Customs Makes it Easier For Gay Couples to Travel

Harry Hoehn and Rudy Molinet (Photo: Courtesy of Rudy Molinet)

 "There were people in line that were clearly heterosexual couples, many of whom weren't even American citizens, and they were allowed to go in together," he said. "I, as a citizen, didn't have the same right."

Same-sex couples would be allowed to re-enter the country with a single customs declaration form under a new proposal that the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the Departments of Homeland Security and Treasury formally unveiled on March 27.

Current policy allows members of a family who are related through blood, marriage, or adoption and live in the same household to file a single customs declaration form. The proposal would expand the definition of "members of a family living in one household" to include domestic partners, same-sex couples, and those in other relationships where "the partners share financial assets and obligations, and are not married to, or a partner of, anyone else."

A customs spokesperson declined to comment on the proposal, but an Obama administration official told the Bay Area Reporter that the White House "welcomes this move."

"Separating families in the customs line was a waste of government resources and a painful symbol of the double standard LGBT families face at the federal level," said Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality. "This proposal ends that insult. It sends an unmistakable message that the administration and the United States recognize gay families as 'real families,' too."

Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, also welcomed the proposal.

"President Obama and this administration have recognized the need to modernize forms and regulations to reflect the reality of today's American families and we applaud them for that," she said.

Key West, Florida, real estate agents Rudy Molinet and Harry Hoehn filled out a joint customs declaration form to use to re-enter the country last fall after their vacation on the French Riviera. The couple presented the document to a customs agent at George Bush International Airport in Houston, but Molinet said he refused to accept it.

 "The guy was like, really rude, for one, and really aggressive," he said, noting the agent was armed. "He basically ordered me back into line and said, 'You know you're not a couple. We don't recognize you. You have to get back in that line. You have to fill out two forms.'"

The couple faced a similar situation in 2003 when they tried to re-enter the country after their wedding in Canada. Molinet said the agent who refused to accept their joint customs declaration form called a supervisor to calm him down.

"I just refused to go to the back of the line," he said.

While Molinet welcomes the proposal, he still bristles over what he describes his “Lunch Counter Moment”in Houston.

"There were people in line that were clearly heterosexual couples, many of whom weren't even American citizens, and they were allowed to go in together," he said. "I, as a citizen, didn't have the same right.”
http://www.ebar.com