Judy Rickard, author of Torn Apart: United by Love, Divided by Law, Findhorn Press, 2011, has worked to promote civil rights since 1973 as a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activist. She has extensive experience working with politicians and educators in San Jose/Santa Clara County, California where she lives. Speaking engagements, a blog, and a website continue her advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform that will include the recognition of same-sex binational families in the United States. She is a pioneer in applying for a green card for her wife, UK national Karin Bogliolo, with The DOMA Project. She continues to volunteer for comprehensive immigration reform that includes same-sex binational families with Immigration Equality, Out4Immigration, Love Exiles Foundation, The DOMA Project. She speaks to groups, attends dialogue sessions and educates about the need to include same-sex binational families in CIR.
Publications
Passport Pages Tell Our Tale
- April 29, 2013
Today in the United States, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Americans who fall in love with and marry foreign nationals are being asked to choose between country and spouse, country and career, and country and family. I know this because I have spent the last several years in a battle with my own government to recognize my wife for immigration purposes. Trying to keep my marriage to a British national together has cost me my career and a full pension, time away from my American family and friends, as well as a great deal of stress over finances and my future. Gay Americans who are legally married in the U.S. have a marriage that is not recognized by the federal government. Therefore, the 28,500 same-sex binational couples in America, in which one spouse is an American citizen, are in a situation where they cannot sponsor their husbands and wives for immigration purposes. This also means they do not receive the 1,138 federal rights, benefits, protections, and obligations that automatically come with marriage and serve to protect and support families.
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