DOMA Used to Deny Passport of Volunteer AIDS Educator Traveling to Africa

[Ian David]

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
DOMA Used to Deny Passport of Volunteer AIDS Educator Traveling to Africa

The Defense of Marriage Act has been used to lash out at married gay man and deny him a passport. Here is a blurb from Bay Windows:

The passport was denied because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) only recognizes heterosexual marriages for federal purposes. "Therefore, the marriage certificate issued by Sudbury, Massachusetts, which you have submitted in support of your name change, is not acceptable as evidence for recognizing an immediate name change on the basis of marriage," the U.S. Department of State informed Hair-Wynn in its letter, a copy of which Hair-Wynn provided to Bay Windows. Ironically, the letter addressed Hair-Wynn by his married name.

Hair-Wynn was shocked. "I just sat there and I was like, I can’t even process this," said Hair-Wynn, 26. "It’s so different when you see it in writing and a professional form and I just kept thinking, ’Wow, this is legal discrimination. This is absurd.’"

This action by our federal government now stands directly in the way of this man's trip he’ll be taking this summer to do HIV/AIDS and health education with youngsters in Ghana, Africa. His cause is noble, our government's intervention in this matter is a shameful reminder of just how much discrimination is still out there.

Posted by John Hosty-Grinnell at 3/19/2008 11:41:00 AM

More:
http://livelovelearn247.blogspot.com/2008/03/doma-used-to-deny-passport-of-volunteer.html

[predfan]

1. just another illustration of how the Bush administration has imbedded right wing nutjobs into the

federal government.............Like Bush? you'll LOVE McCain.

[MaryCeleste]

2. He can use his existing passport or get one under his original name

to make the trip unless fighting the State Dept is more important than fighting AIDS. The choice is his.

Yes this is a bad thing but to say "our federal government now stands directly in the way of this man's trip" is just dumb

[Duncan Grant]

3. Yep, he should have married a woman.

Pesky little man and his trumped-up passport issues...

k&r

[MaryCeleste]

4. The article claimed that the inability to get a passport

in his married name was preventing him from going...and that is BS. My all means publicize it, push to get the DOMA thrown out by the courts, but don't whine that he can not do his AIDS work due to it.

[Duncan Grant]

6. Fine. Let the Federal Gov't define (or deny) your identity and we'll talk.

As far as "his AIDS work" is concerned; I'm not going there. I don't care what his job is -- and it shouldn't matter, imho.

[mitchtv]

8. Man up

swallow it down, nothing to see here only whiney Gays

[davidinalameda]

17. he can't do his AIDS work due to DOMA

if he can't get a passport in his new name, he can't get to Africa to do his AIDS work, as you put it

[knitter4democracy]

19. He legally changed his name when he got married.

The legal document that proves that, the one required for getting a passport, has been denied. So, where's the BS?

I legally changed my name when I got married, and I have to renew my passport. I have to send in my marriage license as legal proof of my name change. I have a feeling they'll accept mine since I'm hetero and married to a guy. How is this not discrimination?

The situation now is not that he apply for his passport in his birth name. The background check will find the name change and probably put him on some list somewhere. Now, he has to go do a legal name change in court and pay all sorts of fees and such and explain to a judge why he wants to change his name (and the judge can deny it, though they rarely do). Then, once he has that document, he can reapply for the passport renewal with that document instead.

In other words, in order to do his volunteer work, he has to spend more time and money getting the "right" legal document, so no, the article isn't wrong.

[Der Blaue Engel]

22. It is not BS. He has changed his name. Go change your name and then try to get a passport.

Try it in both names when the government disputes the legality of your name change and let me know how far you get.

When I came up against this issue (after a legal, but non-court initiated name change recognized by the State of California), I was unable to get a passport in either name until I went through a SECOND name change through the court, which took four months and some $300.

But look, here it is right in the article, had you bothered to actually read it:

Hair-Wynn’s married name is reflected on all of his other identifying documents, such as his driver’s license and his Social Security card. The State Department letter states that Hair-Wynn could receive a valid passport reflecting his name change if he can provide a certified copy of the court order documenting the change or if he can provide documentation proving "customary use" of his married name - meaning that he has lived under the name for at least a period of five years. Neither of those options is available to Hair-Wynn; he has only been married since November 2005 and because he initiated his name change on his marriage license application - a routine process for heterosexual couples - as opposed to the probate court, there is no court order documenting the change. If Hair-Wynn decides to make his name change legal through the probate court, it will come at a cost of about $135, said Granda. He’s already out the $75 fee required to apply for his rejected passport.

Oh, wait, here's some good news for him:

Granda said Hair-Wynn may have some options in the short term that might ensure he’ll be able to travel to Africa come July. One is to order his plane ticket under his maiden name and carry the State Department rejection letter in the event he’s asked why his passport doesn’t correlate to the rest of his identifying documents. "That might be his best short-term measure," said Granda. He could also request what’s called a "known as" passport, which is issued at the discretion of the passport agency. The passport lists both a person’s legal name and the non-legal name by which they are known. "I think that’s insulting, to have same-sex couples have to travel under an alias," Granda acknowledged. "But it may be one effective way to do something now that recognizes the consistency of all your papers." But she also noted that "known as" passports could raise suspicion at security checks.

Well, now, clearly this is all no big deal. What a big fucking whiner he is, eh? :sarcasm:

But your compassion and understanding are noted.

edited to provide emphases in case the two paragraphs are just too taxing to read

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. i think its far dumber to discriminate against us. dont you?

[MaryCeleste]

7. I find the discrimination repgunant, I found the article whinney

The claim that DOMA was blocking his AIDS work, total BS. There are two different issues.

To me AIDS is still a damn serious thing, especially in Africa. Work the DOMA issues separately will working AIDS directly

[Corkey Mineola]

9. Not about AIDS work OR passports... about discrimination

plain and simple.

LGBT people are among the last group of Americans upon whom it is entirely okay to inflict discrimination, hate, and violence with no recourse to legal protection whatsoever.

Your argument, with its victim-blaming veneer, suggests that we LGBT citizens should compartmentalize central aspects of our identity, such as our names -- given or married -- to accommodate institutionalized discrimination. You suggest that the identity of AIDS educator should subsume that of married man.

Yet in what parallel universe would any straight married man ever be asked to make such a choice?

[MaryCeleste]

10. I am doing neither The article falsely claimed that the DOMA was interfereing with AIDS work.

That is pure BS.

I don't support the DOMA or what it does to people
I strongly support AIDS work, especially in Africa where is its approaching genocidal proportions
I have LGBT family, I know the discrimination they suffer
I don't support hyperbole

[Creideiki]

11. That's cool!

I have straight family (I've even got straight friends). I'm sure this never would have been an issue for them.

[Tyler Durden]

16. If you had any idea how you sound, you would shut up.

You're one of the reasons you make me ashamed to even share with you the condition of being straight.

What exactly is your problem? Oh and By the way, I have a suggestion what you can do with YOUR "hyperbole" which by the way involves exaggeration. I see nothing exaggerated about this man's passport issues: obviously you've never had any. It can take YEARS to resolve shit like that.

[plantwomyn]

20. The OP contains a blurb from an "article"

The ARTICLE states:
Hair-Wynn’s married name is reflected on all of his other identifying documents, such as his driver’s license and his Social Security card. The State Department letter states that Hair-Wynn could receive a valid passport reflecting his name change if he can provide a certified copy of the court order documenting the change or if he can provide documentation proving "customary use" of his married name - meaning that he has lived under the name for at least a period of five years. Neither of those options is available to Hair-Wynn; he has only been married since November 2005 and because he initiated his name change on his marriage license application - a routine process for heterosexual couples - as opposed to the probate court, there is no court order documenting the change. If Hair-Wynn decides to make his name change legal through the probate court, it will come at a cost of about $135, said Granda. He’s already out the $75 fee required to apply for his rejected passport.

The wait for passports is 10-12 weeks. I have no idea how long he'll have to wait to get documented proof of change of name. This could easily put him PAST his July 30 deadline.

This is NOT HYPERBOLE. Read the ARTICLE!

"I have LGBT family, I know the discrimination they suffer"

Hyperbole...Your statement MAY be considered to fit the definition.

1. obvious and intentional exaggeration.
2. an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity.”

The irony here is that many of us here feel we have “to wait an eternity.” for what you and yours get by writ of birth.

[Der Blaue Engel]

23. You obviously haven't read the article

See reply #22 so you can stop embarrassing yourself and insulting the rest of us.

[Zuiderelle]

12. See, that's the problem. They are both issues. And both of them need to be fought.

How on earth is it dumb? He cannot get a passport because he's gay, it's very simple. His original name is no longer his name, are you suggesting he deceive the government and pretend it is?

[Creideiki]

13. Except that we all know

gays only play at being married, you know? :sarcasm:

[hulklogan]

15. And if he tried to get a passport under his original name

it would probably be denied by the CondiBush State Department because it isn't his legal married name.

We might as well stop paying taxes, since we're being denied government services.

[Maven]

21. Please leave our forum

and don't come back until you get a clue about institutionalized homophobia and the very real barriers to living our lives freely that it creates.

Thank you.

[davidinalameda]

24. "our" forum

nice

[Maven]

25. Yes, our forum

as in, the forum for GLBT people and our allies.

I don't understand your objection.

[davidinalameda]

26. my objection is your post

seems to suggest that anyone who might have different ideas shouldn't be allowed to post in here

this is not some sort of gay DU ghetto

[Maven]

27. Oh, you're such a good disciple.

Those of us who live in the real world would prefer that people who are homophobic or insensitive to the inequality faced by GLBTs not post in our forum. Can you handle that, or should we start letting Republicans (you know, people with "different ideas") post on DU in general?

[davidinalameda]

28. what did she say that was homophobic or insensitive?

He can use his existing passport or get one under his original name to make the trip unless fighting the State Dept is more important than fighting AIDS.
The choice is his.
Yes this is a bad thing but to say "our federal government now stands directly in the way of this man's trip" is just dumb

this was her original post

your reply

Please leave our forum

and don't come back until you get a clue about institutionalized homophobia and the very real barriers to living our lives freely that it creates.

Thank you.

blunt, yes, insensitive and homophobic, no

comparing what she said to what some repugs say about us is just hyperbole

you need to get out of victim mode and listen to what people have to say

maybe you might change your closed little mind

[Maven]

29. My comment came after a pattern of comments, not her first comment

which other GLBT DUers objected to repeatedly--yet she kept going.

What do I need to change my mind about? The insensitivity of people who rationalize inequality and call us whiners and exaggerators for complaining about it? No, I'll pass on the distorted, self-deprecating concept of "unity" you've acquired, thanks. Go get petted on the head; I prefer to stand upright.

[davidinalameda]

30. I objected at first too

I went back and re-read it

was she insensitive-probably

were her later comments in reaction to her being attacked-possibly

is this "OUR" forum

no

get over yourself

you would rather set yourself apart in a ghetto where you can rail on the injustice in the world from your safe little perch

as soon as someone challenges you, you get your panties in a bunch and start telling people to leave

well, guess what

I'll leave YOUR forum to you and the rest of you

maybe you can ask Skinner to rename the forum to reflect your new ownership

[Maven]

31. Dude, breathe in, breathe out

and next time do us both a fucking favor and don't respond to my posts.

[davidinalameda]

32. when I see stupidity

I just can't help but responding

and I see a lot of it in YOUR forum lately

[Creideiki]

33. Let me know when the level of stupidity here approaches

even at 5 or 6 orders of magnitude, the level of stupidity in GD:P.

Generally, I think you're a pretty solid poster, but when this becomes a place where people can come and denigrate LGBT people and not get called on it, then it might as well not be labeled LGBT.

[Zuiderelle]

34. Wait a minute. This isn't our forum?

I thought GLBT stood for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered.

If someone comes into my home and starts to tell me that my rights are not as important as theirs, I would tell them to leave. What's the difference?

[davidinalameda]

35. no, this not OUR forum to the exclusion of others

I'm curious-did anyone ever alert the mods on what the poster said because they thought it was homophobic or did people, me included, just attack her

this is not anyone's home

it's supposed to be a forum to discuss GLTB issues

not a forum for only GLBT people

[Zuiderelle]

36. If I were to enter an African American forum and tell them that their concerns are invalid

and that despite all their explanations, they don't have any reason to complain about something that affects them, I would find it completely understandable to be asked to leave. No matter what that something is.

With repeated explanations from several of us, she continued to stand by her claim that this issue is a non-issue, even though it's clearly a critical issue for a lot of us.

And I think it's a perfectly fine reaction at the end to say "Please leave our forum" when it's clear that someone is unable to understand how this affects us... IN OUR FORUM.

This IS a forum to discuss GLBT issues, but it is ASSUMED that there won't be unsympathetic people posting here directly contradicting us. Just like this entire website. We start by expecting that people are democratics. Here, we start by expecting that people are sympathetic to GLBT people.

[davidinalameda]

38. you know what they say about assuming

[JackBeck]

37. But they are standing in the way,

What part of legal name change don't you understand?

[rcsl1998]

14. K&R

[MuseRider]

18. K&R

Damn. Speechless here both by the article and a couple of the responses. This is just one more wrong piled on top of thousands of others.

Kick it up and R. The only way to change minds is to get people to notice how bad this is and then educate the hell out of them. I can't believe what I read here sometimes.