Reprieve for Princeton couple points out 2nd-class citizenship of gays, lesbians

Henri Velandia and Josh Vandiver of Princeton should not have to prove the stability and strength of their relationship in court, but that is what they still have to do.

Velandia, a Venezuela native, faces deportation even though the 27-year-old Velandia got legally married to Vandiver in Connecticut last year. At today’s hearing, the immigration judge delayed a decision on Velandia’s fate until December, saying that federal marriage laws could change.

So, good news today, but not all that good. In the wake of the self-congratulatory response much of the nation had to the killing of a terrorist proved we can do what we set out to do, the president said — it underscores the incompleteness of our national project.

We are a classless society that is badly divided into classes — gay and straight, black, white and other, rich and poor — and class matters greatly. Gays, lesbians and the transgendered do not have the same rights as the rest of us — not in the military, not in marriage and not in immigration.

And that must change and change quickly.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet