Stacy Beardsley and Karla Thomas met three and a half years ago at a friend's birthday party. Two months later, they were dating and now, three and half years after that night, they live together in a house in north Chicago with their two black labs Kobi and Maddi (just nine weeks old). They are like any other couple.

Stacy, a former public school principal, now works to design academic curricula for schools in the city. Karla is a engineering project manager for an international cosmetics company. At the end of the work day they might meet up with their neighbors to walk the dogs or work on the small yard in front of their home.

Two weeks ago Karla's entire department was eliminated due to cut costs and now, as a Trinidadian citizen on an H1B visa, she will have to leave the country once her employment terminates. She has only a few months to find a job that is willing to take on the burden and currently heavily publicized stigma of sponsoring a foreign worker on an H1B visa or she will be forced to return to Trinidad alone. Their story was supposed to go much differently. If Stacy and Karla were in an opposite-sex relationship they would be married and Stacy could sponsor Karla to remain in the country.

Stacy grimaces when Karla starts to talk about moving so far away. Sitting with Stacy and Karla, it is abundantly clear that these two women love each other very much.
In a few months, Karla will be forced to leave her partner, Kobi and her new puppy Maddi. Stacy will be left behind, only enjoying visits with Karla when she can travel overseas or Karla can acquire a visitor's visa to return home for a short stay.

Stacy and Karla's story is not unique, which only makes it harder to bear. No couple should be forced by government regulations to choose between their country, career and family and staying in the same place as the person they love. Read Story, Torn Apart by DOMA by Emma Ruby Sachs, Huffington Post.

Tags: USA, Trinidad