Open letters from 26 gay men and lesbians.
Vestal (right) and Tristan. Photo: Darinka Chase
Dear President Obama,
Congrats! America is celebrating in a way that surpasses the party we had when Clinton was elected. The music alone is better. “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” blows “Don’t Stop” completely out of the water—and that’s coming from a die-hard Stevie Nicks fan. I wish I were there with you all!
Unfortunately, I can’t be. You see, I am kind of an exile. My husband, Tristan, is English. After we had been together two years, it came time for us to “shit or get off the pot,” as Tristan put it. (Like a lot of English blokes, Tristan has a very, shall we say, spicy way of expressing himself.) Living apart was too painful, not to mention expensive, so one of us had to move. If we had been a straight couple, we would have had more than one option. But we’re gay. In England the government treats gay people like regular citizens who are allowed to sponsor their spouses (or “civil partners,” as they call us) for immigration purposes.
Now I’m here on a spouse’s visa, able to work and get a lot of the benefits British citizens enjoy. I take the tube, eat fish and chips, and get buggered. (That can mean drunk, you know!) I even get to go to the doctor when I’m sick, which was something I didn’t do in the United States, since I’m a lowly writer with no health insurance. But that’ll be the subject of a later letter. We’ve got four years, Barack! Four glorious years!
Which brings me to the favor I’d like to ask. I know that you’re a supporter of the Uniting American Families Act, a bill before Congress that would change immigration law to allow Americans to sponsor their foreign same-sex partners. I wish you would have cosponsored the bill, but I’m willing to put that behind us if you give it a boost now. The bill has been referred to committee in both the Senate and the House, which can be a graveyard for bills such as this one, but I have a lot of hope for our little UAFA. In the last couple of months alone, several senators and representatives joined in cosponsoring the legislation, bringing the total to 18 senators and 118 representatives!
Your victory has everyone back home feeling very positive, hopeful, and ready for something new. Maybe you could use a little of that momentum to garner more support for the bill and push it through. Then Tristan and I could live in the United States if we so chose. I wouldn’t be separated from my little niece and nephew and 77-year-old dad anymore. We could live in a town with more than 10 sunny days a year, and my vitamin D levels would return to normal.
And in four years Tristan and I would be able to attend your re-election party! Think it over. We’re good at parties.
Sincerely yours,
Vestal McIntyre
Author of You Are Not the One and the forthcoming Lake Overturn, out in April
More Letters to the President-elect:
Tammy Baldwin, Democratic member of Congress from Wisconsin
Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day
Evan Wolfson, Executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People’s Right to Marry
Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign
Melissa Etheridge, singer-songwriter
Michelangelo Signorile, radio host and author of Queer in America
Tammy Bruce, radio talk-show host and author of The New American Revolution
Kenji Yoshino, professor at New York University School of Law and the author of Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights
Vestal McIntyre, author of You Are Not the One and the forthcoming Lake Overturn
Jarrett Lucas, codirector of the 2008 Soulface Q Equality Ride
Michael Lowenthal, author of Charity Girl and Avoidance
Suzanne Westenhoefer, comedian and star of the documentary A Bottom on Top
Jim Buzinski, CEO and cofounder of Outsports.com
Perez Hilton, blogger, radio host, and television personality
Carole Midgen, former California state senator
Pam Spaulding, Durham, N.C.-based blogger
Paris Barclay, Executive Producer/Director HBO’s In Treatment
Lorri L. Jean, CEO, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Jeffrey Prang, Mayor of West Hollywood
Jorge Valencia, Executive director and CEO of Point Foundation
Mark Leno, California assemblyman
The Reverend Doctor Troy D. Perry, founder and moderator emeritus, Metropolitan Community Churches\
Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality
Donna Rose, transgender activist
Peter Tatchell, LGBT human rights campaigner and spokesman for OutRage!
Rachel B. Tiven, Executive Director, Immigration Equality
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