Gay Married Couple Barred From Entering U.S.

[goofyfish]

A quick summary: these fellows aren't pretending to be married, they're not claiming that they're married, they aren't even insisting that they're married. They are married. Just because the U.S. doesn't have gay marriage doesn't mean that it's not true.

TORONTO - A married gay couple say they were refused entry into the U.S. because an American customs officer wouldn't accept their clearance forms as a family.

Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell said they ended their trip to Georgia because the customs official at Toronto's Pearson airport insisted they fill out separate forms as single people. (Full text here)

Why is it not acceptable for two Canadian citizens to indicate their marital status under Canadian law at the Canada-US border? They don't stop being married when they cross into the United States. If an individual is licensed to practice medicine anywhere in the Canada, does this mean they're not a doctor when they're in the U.S.? Should they not put "physician" on the form when asked their occupation?

If they are still a doctor, even though the US doesn't recognize their certification, I say these fellows are still married even though the U.S. doesn't recognize their marriage. Customs officials at the Canadian border, dealing with Canadians who live in Canada and who are families under Canadian law, ought to deal with them as families, if only for the sake of good relations with their northern neighbor and the respect of human dignity.

The U.S. position on gay marriages is rapidly fossilizing and contributing to our laughing-stock potential worldwide.

:m: Peace.

 

[Mystech]

Well you sound awfully cynical about the whole ordeal. Try to think of it from the point of view of the US, I mean wouldn't it just messy up all the paperwork to recognize a married homosexual couple? It'd probably make the domestic homosexuals get all uppity and start bitching about how they aren't allowed to marry as it is, and we certainly can't have that, after all, this nation is already running a moral deficit, and certainly allowing all people equal protection under the law would only make that situation worse. Hey, what if GOD got angry at the nation, maybe then he'd stop blessing us, and then we'd be in a real situation, wouldn't we?

 

[goofyfish]

um... sarcasm? :bugeye:

 

[Mystech]

Was it so obvious?

 

[Cris]

When entering another country you are bound by the laws and regulations of that country. And within the USA laws and regulations can even vary from state to state.

If potential visitors do not like the laws of their target country or might be in danger from such laws then they should not visit that country.

For example in Saudi Arabia it is illegal to consume alcohol in public places and it is illegal for women to drive. That you can do these things in the USA or other countries does not mean you have those rights anywhere else.

The recognition of gays being married is again totally dependent on the laws and regulations of the target country and in this case the USA has every right to insist that their regulations, laws and customs are followed.

 

[otheadp]

re: the physician analogy.
shouldn't the Canadian physician take some kind of exam in the US before being allowed to practice medicine there?

because in Canada, even with a HUGE deficit in physicians, immigrants who were physicians in their home countries, with experience, are NOT ALLOWED to to practice medicine in canada.
the really really lucky few ones who actually get thru the beurocratic process, get to write very hard exams... and only then they're allowed to start at the lowest possible level.

 

[goofyfish]

Polygamy is against the laws of this country. Do you suppose a fuss is made when Saudi royalty visits this country with multiple wives? The Canadian couple was not looking to benefit from their status - they were merely traveling together as a couple.

As to the doctor analogy, I was not representing that a Canadian physician be allowed to practice medicine in the U.S.

:m: Peace.

 

[Nasor]

I wouldn't expect my driver's license or fishing license to be valid in another country. Why would I expect a marriage license to be any different?

 

[SpyMoose]

These two are married, they live as married, and they have a whole country that will back them up and say they are married. But because this is a charged Issue in the US we wont let them check the little box that says they are married?

Its like Fish said, if somone is a doctor in Canada, but not licenced in America, he still puts "Doctor" in the field that asks his profession. They are married, hence should check the married box. You know i bet most Canadians dont have birth certificates issued from a US source, so should we treat all Canadians as if they couldnt possibly have been born?

 

[Flores]

Originally posted by SpyMoose
They are married, hence should check the married box.

