Mary and Partner

Posted on February 7, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Mary (U.S.) & Partner (Canada)
I am a US citizen and my partner is Canadian. We have been together for three years and have experienced so many difficulties ranging from each of us being turned away at our respective border crossings from time to time in addition to so many other issues.
Unfortunately my partner experienced the worst border crossing events. I understand that US border employees have to do their jobs but I feel that it is so unnecessary to treat people like criminals with two-hour unfriendly “interrogations”. These experiences had been traumatic to both of us. We were both left feeling so discriminated against because of our sexual orientations. And there was no reason for it – we are both law abiding, responsible women.
I’ve become bitter from these experiences alone. I’ve lost faith in the government of the country where I was born and raised, where I operate a successful business and where I pay taxes. I am treated like a second class citizen without the right to be with the person I love.
Because I have property, my partner came to the US to be with me, never expecting the issues that we encountered. Visas are not guaranteed.

We have learned so much through our own research as well as trial and error. As a result, since we luckily live close to a US/Canadian border, we secured an apartment in Canada because of the time requirements for each of us “visiting” each others countries.
This has only been a temporary solution to a long term problem just so we can be together. It’s costly and inconvenient right now but until we can get a president in office who can help the LGBT community by fixing immigration laws I remain bitter.

I am going to try to do all I can to fight the cause here. However, if after doing so makes no difference by the time a new president has been elected or if there is no indication that things will be changing, I will be forced to make Canada my new home. As an American, I shouldn’t be FORCED to choose between country and partner.
This story is located at: http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1197