Citizenship policies and same-sex partners

IN HIS April 12 op-ed, ''Families pay price of faulty policies," Jeff Jacoby beautifully illustrates the hardships US immigration laws unnecessarily impose. One aspect he does not mention is that current law also cruelly discriminates against gay and lesbian Americans in relationships in which one partner is an American citizen and the other is foreign born.

Gay and lesbian Americans under no circumstances are permitted to sponsor their foreign-born partners for permanent residence in the United States, no matter how long a couple has been together. Binational couples married in Massachusetts may not apply either, as immigration is a federal matter.

Consequently, many couples are painfully kept apart or torn apart. Others, such as myself, make the difficult decision to leave the country we love in order to remain with our partners.

BEN GARDENT
Moscow