(UPDATE) Happy Ending for Judy and Karin!

Back in 2011, I had the opportunity to interview the Author of 'Torn Apart, United by Love, Dividedby Law', Judy Rickard. OUTview is thrilled to announce that her Spouse, Karin, has been federally recognized as Judy's Legal wife and was granted her a Green Card, this past weekend.

From PRESS RELEASE
On July 15, 2013, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a green card to U.K. citizen, Karin Bogliolo, 72, based on her marriage to U.S. citizen
Judy Rickard, 65, making Karin the third gay immigrant in U.S. history to become a lawful permanent resident on the basis of a same-sex marriage.

“The issuance of this green card to Karin Bogliolo is the culmination of a two-decade grassroots movement in which lesbian and gay Americans fought for the right to sponsor the person that they love for permanent resident status in the United States, said Lavi Soloway, founder of the DOMA Project. "Lesbian and gay binational couples and their families celebrated the Fourth of
July this year with the Supreme Court decision in US v. Windsor fresh in their
minds: having achieved freedom from a cruel law that has torn apart loving,
committed couples, forced lesbian and gay Americans into exile to be with the
person they love and has resulted in the unconscionable deportation of partners
and spouses of lesbian and gay Americans. The long nightmare is over.
In striking down DOMA, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy held that,
‘[DOMA] tells those couples, and all the world, that their otherwise valid
marriages are unworthy of federal recognition. This places same-sex couples in
an unstable position of being in a second-tier marriage... And it humiliates tens
of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples. The law in
question makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity
and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their
community and in their daily lives. By issuing a green card to Karin on the basis of her marriage to Judy, the U.S. government is finally recognizing the inherent Dignity of this family, and giving tangible meaning to Justice Kennedy’s ruling.”

Click Here for MK's Interview from 2011 with Judy Rickard.

(SHOWcase) Pamanhikan - mockumentary short film about gay marriage!

There are challenges in every relationship, right? Whether it’s a gay or straight couple. Whether you’re dating, engaged, married or divorced, there are challenges in every relationship.

Now, imagine the challenges an inter-racial, engaged gay couple may face when two of their parents don’t want them to be married. Now, imagine laughing when those parents meet for the first time. Pretty soon, you won’t have to imagine. You’ll be seeing it in the short film, Pamanhikan.

Brendan McDowell, an Irish-American, and Jun Hernandez, a Filipino-American, have found each other and wish to marry.

(POP NEWS) See Ya; Protest; Pioneer; Fantasy; Targeted; Not Yet; Evolved; Sugar; Jeer-ney; Loopy; 2some; Details; Losing It!

• SEE YA: Annette Funicello Dead at 70!

• PROTEST: Rubio Joins Brouhaha Over Beyonce, Jay-Z Cuba Trip!

• PIONEER: The Life and Death of a Feminist Fighter!

• FANTASY: Amazingly Elaborate Hoax Targets Megachurch Pastor, Joel Osteen!

• TARGETED: Gay Former Swedish MP Attacked on Greek Vacation!

• NOT YET: Immigration Reform Bill Will Not Include LGBT Families!

• EVOLVED; Drag Queen Sings Amazing Protest Anthem Against Russian President Vladimir Putin in Amsterdam, AND Putin Says Russia Does Not Discriminate Against Gays!

(POP NEWS) Karma; Unopposed; Fashion; Reality; Bad Penny; Huge Loss; Trekkie; Ordered; The Voice; PC; Animal; Re-veal!

• KARMA: Santa Monica High School Outprotests Westboro Baptist Church THEN Reporter Destroys them!

• UNOPPOSED: Cardinal O'Brien's Resignation Great for Gay Marriage in UK with No Credible Catholic Leader to Oppose It!

• FASHION BACKWARD: No More Red Shoes for Pope Benedict!

• REALITY: US Can't Help Gay Binational Couples Because of DOMA!

• BAD PENNY: NY Gay Couples at the Start of a Divorce Boom!

• HUGE LOSS: Server Who Died in Restaurant Explosion in Kansas City Last Week was Lesbian Activist, Counselor! 

(MY View) Don't Tear This Septuagenarian Lesbian Couple Apart!

