One Son's Choice: Love Or Country?

Sadly, I suspect that Cameron is not the only one thinking of leaving. Type "gay migration" and "Canada" into any search engine and you will find hundreds of articles and blogs by current and potential Canadian immigrants. Immigration lawyers and consultants host workshops in major U.S. cities, and encourage gay and lesbian couples to look into the Canadian immigration option. In an article from the San Francisco Chronicle, Mary Joseph, a Toronto immigration lawyer, said, "As long as the United States is continuing to be oppressive in their lack of sanctity of unions for gays and lesbians, then they're going to continue to lose really good citizens." She summed up the exodus succinctly, saying, "Your loss, our gain."

In a matter of years Cameron will be gone. He is moving to a country where he will have the same civil rights that heterosexual couples enjoy, a country that will benefit from his immense talent and skill, a country that does want him no matter whom he wants to marry. We are close, and we will find a way to stay close, but it will not be the same easy back and forth we have now. Distance and borders will make it harder. I will miss him terribly, but it is not just me who will suffer. We will all be the poorer for his moving and the reasons that drove him.

Chaffee lives in Boise, Idaho.

© 2007