A life of exile in Vancouver, Canada

The film that Don and I are appearing in, Love Exiled, has a premiere date right here in Vancouver, Canada.  The trailer to the film is at the end of this post. About The Film LOVE EXILED chronicles the stories of four same-sex couples who immigrated to Canada where their relationships are fully recognized. Their [...]

During last years Anti-Proposition 8 rally we met Roger and Jim who have since made a documentary film.  The film is about LGBT couples who have faced discrimination in US immigration legislation and are currently living exiled in Canada. The film has been accepted by the Vancouver Queer Film Festival which takes place this August [...]

There has been quite a lot of news over the past couple of weeks regarding same sex immigration in the US. Letter to Obama and Congress A letter from 60 members of congress has been sent to Obama and Congressional Leaders to encourage the passing of legislation that would end discrimination in immigration law against [...]

This is a quick review of the progress, or lack thereof, that was made during the previous year.  There has been movement which is always positive but those who are affected by this will say so far its not enough. Senate Hearings There were Senate hearings for the Uniting American Families Act for which Shirley [...]

Every time to time I review what is happening with same sex immigration legislation in the US.  There doesn’t seem to be much progress at all this year, people got excited when there was a congressional hearing but seems like its all gone pretty flatline again.  I am hoping things will pick up on the [...]

I woke up this morning to the news that Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize [Source: BBC]. My immediate thought was…he has done f**k all so why did he win it? One of the Nobel Prize committee members said he had won the prize because he had given hope to millions which made world [...]

Being a hot and humid day made it quite difficult for me to enjoy the event.  The weather of course is not the organizers fault since they cannot control it! We arrived about 12:30 at Sunset Beach for Vancouver Pride where the parade finished and where the entertainment, stalls and food were. I was surprised [...]

Today is the 3rd Anniversary of Don and I being married, as I call it, or in UK terms to be in a Civil Partnership.  To me it feels as though I am married and Civil Partnership seems a little “clinical”. Each and every any I so much enjoy being married to Don and having [...]

Its been some time since I updated myself on the what is happening with the act and getting rid of discrimination in US immigration law. HR1024 now has 113 co-sponsors which is a rise of 8 since last I wrote.  The new gorgeous people who are supporting us are: Brad Miller Allyson Schwartz Robert Brady [...]

This past week the Uniting American Families Act got its first congressional hearing in its history, this has generated some interest from other legislators and the media.  Here is a quick roundup of the most interesting bits. Firstly the Act has gained new co-sponsors as follows: House of Representatives – HR1024 – previously 102 now [...]

They are calling it a historical event, for the first time the Uniting American Families Act gets its say in front of a Congressional hearing.  This certainly gives a lot of people some hope for the future, that maybe discrimination can be written out of immigration legislation.  I personally don’t feel hopeful, following the California [...]

Today Obama has issued a proclamation stating that June is LGBT Pride Month, download it from the Mile High Gay Guy website.  This is very welcome to me because he states, post election, where he stands on various policies – it’s better to know where we stand with him rather than not saying anything and [...]

Sadly this week bought the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8 in their State to put a halt to same sex marriages but to let the existing 18,000 marriages stay in effect.  If they were voting to actually keep same sex marriage maybe the decision would have been different but they were voting [...]

Surprising news came this week when Immigration Equality announced a congressional hearing, on June 3rd, for the Uniting American Families Act. This is the first time in it’s history that this act has had a congressional hearing and it will finally give some hope to the many people who are in limbo because of the [...]

This coming Tuesday the Supreme Court of California will finally make what seems the long-waited decision on Proposition 8.  365gay has a good news article on the background to this, what they are voting for, and what this possibly means to 18,000 couples. The decision will be followed by Rally’s in many cities in the [...]

Eurovision

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Never really been into Eurovision, I can hardly bring myself to observe it from afar because it is simply so dreadful.  The one good thing about being in Canada is that I cannot see that is going to broadcast here – YES! Is it dreadful because it was previously hosted by Terry Wogan with his [...]

US Immigration Reform in 2009?

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Well I am not holding my breath and even if it does come would they include the interests of same sex binational couples?  The chair of the Senate Sub-Committee on Immigration has stated however that there would be Immigration Reform within the year [source: Daily News].  It will be interesting to see this one develops [...]

Same Sex Marriage

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Canada was the fourth country in the world to recognize same sex marriage which came into effect nationally on July 20th, 2005.  Unfortunately very few countries have made wise decisions and gone down this path. In my own country UK Civil Partnerships were introduced in December 2005 but unfortunately marriage was rejected on 31 July [...]

UAFA Co-sponsor Update

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Uniting American Families Act has received one more co-sponsor this week, on April 23rd. Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington became the 96th co-sponsor in the House of Representatives, Bill HR1024. Unfortunately there has been no change in the Senate since March, number of co-sponsors standing at 17, Bill S424. I would have thought, will the [...]

Couple Saved From Deportation…

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…well, at least for now. My blog entry dated April 1st spoke about a Lesbian bi-national couple who have been in a relationship for 23 years but the foreign partner faced deportation back to her home country.  This is a very prominent case since it appeared in People magazine. Yesterday, a private Senate bill, introduced [...]

Couple more UAFA Co-Sponsors

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There has been a couple more co-sponsors of the Uniting American Families Act this week, that is HR1024 in the House of Representatives, as follows: George Miller Jim McDermott What awfully decent chaps they are!!  No change in S424 in the Senate though.

Here is yet another sad story about how US Immigration have split up a couple who have been in a 23 year relationship, as there are also children involved this is a very devestating story. Read the story on 8Asians.com The Uniting American Families Act is one possible hope for couples like this, however this [...]

Washington Post Endorses UAFA

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The Washington Post today endorsed the Uniting American Families Act [see article]. This is very important news in the process of moving the act forward because the Washington Post is considered to be one of the key newspapers of the USA. I received this annoucement from an Immigration Equality news bulletin and its now on [...]

UAFA Update

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Since I last wrote there has been an update on the number of co-sponsors of the Uniting American Families Act as follows: House of Representatives Bill HR1024 Current total co-sponsors: 90 New Co-sponsors Yvette Clarke Elijah Cummings Ed Pastor Brian Baird Senate Bill S424 Current total co-sponsors: 15 New Co-Sponsors: Bernie Sanders A very small [...]

New Co-sponsors Already

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Great news that some new co-sponsors have signed onto the Uniting American Families Act. The total co-sponsoring HR1024 in the House of Representatives is now 86.  The following recently signed on: Alcee Hastings – Democrat of Florida Timothy Bishop – Democrat of New York Jane Harman – Democrat of California John Conyers – Democrat of [...]

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