This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2013/jun/27/us-constitution-and-civil-liberties-gay-rights
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| What the Doma ruling means: we're free to feel normal about love | What the Doma ruling means: we're free to feel normal about love |
| (3 months later) | |
| Last night's ruling by the US supreme court, striking down a part of the Defence of Marriage Act (Doma) which previously denied crucial legal rights to married gay couples, has been variously labelled "historic" and "landmark". | Last night's ruling by the US supreme court, striking down a part of the Defence of Marriage Act (Doma) which previously denied crucial legal rights to married gay couples, has been variously labelled "historic" and "landmark". |
| For me, it is the first big step for LGBT rights in a long time to feel personal. | For me, it is the first big step for LGBT rights in a long time to feel personal. |
| My partner and I fall into a category the press calls "LGBT binational couples" – a group which received some attention in discussions leading up to the Doma decision and in debates surrounding recent US immigration bills. He's an American, I'm an Australian, we're in love and we want to live together. | My partner and I fall into a category the press calls "LGBT binational couples" – a group which received some attention in discussions leading up to the Doma decision and in debates surrounding recent US immigration bills. He's an American, I'm an Australian, we're in love and we want to live together. |
| Until last night, living together in the US was nearly impossible. My partner and I could marry in New York if we chose, but the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, being a federal department, would not have recognised that marriage. | Until last night, living together in the US was nearly impossible. My partner and I could marry in New York if we chose, but the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, being a federal department, would not have recognised that marriage. |
| I could live in the US in the hope of not being deported and without work, but never as a permanent resident. | I could live in the US in the hope of not being deported and without work, but never as a permanent resident. |
| That has changed overnight, along with other important legal rights for gay married couples: now the American half of the estimated 24,7000 binational LGBT couples in the US – and countless others living overseas, like my partner and I – can sponsor their foreign-born spouses for family-based immigration. | That has changed overnight, along with other important legal rights for gay married couples: now the American half of the estimated 24,7000 binational LGBT couples in the US – and countless others living overseas, like my partner and I – can sponsor their foreign-born spouses for family-based immigration. |
| This is not a move my partner and I will be making anytime soon. After all, I just managed to get him to Sydney. We met in New York almost four years ago (at a sports bar watching the Yankees – take that, stereotypes!). I was on a year-long student visa and stayed on an extra year on a fellowship so that we could live together and eat more fro-yo in Central Park (we have to adhere to some stereotypes). | This is not a move my partner and I will be making anytime soon. After all, I just managed to get him to Sydney. We met in New York almost four years ago (at a sports bar watching the Yankees – take that, stereotypes!). I was on a year-long student visa and stayed on an extra year on a fellowship so that we could live together and eat more fro-yo in Central Park (we have to adhere to some stereotypes). |
| I moved back to Sydney in 2011 and we immediately began working to get him a visa to live in Australia. Despite our government's general backwardness on LGBT issues, Australia does not discriminate against same-sex relationships when it comes to partner/de facto visas. He arrived late last year. He likes the weather. | I moved back to Sydney in 2011 and we immediately began working to get him a visa to live in Australia. Despite our government's general backwardness on LGBT issues, Australia does not discriminate against same-sex relationships when it comes to partner/de facto visas. He arrived late last year. He likes the weather. |
| What the Doma decision has done for us is take away the apprehension about the future. Prior to last night, our lives were dictated by which country had what laws. Now, we have options. Should we one day need to move back – he gets an opportunity, or, god forbid, needs to care for a family member – we can. | What the Doma decision has done for us is take away the apprehension about the future. Prior to last night, our lives were dictated by which country had what laws. Now, we have options. Should we one day need to move back – he gets an opportunity, or, god forbid, needs to care for a family member – we can. |
| I understand that's a luxury. I understand that we're just two middle-class white boys who like Robyn and want to live in NYC. And I understand that's not as sympathetic a case study as LGBT folks suffering serious discrimination under some regimes in the world, or women under many. But it's a luxury that other people in both our countries have. And now it's closer to being equal. | I understand that's a luxury. I understand that we're just two middle-class white boys who like Robyn and want to live in NYC. And I understand that's not as sympathetic a case study as LGBT folks suffering serious discrimination under some regimes in the world, or women under many. But it's a luxury that other people in both our countries have. And now it's closer to being equal. |
| And Doma is personal to me and my partner for a reason that goes deeper than visas and stamps and living arrangements. | And Doma is personal to me and my partner for a reason that goes deeper than visas and stamps and living arrangements. |
| I've always felt that there's a significant trickle-down factor to discrimination. If the school principal picks on a kid, it makes it that much easier for his classmates to have a dig. If the government says this group is not equal, it makes it that much easier for people to target them because, hey, they're different… the boss says so. | I've always felt that there's a significant trickle-down factor to discrimination. If the school principal picks on a kid, it makes it that much easier for his classmates to have a dig. If the government says this group is not equal, it makes it that much easier for people to target them because, hey, they're different… the boss says so. |
| I haven't experienced a lot of direct discrimination in my life because I'm gay, but I've experienced enough to know it sucks. In New York I've been berated in front of a subway station full of people by an evangelist who screamed that I was going to hell. My boyfriend has been pushed coming out of a chemist and called a fag. Then there's the less direct stuff. At the Socceroos vs Iraq match, we sat in front of a beer-swilling herd of Aussie males calling every falling, leg-grabbing Iraqi player a "faggot". We sat there looking as unattached as possible. That was uncomfortable – I can't imagine what people who have far more serious stories have been through. | I haven't experienced a lot of direct discrimination in my life because I'm gay, but I've experienced enough to know it sucks. In New York I've been berated in front of a subway station full of people by an evangelist who screamed that I was going to hell. My boyfriend has been pushed coming out of a chemist and called a fag. Then there's the less direct stuff. At the Socceroos vs Iraq match, we sat in front of a beer-swilling herd of Aussie males calling every falling, leg-grabbing Iraqi player a "faggot". We sat there looking as unattached as possible. That was uncomfortable – I can't imagine what people who have far more serious stories have been through. |
| Decisions like the Doma ruling chip away at the acceptability of such attitudes and behaviour. They make official the same-sameness of everyone. The US supreme court has made my life less complicated – but most importantly, it has made my life more normal. | Decisions like the Doma ruling chip away at the acceptability of such attitudes and behaviour. They make official the same-sameness of everyone. The US supreme court has made my life less complicated – but most importantly, it has made my life more normal. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |