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Gay Couple in Fear That Trump's Ban Will Divide Them

HRC

A man in Texas is hoping to be reunited with his partner from Iran in three months.

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A gay Texan is afraid that he may be separated from his fiance, who is currently living in Iran, because of President Trump's executive order banning refugees and immigrants from Iran and five other countries from entering the United States, the man says in a video released by the Human Rights Campaign.

Paul Harrison travels to Iran to visit his fiance, who was not named in the video. BuzzFeed interviewed Harrison, who said he was in a two-year long-distance relationship before deciding to pop the question to his partner. His partner is supposed to join him for their wedding in three months, but Harrison is fearful that that day may not come because of Trump's executive order.

"Initially I became sick to my stomach. The nausea passed and I became angry and defiant. My fiance was just in disbelief and denial that this could be happening," Harrison told BuzzFeed. "The 2.0 version of the ban still makes me feel very uneasy. I feel that Muslims are being targeted in general, and Iranians in particular."

The two men often meet in Turkey because there they are able to show affection to each other in public. In the video produced by the Human Rights Campaign, Harrison revealed the joy he felt when he was able to kiss his partner in public in Turkey. They dare not display affection in Iran, where being gay is still punishable by law.

Watch the video from the Human Rights Campaign below.

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Yezmin Villarreal

Yezmin Villarreal is the former news editor for The Advocate. Her work has also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Mic, LA Weekly, Out Magazine and The Fader.
Yezmin Villarreal is the former news editor for The Advocate. Her work has also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Mic, LA Weekly, Out Magazine and The Fader.