The Times They Are a Changin’: USCIS Recognizes Same-Sex Marriage from 1975
Richard Adams and Anthony Sullivan in 1975 (Photo Credit: Pat Rocco)
From the DOMA Project: In a series of recent decisions, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have recognized as valid the April 21, 1975 marriage of two gay men, Richard Adams and Anthony Sullivan, leading to the agency’s approval of a green card petition filed by Adams 41 years ago on behalf of Sullivan, an Australian citizen.
With the federal government’s recognition of their 1975 marriage as valid, Sullivan and Adams have become the first same-sex couple in U.S. history to be legally married. They lived together and remained married until Richard Adams’ death on December 17, 2012.
In Adams v. Howerton (1982), the Ninth Circuit, in a case involving Richard Adams and Anthony Sullivan’s marriage, held that the term “spouse” refers to an opposite-sex partner for the purposes of immigration law and that this definition met the standard at the time for rational basis review. Here are some documents relating to the case.
USCIS DECISION APPROVING APRIL 28, 1975 GREEN CARD PETITION
USCIS APRIL 21, 2016 APPROVAL OF ANTHONY SULLIVAN’S GREEN CARD
KJ