Benjamin's partner, Mattia Lumaca, is Italian. He has remained in the U.S. under a student visa while studying English. During that time, he has also been Benjamin's primary care-giver. Benjamin became ill, and developed diabetes and heart complications, while serving in the Coast Guard. He relies on Mattia to administer his insulin, and for nearly every aspect of his day-to-day care, including driving him to doctors' appointments.

Mattia's student visa, however, does not come with work authorization. And Benjamin's income is significantly restricted due to his health problems, which render him unable to work. The two live on a limited income provided by Benjamin's disability benefits and, increasingly, simply cannot survive on such small resources.

I first wrote about Kathy Gilleran's search for her son, Aeryn, on The HuffingtonPost in 2008. Aeryn disappeared in October 2007 while working for UNIDO in Vienna. Since then, Kathy has been on a quest to find out what happened to her son. Along the way, police in Vienna changed their story - again and again - about Aeryn's case and their investigation. Officials refused to answer questions, belittled Kathy's own expertise as a former police officer and, in short, did everything possible to make her go away. Instead, she has persevered and, thanks to the work of filmmakers John and Gretchen Morning, is now telling her story to the world.

The result is a haunting film that will move and outrage you, with a cast of characters right out of Lynch's "black lodge" of Twin Peaks fame.

The bill, which would finally allow lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans to sponsor their foreign-born partners for residency in the United States, finished the last Congress with a record number of co-sponsors - and for good reason. Every year, more and more LGBT Americans are being forced apart from their families, or forced abroad, as their options for remaining together in the U.S. come to an end. The discrimination LGBT families face under our country's immigration laws is severe, and all too real. Immigration Equality hears, almost every day, from another family that is facing this untenable and unconscionable choice.

On Tuesday, one of those families issued a call to our community to meet them on Capitol Hill.

When Congressman Nadler reintroduces UAFA on Thursday, he'll be joined by Shirley Tan, Jay Mercado (her partner of more than 20 years), and their twin sons, Joriene and Jashley. The Tan-Mercado family is traveling to Washington from their home in northern California because they know, first-hand, just how devastating our immigration laws can be.

The letter, released as part of the Faith Coalition for UAFA assembled by Immigration Equality, includes signatories from virtually every denomination, including Catholic, Episcopalian, Jewish, Methodist and Unitarian clergy and leaders, as well others. The statement is endorsed by faith leaders in red states and blue, and includes individuals from congregations in nearly every region of the country.

It will also, as I mentioned in my very first post for Bilerico, be a watershed moment for the entire LGBT community. All over the globe, countries which have made advances on LGBT civil rights began that progress by first welcoming lesbian and gay service members into their armed forces. Countries which now offer federal relationship recognition did so after their military bans were lifted. The consequences of ending our own prohibition on open service can only begin to be imagined.

The first, and immediate, impact, however, will be on our men and women in uniform. These brave men and women will no longer be forced into the shadows, or made to lie or hide. The days of secret good-bye ceremonies before deployments will soon be over, and the families of lesbian and gay troops will, at long last, also receive the accolades and recognition they deserve.

Unless, however, those families happen to include one partner from abroad.

On Tuesday, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced that he had met with President Obama - and spoke with Congressional leaders - about the possibility of moving his comprehensive immigration reform bill forward before Congress goes home. Menendez's bill, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 (S.3932), contains a number of measures to fix our country's broken immigration system. Among those is the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would end the discrimination LGBT families face under current immigration laws, and allow LGBT Americans to sponsor their foreign-born partners for residency in the United States.

For the LGBT families who are facing separation or exile, time is - and always has been - of the essence. Immigration Equality's attorneys are hearing from more and more couples who are now separated, or exiled, because they cannot remain in the country together. In fact, in recent days, I have personally spoken to numerous couples who have already applied for residency in Canada, and are now preparing to leave the U.S. so they can remain together. There is no doubt that, for these families, passage of UAFA cannot come quickly enough.

There is now a second reason for the LGBT community to press for passage of DoD Authorization, however, and it, too, is tied to the promise of full participation in the life of our country.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that he would offer an amendment to the Authorization bill to pass the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act - also known as the DREAM Act - and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented young people already in the United States. The DREAM Act is a critically important piece of legislation which would allow these young men and women, most of whom were brought to the U.S. without status through no fault of their own, to finally begin building a life in the only country they have every really called home.

Many of the undocumented youth who will benefit from passage of DREAM also happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Yet, for each of them, the promise of DREAM cannot truly be fully realized unless it is accompanied by repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

The Gulfport, Mississippi resident has deep roots along America's Gulf Coast. He worked, for 17 years, at one of Gulfport's best-known casinos. When Hurricane Katrina struck, Roi was on the ground. Five years later, he is still in Gulfport, where most of his family still lives, too.

I say "most" because one very important member of his family has been kicked out of the country and is in danger of being half-a-world away as Roi wages what is, quite literally, the fight of his life.

The Immigration Equality Action Fund is hosting a call with Congressional, immigration and family leaders to rally support for passing reform that includes LGBT immigrants and their loved ones.

Earlier this month, the United Methodist Church responded forcefully to an evangelical press event in Washington calling on lawmakers to exclude our families from immigration reform. In response to the event, Bill Mefford, the Director of Civil and Human Rights for the General Board of Church and Society with the United Methodist Church, noted:

Just as Jesus did not set any preconditions on identifying himself with, and loving, the sojourner, so too does he call all who claim to follow him to love and welcome the sojourner without moral preconditions.

To demand the right to prophetically challenge the nation to incorporate hospitality into our immigration policy, but then to work to exclude some people based on their sexual orientation, is to lose the moral basis for making that prophetic challenge. We want immigration reform that is just and humane, and that is truly comprehensive and truly moral.

This morning, more faith leaders joined Mefford in an extraordinary new column from Sarah Posner at Religion Dispatches.

Shirley came from the Philippines decades ago, and built a life with her partner Jay, giving birth to twin boys and becoming a full-time mom. But Shirley faced the biggest challenge of her life as she fought to stay on in the United States, crippled by laws that do not allow gay and lesbian couples to sponsor their partners.

Two Moms Fight to Stay Together from Breakthrough on Vimeo.

New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert - who will be portrayed by Julia Roberts in this summer's film adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love - delivered the keynote address for Immigration Equality's annual Safe Haven Awards in New York City on June 8th. Gilbert, whose book Committed chronicles her experience as the American half of a binational couple, called on Congress to end discrimination against LGBT binational families.

The mother of two, originally from The Philippines, was starting her morning as usual. She was getting her 12-year-old twin sons ready for school, and preparing to see her partner of 23 years, Jay Mercado, off to work. The scene in their home in Pacifica, California, could have been any day in virtually any family's home in America.

That is, until the 7am knock on the door.

When Shirley answered, she was told that agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency were "looking for a young Mexican girl."

In fact, they were looking for her.

Earlier today, 60 Members of Congress - led by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) - released a letter calling on Congressional leaders, and the White House, to support an LGBT-inclusive immigration reform bill. The letter, which comes after news that Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is expected to introduce comprehensive immigration reform legislation soon, sends an unmistakable message: Including LGBT families in immigration reform isn't just the right thing to do, but brings votes to the table, too.

For all of those families, time is of the essence. Every day, loved ones are forcibly separated from each other. For too many, the American dream is one that cannot yet be shared with their spouse, sibling or significant other.

This Friday, Congress will hold two briefings which signal the beginning of immigration reform efforts. Those two events - one focused on family immigration policies and one on the much-needed DREAM Act - will also be a starting point to ensure that critically important components of reform, like young people and families, aren't left on the Congressional cutting room floor.