By Brynn Gelbard and Lavi Soloway

It’s August 3, 2012, and people are gathering for a wedding in the northern seaport town of Findhorn, Scotland. Propped up on a chair in the front row amid a slew of mingling guests is an iPad bearing the smiling faces of Mum 1 and Mom 2. It’s not because of an illness or the expense of overseas travel that they are attending their son and future daughter-in-law’s big day via Skype from their living room thousands of miles away in San Jose, Calif. It’s because if Mum 1 — Karin, a U.K. citizen — leaves the United States, she will be barred for at least a decade from reentering this country and returning to the home she shares with her American wife, Judy — a.k.a. Mom 2.

Karin is 73 years old, born in Germany during World War II (when birth certificates were still emblazoned with swastikas!). Being prohibited from going home for 10 years is not a risk she can take, even if it means missing her son’s wedding. If Judy could have successfully sponsored her for a green card, they would certainly be present to celebrate with family and friends, who each take turns visiting the iPad to say congratulations before taking their seats. But she can’t. The Defense of Marriage Act only recognizes opposite-sex marriages for all federal matters including immigration, so Judy and Karin are stuck in California, unable to travel internationally.

(POP NEWS) Choked Up; Panic; Shocker; Hate; Wacko; Branding; Not Out; Pro gay; Confused; Diss; Gag!

• CHOKED UP: Applause Rings Out for Gay Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas's Emotional Testimony on Immigration Reform!

• PANIC: NOM Pushes Dishonest Obama Graphic Claiming 'Same-Sex Marriage Makes Fathers Irrelevant'!

• SHOCKER: Olympic Sprinter Oscar Pistorius Charged with Murder!

• HATE: Man Charged in NYC Gay Strangling Murder!

• WACKO: Teacher Who Backed Gay-Free Prom Under Fire!

(OUTVIEW @ 4) Coverage that led to Change!

Adams at City Hall (2009)                Scott

Going Back to OUTview's first year in 2009, we focused on issues that we cared about and one by one change was happening. Our first Podcast on January 31, 2009 happened a month earlier than planned and MK had to jump through hurdles to get this special completed. This was the week that Portland was going through a firestorm with the Scandal of Mayor Sam Adams and his relationship with former intern, Beau Breedlove. It was revealed that Adams had lied during his Mayoral Campaign in 2007 about his relationship with Breedlove. Many (Including Oregon's Gay Publication, 'Just Out') was calling for Adams to resign. One Man, Elliot Young, Professor at Portland’s Lewis and Clark College, was one of the first to start the ‘Support Sam’ campaign. Young spent several days being interviewed by the local media and graciously accepted the invitation to chat with OUTview. Adams didn't resign, and after 2 failed Recalls, left City Hall feet first in December 2012.

(POP NEWS) Honor; Progress; Beyond Progress; Bound; Bowed; Stiff; Anger; Stand Up; BW!

• HONOR: Boy Scouts 'Actively Considering' End to Ban on Gay Members, Leaders!

• PROGRESS: Obama Said to Include Gays in Immigration Reform Plans!

• BEYOND TRADITIONAL: Romney Advisor Comes Out for Marriage Equality, Says GOP Lost the Culture Wars!

• BOUND: Barney Frank to Make Broadway Debut!

• BOWED: Netherlands' Queen Beatrix to Abdicate!

• RIPPED: Greco-Roman Sex was Wilder & Weirder Than Ours!

(SHOWCASE) (IN)VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE!

(IN)VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE ​is a documentary chronicling the lives of Sandro and Alon, a bi-national couple, as they are "invited" to leave the country by the U.S. government and spend a year searching the globe to find a new place to call home. ​​

After over 15 years of building their lives, careers, and home, these small business owners awoke to Canadian-born Sandro's H1B Visa expiring with no permanent residency options.​

In order to keep their family together, Sandro and Alon have no choice but to close their business, lay off American workers, and leave the country they love in search of a home that welcomes and recognizes its LGBT citizens as equals under the law.

After the successful Indie Go Go Campaign this past Fall, the Trailer is complete and the site is Up. Take a Look!

(MY view) How the Closet Corrupted Arizona Sheriff Babeu!

by Michelangelo Signorile


Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu may or may not have threatened to deport his former boyfriend back to Mexico, but the scandal that erupted over the weekend, and which forced the GOP Congressional candidate to resign as Mitt Romney's campaign co-chair in Arizona, does underscore one salient fact: closeted gay public figures are compromised, always harboring a secret they fear may get out. That often inspires them to go to great lengths in deceiving the public.

