Bay Area Reporter Weblogs

A South Bay lesbian couple credited for convincing Congressman Mike Honda (D-Campbell) to add rights for binational same-sex couples to his comprehensive immigration reform bill has left the country.

San Jose resident Judy Rickard, on the right in the photo, and her European-born partner, Karin Bogliolo, will board the Queen Mary II Thursday, November 5 and set sail for England. Bogliolo’s six-month tourist visa expired this month and was forced to jump the pond again until she can re-apply for entry to the United States.

“We thought we would treat ourselves to a fashionable crossing of the Atlantic,” said Rickard in a phone interview from the Denver airport this week.

It is the first time that the couple, together four years, has left the country together for an extended period of time. In the past Rickard had remained stateside, apart from a days-long visit overseas, while awaiting Bogliolo’s return to the Bay Area.

“No law allows me to sponsor her” for American citizenship, said Rickard, who found a housemate to take care of her home and cat while she is away. “I did apply to sponsor her through Mike Honda’s office, of course it was denied when it went to the next step.”

The women, whose story was picked up by the national media this summer, have rented an apartment in the south of France for two months and then plan to travel throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Bogliolo, who was born in Germany and has British citizenship, could not say for sure if the women would return to America sometime next year.

“I don’t know if I will ever be back there. The likelihood is they will grant me a new visa but there is no guarantee,” she said. “It is hard seeing friends and family and saying goodbye. Right now I am okay today.”

The couple attended a community forum that Honda held in the South Bay and related their struggle to remain together on American soil. After pondering the women’s predicament, Honda instructed his staff to incorporate rights for binational same-sex couples into the Reuniting Families Act he is pushing through Congress.

The legislation faces an uphill battle and has been put on hold as lawmakers in Washington struggle to pass health care reform. It is unclear if Democrats will make it a priority in 2010 when House members will be up for re-election.

“I have hope, I am not sure about confidence, of seeing laws for binationals passed. We will see how things work in Washington,” said Bogliolo. “I am not sure I have real confidence but I do have real hope. I do think it will happen one of these days but not sure how quickly.”