck in 2009, about San Angelo, Texas, mayor J. W. Lown, who just days after winning re-election packed his bags one morning and without stopping to say goodbye, left home and country to be with the man he loved.

Since that dramatic, widely-reported moment, they've been living quietly and prospering in Mexico, as well as shunning publicity.  But now J. W. has given an interview to the San Antonio Express-News about their love and life together.  While J. W., son of an American father and Mexican mother, is entitled to live in Mexico indefinitely, his partner could not do the same in the United States, if they were to return to San Angelo - due to the effect of DOMA on the immigration law.  One member of a straight couple can easily sponsor his or her spouse for a green card, but not so if they are gay.

J. W. remains popular among the citizenry of San Angelo, who wish he would return and be mayor again, having done an outstanding job during his time in office.  He hopes by sharing his story to have a little influence over public opinion here, as Congress debates a new immigration bill - which still excludes the gays from consideration.

“It's painful to think about — leaving behind my family, leaving behind eight years of building a stellar reputation within my community,” he said in an interview from his new home, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he and his partner have settled. “I'm hopeful the country has come to a point that we can have this discussion. . . . There's no other place than San Angelo I'd rather be,” he said. “But I have no plans to return again, unless (my partner) can come with me.”

Read the full story here.

Forty-year Couple Were Called Faggots by the U. S. Government

A little-known gay-marriage pioneer, Richard Adams, died Monday at age 65, leaving his bereaved husband, Tony Sullivan, to carry on a struggle that began when they were married in Boulder, Colo., nearly forty years ago. The Advocate reports:

Adams and his partner, Tony Sullivan, met in 1971 in Los Angeles and were legally wed in Colorado on April 21, 1975, by a Boulder city clerk with five other same-sex couples. Later that year Adams filed a petition with the government to make Sullivan a permanent resident as a spouse of a U.S. citizen. According to reports, the couple received a letter from the Immigration and Naturalization Service on November 24, 1975 that read, "You have failed to establish that a bona fide marital relationship can exist between two faggots."

The couple soon filed a federal lawsuit, Adams v. Howerton. In addition to Adams's years of activism against apartheid, nuclear war, American intervention in Central America, and in favor of gender equity, Adams dedicated several decades of his life to marriage equality, especially for binational couples. The couple is featured in the documentary Limited Partnership, about their life as a binational couple and the fight for equality.

The Limited Partnership trailer:



Read a poignant in-depth profile of the couple here. And you can make a contribution to the filmmakers here.

Through Thick and Thin

Thanks to my truckbudy Frank for his blog post about the case of Mark and Frédéric, who are fathers of four and facing the destruction of their family by the inane immigration laws that make no provision for same-sex couples.  The couple were among the subjects of the documentary film Through Thick and Thin, made a few years ago, which the clips above and below are from.

An excerpt from Mark's blog, where he details what they are up against:

Although we are both the legal parents of four American children, and both the state and federal government recognizes our status as parents, it will not recognize our marriage because of the Defense of Marriage Act. According to the U.S. government, I am the father of our four children, and Fred is the father of the same four children, but we are legal strangers to each other. Our marriage, our nearly 22 years together, all of that amounts to nothing. Fred has no right to stay in the United States beyond the expiration date of his visa. And that day was rapidly approaching. At the same time, while France would recognize our relationship under its less-than-optimal Civil Solidarity Pact (“PACS”), and it may even permit me to reside in France legally as an immigrant on the basis of our relationship (but not our marriage), the French government refuses to recognize the adoption of our children, because under French law same-sex couples are prohibited from adopting children. We are trapped by U.S. law that refuses to see our marriage, and French law that refuses to see our children.

Mark and Frédéric are seeing U.S. immigration officials this week in yet another bid to get permission to keep their family united in this country.





It would be a good idea to let your Congresspeeps know how you feel about the Uniting American Families Act, which has been introduced in every Congress since the year 2000 but has not yet been passed, thanks to the Republicans - you know, the family values party. Immigration Equality has details on how you can help.

Lesbians Succumb to Disordered Appetites

. . . at least that's the headline the fatheaded Deacon Fournier (see next post) would probably write for this report on the cruelty of U.S. immigration laws - a real couple involved in a real tragedy right now, not an imaginary "absurd example":



On June 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first hearing on the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow gays and lesbians to sponsor their same-sex partners for immigration. Find out more here and here, then write your Senators and let them know what you think.

Do something.