Dem Senators Want to Know Why The State Dept.'Denying Citizenship' to Children from Same Sex Couples
TOPLINE
Senate Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee sent a letter to Secretary Mike Pompeo on Monday requesting information on reports that the State Department has been denying citizenship to children born abroad with same-sex parents who are U.S. citizens, accusing the department of showing a “growing pattern of disregard” for human rights in its treatment of LGBTQ issues.
KEY FACTS
Led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and co-signed by nine other senators, the letter requests a congressional briefing to discuss the department's decision in 2018 to alter guidance on granting citizenship to children born abroad that unfairly targets LGBTQ couples.
In a statement, Kaine pointed to the case of Roee and Adiel Kiviti, both U.S. citizens who had a daughter born in Canada who was refused citizenship status because she was "born out of wedlock," according to State Department policy.
The same-sex couple sued the department in September 2019, with a federal judge in June ruling in their favor and granting their 16-month-old daughter U.S. citizenship.
Like many LGBTQ couples, the Kivitis had a child through a surrogate, which the State Department declared a "person born out of wedlock" as its "genetic parents are a U.S. citizen father and anonymous egg donor."
Because of that, the child needed to have a genetic link with a parent who was a U.S. citizen for at least five years, and in this case, the biological father, Adiel, fell short a few months.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has clearly articulated that the U.S. government must recognize same sex marriages 'on the same terms and conditions as opposite sex couples,' and that it must provide them with the 'constellation of benefits' associated with marriage—including equitable treatment of their children," the letter says.
"The mission of the State Department is twofold—to advance U.S. values and national security interests, and to protect the safety of American citizens abroad," the letter concludes. "And yet the State Department’s newfound restrictions on the use of the LGBTQ pride flag, the appointment of senior USAID officials with a history of homophobic comments and other persistent failures to support LGBTQ rights overseas and among its own staff, suggest a growing pattern of disregard for not only the U.S. government’s historic role in the protection of human rights, but also the State Department’s obligations to American citizens living overseas."
TANGENT
In another recent instance of the Trump administration pulling back some rights previously afforded to LGBTQ people, the Department of Health and Human Services in June rolled back discrimination protections for transgender patients provided through the Affordable Care Act. Finalized on the four-year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting and during the Covid-19 pandemic, the ruling would once again allows doctors and healthcare providers to deny medical service for transgender people. A group of LGBTQ clinics and organizations sued to block the ruling in late June.
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