Search form

Scroll To Top
News & Opinion

Newly Engaged Gay Couple Separated by Trump's Travel Ban

Newly Engaged Gay Couple Separated by Trump's Travel Ban

Trump Travel Ban

"I just want him here and I want him safe."

Paul Harrison, a gay Texas man, has been newly separated from his Iranian fiance under the Trump administration's travel ban. In a video profile, the Human Rights Campaign outlines Harrison's plight, detailing the couple's 2-year-long relationship that first blossomed in Turkey. Unlike under Iran's draconian laws, which outlaw homosexuality, Turkey allowed Harrison and his fiance to publicly show affection.

Related | White Bandanas? Fashion Week Stands Up to Trump's Immigration Ban

"Initially I became sick to my stomach," Harrison told HRC, recalling when he heard President Trump had arbitrarily barred citizens from six Muslim-majority nations into the United Stations for at least 90 days. "My nausea passed and I became angry and defiant. My fiance was just in disbelief and denial that this could be happening."

Though Trump's updated order dropped the original explicit religious test and exclusion of Iraqi allies, Harrison said he still "feels that Muslims are being targeted in general, and Iranians in particular." His fiance is joined by many other LGBTQ individuals, whose US visas were suddenly barred under Trump's immigration order.

Harrison is currently working overseas to obtain a visa for his fiance, because as he underscores in the moving HRC interview, "I just want him here and I want him safe." Watch, below.

Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Justin Moran