Binational Gay Couple to Reunite?

[Beacool]

In a strange turn of events, a Filipino man denied permission multiple times to remain in the U.S. with his American husband has been granted a tourist visa to reenter the country.

In September, The Advocate reported the story of Roi Whaley, a 46-year-old casino worker in Gulfport, Miss., who has advanced lung cancer and has been forced to live apart from his husband, Aurelio Tolentino, for more than three years. Tolentino had worked legally as a registered nurse in the U.S. but was denied a green card because of his HIV-positive status (the ban on HIV-positive green card applicants has since been lifted). He also applied for asylum based on his sexual orientation, but his request was denied, and he was ordered to leave the country in 2007.

Tolentino has lived in Vancouver, Canada, with his mother since then and still faces possible deportation to the Philippines. “He’s going to die there,” Whaley said in September of such prospects. “He’s not going have a job, he’s not going to have access to the medication he needs to live, he’s probably going to be shunned by everyone in his family.”

The case caught the attention of an LGBT immigration rights group that has been attempting to reunite the couple. As a matter of protocol, attorneys with Immigration Equality advised Tolentino to first apply for a tourist visa — which likely would be denied — followed by a request to the Department of Homeland Security for “humanitarian parole,” whereby he would be allowed back into the country on a temporary basis to take care of Whaley, who is also HIV-positive and cannot undergo chemotherapy because of his low T-cell count. As a result he faces a grim prognosis.

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/11/11/Binational_Gay_Couple_to_Reunite/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AdvocatecomDailyNews+%28Advocate.com

They look so cute together. I hope that they allow Tolentino to stay in the country. Why shouldn't he be with his dying husband?

:-)

[WillParkinson]

1. Why shouldn't he be with his dying husband?

Because he's gay and gay marriage is illegal in the US and it's going to tear down the fabric of this great nation because two guys should never get married!

(Or some BS reason like that. Fear and ignorance seems to trump human compassion in so many cases.)

[closeupready]

5. No, that's not it - it's because Jaysus will send a huge earthquake to gobble us up!

Series! Hugh!!!!!!!1 111 1!!

[terrya]

7. That's about right.

But I am kicking and recommending this story. May love ultimately conquer bigotry and ignorance.

[WillParkinson]

11. I'll see your kick...

And raise another rec.

[Beacool]

8. It was a rhetorical question.

We are soooo screwed up in this country. All the chest pounding and false morality crap.

x(

[originalpckelly]

2. They look very happy together.

See THIS is what's wrong with this bullshit second class citizen stuff. It allows a government to come between the most intimate of bonds in life. Hopefully they can be together for a while.

[Beacool]

9. I thought so too.

One of my best friends have been together for 19 years, much longer than many of my straight friends. I can't believe that if Tony was from another country (he's Puerto Rican), he may not have been allowed to be with his partner of so many years.

Where's the compassion? Imagine having a terminal illness and not have your loved one around. That's just a double whammy.

:(

[VMI Dem]

3. "Why shouldn't he be with his dying husband?". Answer:

The leader of our country does not support civil rights for gays.

[MrScorpio]

4. Sometimes love does win in the end. nt

[Beacool]

10. I sure hope so!!!

"An immigration policy source said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s progressive record on gay rights issues during her State Department tenure makes it unlikely that Tolentino would be turned away. “It’s hard to imagine that she would be anything but supportive and sympathetic in a case where a gay man is simply trying to return to the U.S. to be with his dying partner,” the source said."

:thumbsup:

[SidDithers]

6. K&R...nt

Sid