Gays Living In The United States Wonder When The Promise Of Immigration Reform Will Be Realized, Outrage As Australian Government Refuses To Release Proper Documentation Allowing Lesbian To Marry Partner In Portugal, Gay Underwear Entrepreneur And Model Nick Bracks Plays Coy, Chord Overstreet Cannot Keep His Shirt On, Cory Monteith Grey Cup Parade Grand Marshall

Some 100 protesters came to Government Center in Boston this week, waving signs and chanting slogans for Denis Lemos and his friend Vinny Quirino, both 25-year-olds who had been fighting deportation to Brazil. The protesters wanted a reprieve. But then Lemos stood before the crowd and delivered the news. “I got my call," he said as applause broke out. “I am no longer in removal proceedings. My case is going to be closed." Quirino’s stay of deportation followed soon afterward. The Boston Globe reports that some immigrants and their advocates say those decisions may be a sign that the Obama administration is finally acting on a federal directive issued five months ago to consider setting aside the deportations of students, the elderly, and other immigrants in order to more quickly deport convicted criminals and other high-priority cases. The shift was heralded in June, when the director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a memo urging federal immigration officials to “regularly" use their discretion to keep low-priority cases from clogging up the immigration courts. But advocates for immigrants complained that many federal agents were not following the memo, and that students such as Lemos, an engineering major at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, remained in deportation proceedings. Then, last week, Homeland Security officials said that by January 13, immigration agents and prosecutors nationwide would undergo training in prosecutorial discretion, a longstanding tool that lets them consider a variety of special circumstances when deciding whether to pursue deportation. Officials also said they would screen immigration court cases in stages to ensure that they match the department’s priorities. Immigrant groups want the government to more consistently stay the cases of people who have not committed a crime. But federal officials warned that they cannot rush the decision of whether to grant a stay or deport someone. Each case is decided on its merits, and immigrants must be scrutinized for possible risks to public safety and national security. Immigrants who are granted stays of deportation are not authorized to stay in the United States permanently and could be placed in deportation proceedings in the future, immigration officials said, but they can apply for work permits. Advocates for immigrants say confusion remains widespread among immigrants about why some immigrants are benefiting from prosecutorial discretion, while others are not. Federal immigration agents rarely explain their decisions, they say. In Springfield, Michael Thomas is a married gay man facing deportation to Trinidad and Tobago, where homosexuality is illegal. In August, his hopes soared when Obama administration officials said they would consider same-sex couples “families" when deciding to grant prosecutorial discretion. But federal officials recently denied his request without explanation. Ross Feinstein, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to explain why federal officials rejected Thomas’s request for prosecutorial discretion, even though Thomas signed a privacy waiver allowing them to discuss his case. Thomas, 35, married his longtime partner, John Brandoli, last year, but cannot apply to stay in the country based on marriage because federal law does not recognize same sex unions. He has no criminal record and has the support of Immigration Equality, a New York-based non-profit, and Senator John Kerry, who wrote a letter on his behalf. Kerry criticized the system for discriminating against same sex couples. “This is a law-abiding, lawfully married couple being denied basic civil rights solely because they’re gay. . .," Kerry said in a prepared statement. “We’ve got a vicious cycle where protections for some Massachusetts families are not protections for all." Thomas said he came to America in 2005 after vandals scrawled gay slurs on his apartment walls, and after his gay friends suffered beatings. He had hoped to obtain asylum, but said he received legal advice from an organization that was later investigated in New York. If he returns to Trinidad, he says, he would fear for his life. His immediate family there doesn’t know he is gay. He told an aunt three years ago, and she hasn’t spoken to him since. “I’m scared out of my mind," said Thomas, whose case is pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals. “I don’t want to get physically harmed or even killed just because I’m gay."

Gay rights activists and supporters are outraged that former Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett's Portugal-based sister was banned from marrying her partner despite same sex marriage being legal is that country. Angela Borella, 40, was set to marry her Portuguese partner in Lisbon next year but their plans were thrown into disarray when the Australian Government refused to provide her with the certificate required by Portuguese authorities to show she was not already married in this country, reports The Tasmania Mercury. "My partner and I were full of excitement about the future ahead and fulfilling our plan," Ms Borella said. "But my feelings immediately dissolved into sadness, embarrassment and shame when I found I couldn't have a [Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage]. "I had never felt more de-valued as an Australian citizen." Describing the situation as "upsetting", Mr Bartlett told an interstate newspaper it was time for the Labor Party to show leadership on the issue and support marriage equality. The call is timely given the ALP's National Conference will be held this weekend and the issue of same sex marriage is expected to dominate. But while long-standing Labor champions of the cause Senator Carol Brown and Tasmanian Rainbow Labor convenor Robbie Hastings are optimistic the party will change its position, fellow Labor senator Helen Polley is calling for delegates to hold firm on the current status quo. "I would urge all ALP Conference delegates not to support any change to the national platform and to maintain the definition of marriage as it currently stands," Senator Polley said yesterday. "Redefining marriage is a step that would completely change its meaning, transforming it from a union between a man and a women where children are often a result, to a union that is exclusively about adults and in my opinion, marriage is much more than that." But Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesman Rodney Croome called on delegates to do the opposite. He said Ms Borella's experience highlighted urgent need for reform. "Not content with stopping same-sex couples marrying in Australia, the Federal Government is trying to stop us marrying overseas as well," he said. "The Australian Government says it can't issue the certificate in question to same-sex couples because same-sex marriages aren't recognised here but these certificates aren't about what Australian marriage law says, they're about whether an Australian is free to marry under foreign marriage laws." Croome said a recent Galaxy poll found the Labor Party would benefit from a 7-percent swing if it supported marriage equality. "About 60-percent of Australians support this reform, and a significant proportion feel strongly enough about it to swing to Labor should the ALP Party National Conference do the right thing and endorse equality for all Australians," he said. But if Government policy does not change, Croome said reform group Australian Marriage Equality would start legal proceedings on the basis the government was misusing CNI certificates for a purpose for which they were never intended.

In Australia, Nick Bracks, the son of former Victorian premier Steve Bracks, has bared almost his all - stripping to his underwear for the gay magazine DNA. The 24-year-old (who fills out the boxerbriefs quite nicely) has launched his own underwear and swimwear range called underBRACKS, and chose to model it on the cover of the magazine's latest issue, reports The Daily Telegraph. Saturday, he also appeared at a party for the title at Sydney's Ivy. "I'm pretty comfortable with my sexuality. I don't mind what people think. I know what I am," Bracks said, adding, "I am quite young and I'm open to new experiences and what comes." Asked outright if he is gay, Bracks said, "I don't want to pigeonhole myself and I know that life changes every day, so who knows. I'm not ruling anything in life out." Bracks' range is sold online, but the young model and entrepreneur is in negotiations with major retailers. A comfy pair of underwear, he says, has to "fit in the right places,” adding, "I've tried to make them so they can cater to anyone, with basic strong designs that can fit everyone."

Chord Overstreet shirtless for Tyler Shields.

Cory Monteith spotted in Vancouver, British Columbia where the Glee star acted as Grand Marshall of the 99th Annual Grey Cup Parade.