Yes they should because that box have no bearing on anything that is important, yet you doctor analogy is faulty, because a canadian doctor is not licensed to practice medecine in the US unless he's certified by the US board of doctors/lawyers/Engineers. Canadian married couple can't practice their marriage unless they obtain a US marriage license, and thus they are not acknowledged as married, just like an Indian doctor is not a doctor in the eye of the medical board until he takes his exam.

Originally posted by SpyMoose
You know i bet most Canadians dont have birth certificates issued from a US source, so should we treat all Canadians as if they couldnt possibly have been born?

No we treat them as Canadian born. They can't use their canadian birth certificate to enter our schools, obtain US citizenship, ect....They are not recognized by the US apart from their limited previledges given to tourists or visitors.

 

[SpyMoose]

People, stop being horrendous dopes about this!
We aren’t talking about if a Canadian doctor can practice in the US. We are talking about if he is philosophically still a doctor if he is licensed in Canada and not in the US. And the answer is of course he is. Are married couples from Canada still married if they cross over the US border? Yes, of course they are, and unlike a doctor they do not need to obtain a US marriage license to ‘practice’ their marriage.

 

[Nasor]

Originally posted by SpyMoose
You know i bet most Canadians dont have birth certificates issued from a US source, so should we treat all Canadians as if they couldnt possibly have been born?

Yeah, I see your point here.

 

[guthrie]

Hey, anyone hear about Bush railing against Massachussetts?
(i think i spelt it right.)

 

[Flores]

Originally posted by SpyMoose
People, stop being horrendous dopes about this!
We aren’t talking about if a Canadian doctor can practice in the US. We are talking about if he is philosophically still a doctor

Yes he is when I can claim to be philosophically a nuclear scientist...Try to understand planet earth rules or I suggest you move to a vaccum.

 

[SpyMoose]

I think you are a little out of touch with the issue Flores. Plus, they don't make houses in vaccumes.

 

[Flores]

Originally posted by SpyMoose
I think you are a little out of touch with the issue Flores.

The truth hurts doesn't it?

Neverthless, I love how people keep on using bogus comparisons to justify their agendas. First they say, gays are like blacks, then they say, it's a gene, then they say that the kids of world are starving because gays can't adopt, then they say their marriage is like international non-credited doctor's licenses...

Do they ever ponder on themselves and question their queerness instead of demanding bogus non existing rights. They are not black, they don't have an imaginary gay gene, and if they want to help the kids of the world, they can get up their assess and do it...If anyone is out of touch with reality, it's the gays and those that support such useless unethical abuse of an honorable word called freedom.

 

[SpyMoose]

Originally posted by Flores
Do they ever ponder on themselves and question their queerness

Of course, I’m sure that deep down they are just doing it to piss off you and allah.

instead of demanding bogus non existing rights. They are not black, they don't have an imaginary gay gene, and if they want to help the kids of the world, they can get up their assess and do it...If anyone is out of touch with reality, it's the gays and those that support such useless unethical abuse of an honorable word called freedom.

Your little rant being pointless because they ARE married, just like the Canadian IS a doctor and has the right to say so when he is asked.

 

[SwedishFish]

the US has this better-than-thou attitude. if they didn't sanction it, it's not real. example A: my high school spanish teacher went to college in his native country (colombia). he had to stop teaching because he had passed his grace period for getting a degree, ahem, i mean an american degree. his first language is spanish. i think he's quite qualified to teach it!

 

[SwedishFish]

Originally posted by Flores
Canadian married couple can't practice their marriage unless they obtain a US marriage license

soooo, if you and your husband take a vacation to greece this summer with the kids....you're not married when you get there so you both can go party down with all the other sexy ladies and gents. i hope your husband is patriotic enough to not recognize his marriage license next time you leave the country.
if your vacation brings you a little further east, you two sleeping together would land him in jail and earn you a good stoning.

 

[SwedishFish]

Originally posted by Flores
Yes he is when I can claim to be philosophically a nuclear scientist...Try to understand planet earth rules or I suggest you move to a vaccum.

are you certified elsewhere as a nuclear scientist?

i think the point missed your head by a few feet