Friday, April 18, 2014

INS: 'You Have Failed to Establish That a Bona Fide Marital Relationship Can Exist Between Two Faggots'


(Click to ENRAGE)

Sobering reminder of the sacrifices made by so many in the fight for marriage equality, from the Facebook page of my friend Lavi Soloway, who runs The DOMA Project with Noemi Masliah.

He writes:
Tony Sullivan and Richard Adams went to Federal District Court in Los Angeles in 1979 to continue their fight for federal recognition of their marriage so that Tony could be granted a green card as Richard's spouse. The Immigration Service has never apologized for sending them a one-sentence denial letter in 1975 referring to them as "two faggots." The Obama administration should direct Jeh Johnson, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, to repudiate the outrageous language used by the INS Director in Los Angeles in that letter. Richard died in 2012 without receiving a formal apology from his own government, and did not live to see DOMA's demise or resolution of Tony's immigration status. It is time to right this historic wrong and approve Tony's request for a green card under the provision in the law that applies to surviving spouses of American citizens. 
The work of The DOMA Project continues to address the lasting effect of that law on LGBT families, including widows and widowers and children. Thank you to those who support our advocacy and education work and help us expose the enduring and harmful legacy of DOMA. Tony Sullivan has spent four decades as an activist and educator, protesting injustice where ever he saw it. Next week we will continue the fight for equality together, as Tony looks forward with optimism at the changing world and keeps demanding that it do better, become more decent, and respect and value love that is the basis of marriage. #keepupthefight

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