This is especially true in the Republican Party, where being an openly gay politician is still, largely, a political death sentence. There was Babeu, just days ago, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington -- before the world knew he was gay -- being heralded by conservative leaders for right-wing border patrol policies that put him in league with "America's toughest sheriff" Joe Arpaio (who is now distancing himself from Babeu). This was the same CPAC that had banned the gay group GOProud.

Babeu spent years covering up his sexual orientation, often supporting politicians who've pushed anti-gay policies. A frequent guest on Fox News, he'd appeared in a John McCain for President ad -- a veteran of the war in Iraq supporting a candidate who was a driving force against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Click HERE for the Full article. 

WELCOMED: Obama Addresses Binational Couples, DOMA At Latino Roundtable!

President Obama sat down with Latino news outlets today for a roundtable. In addition to discussing topics such as immigration reform and Puerto Rico's federal future, the commander-in-chief addressed binational gay couples who want to petition for legal status for their foreign-born partners, something prohibited by the Defense of Marriage Act.

Obama appears optimistic about the issue, telling reporters that he thinks courts will soon decide on DOMA, legislation he calls unconstitutional and refuses to defend, and he believes that his stance will help persuade judges toward the side of right.

STRUGGLE: Gregory and Guillermo, a Gay Bi-National Couple, Chronicle Their Immigration Battle

Gregory and a Guillermo are a gay bi-national couple chronicling the immigration challenges they face, in a project called The Other Half of the Orange.

Here's their first video, which deals with a forced separation in Sweden after Guillermo was denied a visa to come back into the U.S.

Writes Gregory: "He'd been approved for an O-1 by the dept of homeland security here in the states, but the next step is to re-enter the country and have this validated. His lawyer advised he go through a western European country (as the embassy in his home country of Colombia has a bad rep for mistreating Colombians) but this was a huge mistake. They look down on that, and he wasn't gven the visa. Had our partnership been validated federally, considering that hetero Americans can secure a visa for their fiances(!), this would not have been as long and painful as it has".

GAY GRACE: New Immigration Rules Could Help Same-Sex Couples!

The Obama administration announced yesterday that immigration officials, guided by the Department of Homeland Security, can now use "prosecutorial discretion" to stop deportation for illegal immigrants who pose no threat to the nation.

While the move will largely benefit people who illegally entered the United States as children, Metro Weekly reports that the new policy will also help same-sex binational couples: In response to a question from Metro Weekly about the impact of today's decision on same-sex couples, a second senior administration official said, "The prosecutorial discretion memo provides for the use of discretion for people with strong community ties, with community contributions and with family relationships. We consider LGBT families to be families in this context."

DEFEATED: Gay Couple Married Seven Years Loses Battle , Gets Deportation Order

Bradford Wells and Australian Anthony John Makk, who have lived together for 19 years and were married seven years ago in Massachusetts, have lost their battle with U.S. immigration and DOMA, the SF Chronicle reports. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied Makk's application to be considered for permanent residency as a spouse of an American citizen, citing the 1996 law that denies all federal benefits to same-sex couples.

The decision was issued July 26. Immigration Equality, a gay-rights group that is working with the couple, received the notice Friday and made it public Monday. Makk was ordered to depart the United States by Aug. 25. Makk is the sole caregiver for Wells, who has severe health problems.

Despite please to Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama to intervene, the couple has lost their case: The agency's decision cited the Defense of Marriage Act as the reason for the denial of an I-130 visa, or spousal petition that could allow Makk to apply for permanent U.S. residency. "The claimed relationship between the petitioner and the beneficiary is not a petitionable relationship," the decision said. "For a relationship to qualify as a marriage for purposes of federal law, one partner must be a man and the other a woman."

DENIED: Illegal Immigrant Journo's Driver's License Canceled in WA State!

Jose Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who "came out" as an illegal immigrant in the New York Times magazine last month, is experiencing some fallout from his confession: Washington state has canceled his driver's license. Vargas initially found a way to procure an Oregon license, but when it was due to expire earlier this year, he obtained one from Washington, which is one of two states that will grant full licenses to illegal immigrants. 

Those who have a Social Security number must provide it when applying for a Washington license, while those who don't must sign a declaration stating so and prove their in-state residency. Vargas' Social Security number is valid, which allowed him to get a license with no scrutiny, although the card is doctored to hide the statement, "Valid for work only with INS authorization." Officials opened an investigation after Vargas' article was published, and apparently canceled the license after he failed to prove his residency, the Seattle Times reports.

STOPPED: Immigration Judge Halts Deportation in Case of Binational Gay Couple!

An immigration judge Wednesday halted deportation proceedings for Alex Benshimol, a Venezuelan citizen who married his husband Doug Gentry last year in Connnecticut, providing another victory for binational same-sex couples targeted by unfair immigration laws.

The Contra Costa Times reports: Judge Marilyn Teeter instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to inform her court within 60 days about whether it plans to pursue Benshimol's deportation or close the case. The couple's lawyer, Lavi Soloway, cited a memo issued by the nation's director of immigration enforcement last month that told agents to use discretion when seeking to deport illegal immigrants. While the memo makes no mention of gay couples, it does tell agents to use discretion when immigrants have family members in the U.S. The couple hopes that more time will give the government a chance to clarify its position on deporting gays and lesbians who have U.S. citizen spouses.

TIME OUT: Binational Gay Couple Faces Deportation Wednesday!

LGBT groups will rally on Wednesday outside a San Francisco courthouse where a deportation hearing that may decide the fate of a married, gay binational couple will take place, Out4Immigration.org writes, in a press release:

On July 13 in San Francisco, Doug Gentry and Alex Benshimol, a married California couple who have been together for six years, will face every same-sex binational couple’s worst nightmare: a deportation hearing. Doug, a U.S. citizen, filed a marriage-based "green card" petition for Alex in July 2010. It was denied in March in a one-page letter citing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as the only reason. The couple re-filed the petition in June, citing changes in the administration position on DOMA that took place in February, and the Attorney General's intervention in a Board of Immigration Appeals case in April involving a gay binational couple facing deportation which was made public on May 5.

Alex came into the U.S. 12 years ago from Venezuela and overstayed a tourist visa, an immigration violation that straight binational couples can easily remedy once married; as a gay married couple, Doug and Alex do not have that option.

VICTORY: Deportation Proceedings Dropped in High-Profile Same-Sex Binational Case!

The U.S. has dropped deportation proceedings against Henry Velandia in what is being seen as a significant victory for married same-sex binational couples who face being torn apart due to unjust immigration laws.

The NYT: Immigration lawyers and gay rights advocates said the decision represented a significant shift in policy and could open the door to the cancellation of deportations for other immigrants in same-sex marriages.

“This action shows that the government has not only the power but the inclination to do the right thing when it comes to protecting certain vulnerable populations from deportation,” said the couple’s lawyer, Lavi Soloway...

...The judge granted the motion to close the case on June 13, and Mr. Soloway received an official copy of the order on Wednesday.

CRISIS: Bradford Wells, Gay San Franciscan, Fighting Against Husband's Deportation, Taken To Hospital!

This week, Bradford Wells, a gay San Franciscan, has been waging a last-minute effort to save his Australian husband, Anthony Makk, from having to leave the country on Monday. Things got much worse, reports SF Weekly.

"Bradford just had another heart attack (Actually it wasn't) and I'm on the way to the emergency room, and I really do have to go," said Anthony Makk when we called him this morning to interview him about his immigration case. Steve Ralls, a spokesman for Immigration Equality, a non-profit that is advising the couple in their immigration case, says they have not confirmed the heart attack.

HALTED: White House Calls for Immigration Reform for Gay Married Couples!

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney suggested comprehensive immigration reform was a more palatable solution for the Obama administration to pursue than to issue a moratorium on deportations of foreign spouses in legally married binational same-sex couples. Such individuals are threatened with deportation under DOMA. 

Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly reports: In June 2009, the Department of Homeland Security issued the moratorium on deporting certain widows and widowers of U.S. citizens. At the time, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, "Smart immigration policy balances strong enforcement practices with common-sense, practical solutions to complicated issues."

Advocacy groups, including Immigration Equality and Stop the Deportations, have been pushing the administration to take a similar step as to same-sex bi-national couples.