HOORAY

Gay Married Man Gets Green Card

It’s a first.

A gay married man in Florida was approved for a green card, the first time a person in a same-sex marriage has been allowed this benefit. Traian Popov, a Bulgarian immigrant who is married to an American citizen, was told via email on Friday that he had received a permanent visa, just days after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which had prevented federal marriage benefits from being extended to gay couples. Popov and his husband, Julian Marsh, live in Fort Lauderdale and were married in New York last year—and they say they will take the fight to legalize gay marriage to Florida now. “We are first-class citizens in New York and in the eyes of the federal government, but second-class citizens in Florida,” Marsh said. “We won’t stand for that.”