U.S. State Department Sued By Binational Same-Sex Couples for Unequal Treatment

You Can Become U.S Citizen As Long As Your White and Heterosexual

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Immigration Equality is going after the Trump State Department for its anti-LGBT policy upon same-sex marriage couples today by filing two lawsuits against the U.S. State Department on behalf of two same-sex couples whose children were denied birthright citizenship in the United States simply because one of the parent’s is considered not having a biological connection to any citizens of the United States.

Sounds fishy? Of course considering President Trump’s anti-LGBT policies inacted over the past year. The plaintiffs in this case are Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks and Allison Blixt and Stefalia Zaccari. Allison Blixt is an American citizen, and her spouse Zaccari, an Italian, lives in London. The couple currently have two sons, Lucas and Massi, conceived using their own eggs, and sperm from an unknown donor. Both Blixt and Zaccari are listed as the legal mothers on the children’s birth certificates and are the only parents recognized under British law.

Now here is where it gets interesting because according to Immigration Equality both children are qualified for U.S. citizenship under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

But when it came time for the U.S. Embassy in London process their request, the State Department affirmed Massi’s citizenship but refused Lucas as they consider Lucas not having a biological relationship to a U.S. citizen, according to the lawsuit filed by Immigration Equality, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Lawsuit Filed on hehalf of gay married couple Dvash-Bankses, had pretty much the same experience in and language in their court filing. Andrew is a U.S. citizen, and Elad is an Israeli citizen. The gay couple got married legally in Canada and now live in Los Angeles. After their marriage, they became fathers to twin sons, one conceived with Andrew’s sperm and one with Elads, using eggs from the same donor, who then carried both children and gave birth to them moments apart in Canada.

Immigration Equality stated that the gay couple’s children qualified for U.S. citizenship but were blocked by the U.S. State Department which had ruled that Aiden, the child conceived with Andew’s sperm, is a U.S. citizen, however his brother, Ethan, conceived with Elad’s sperm, was not. Immigration Equality filed their lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

“The government is treating same-sex couples as if they were not married,” said Aaron C. Morris, executive director of Immigration Equality and the couples’ attorney, during a conference with the press on Monday Jan. 22. “This treatment defies Supreme Court rulings stating that same-sex married couples must have access to the same rights and benefits available to opposite-sex married couples”. said Morris.