The BiNational Blues

We live in a world of transparent electronic borders.

Prior to the Internet it was rare for a person from one country to befriend a person in another country. I mean, prior to the Internet, unless you traveled to that country or signed up for some type of international pen pal club it was unlikely.

However, with the advent of the Internet all of that changed. The borders and travel distances, through the Internet, became transparent. Suddenly our clicks on the computer could connect us with many people worldwide.

We can now type, teleconference and even videoconference in the blink of an eye. This opened up an entirely new phenomena. The ability to become close friends with someone you’ve never met and the ability of that friendship blossoming into a relationship.

Of course if you’re heterosexual and want to pursue the relationship the law fully supports you. You can marry the foreigner and bring them to your home country. It is legal to do so. It is legal in the vast majority of countries in our world.

Unfortunately, that is not the case with homosexuals. In the majority of the worlds countries homosexuals are not granted the same immigration rights as heterosexuals.

This is where the term bi-nationals comes in. In other words, two individuals from two different nations.

It’s really quite a ‘straight forward’ process (pun intended) if you’re heterosexual. You marry the person (in any country). Then you submit that marriage license, along with other paperwork, to the government, along with associated fees. Poof, Presto, like magic you and your spouse are living together legally.

With homosexuals, this is only possible in a handful of countries around the world. The additional problem is that homosexuals can only marry in a handful of countries as well. Add to that the fact that most countries have strict requirements for residency and/or citizenship and you begin to see the issue.

Let’s just look at a couple examples.

Joe meets Jin. Jin is a female living in Viet Nam. Joe is from America. Joe can simply go to Viet Nam and marry Jin there in Viet Nam. Afterwards Joe can submit paperwork to the authorities in the USA. In a short amount of time, Jin and Joe are living happily ever after in the USA.

Now let’s say Paul met Huang. Paul is a gay American citizen. Huang is a gay citizen of Viet Nam. Paul cannot go to Viet Nam and marry Huang. Viet Nam doesn’t have gay marriage. Huang cannot go to America without a visa. Even if he could, there is no gay marriage, in the USA, which has any affect on federal immigration laws.

It’s possible Huang may be able to obtain a visa to another country which supports gay marriage, but even if he could obtain that visa, the USA doesn’t recognize gay marriage and therefore will not allow Paul to bring Huang into the USA.

Paul could attempt to relocate to another country, which supports gay marriage, but then he must meet that countries residency and/or citizenship requirements. Quite frankly, Paul shouldn’t be forced to leave his homeland due to inequality.

If one citizen has the right to bring the person they love into the country then all citizens should have this right. The term “All Men Are Created Equal” means very little if it isn’t true. Indeed it would seem the cornerstone of our country’s foundation was built on unstable ground.