![\"Paul](\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Paul_Harrison_HRC.jpg?resize=600%2C338\")
<\/p>\nGay Couple Separated by Trump\u2019s Travel Ban : WATCH<\/b><\/p>\n
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The Human Rights Campaign has highlighted the plight of a gay couple<\/a> who are engaged to be married but whose plans are on hold while the Trump administration\u2019s travel ban takes effect.<\/p>\n Paul Harrison is a Texas man<\/a> who since 2015 has been\u00a0in a long-distance relationship with an Iranian man<\/a>, whose identity must be concealed due to Iran\u2019s draconian laws outlawing homosexuality<\/a>. Their romance has played out largely in neighboring Turkey, which,\u00a0despite a worsening climate for LGBT individuals<\/a>, still remains more open than Iran.<\/p>\n Harrison\u2019s fianc\u00e9 had been slated to join him over the next few months, but Iran is one of six Muslim-majority nations whose citizens have been arbitrarily barred from entering the United States for at least 90 days, in a reissued ban following an earlier chaotic and poorly-conceived executive order\u00a0blocked by the courts<\/a>. While the latest order attempts to be more streamlined, drops an explicit religious test and excludes Iraqi allies, its fate in the judicial system\u00a0remains to be seen. The ban comes into force\u00a0March 16.<\/p>\n \u201cInitially I became sick to my stomach. The nausea passed and I became angry and defiant. My fianc\u00e9 was just in disbelief and denial that this could be happening,\u201d Harrison remembered. \u201cThe 2.0 version of the ban still makes me feel very uneasy. I feel that Muslims are being targeted in general, and Iranians in particular.<\/p>\n He asks me every day, \u2018Is my visa going to be okay?\u2019 We\u2019re racing against time, but at the same time we can\u2019t really race. I just want him here and I just want to keep him safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Harrison is now overseas working to help secure a visa for his fianc\u00e9. Given the implicit bias against the\u00a0six banned countries, it is unclear whether their efforts will be successful. It is also not yet certain to what extent federal agencies will go to facilitate same-sex<\/a> unions under this administration, especially since it has entertained anti-LGBT draft executive orders<\/a> already, while the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are focused on kicking people out rather than letting people in<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch Harrison discuss his situation here:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post Gay Couple Separated by Trump\u2019s Travel Ban : WATCH<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n