Gay Marriage Costs Him Citizenship

Frenchman Frederic Minvielle has been a productive, happy resident of the Netherlands for the past six years, and even married a Dutch national in 2003. But his placid existence took on Kafkaesque twist earlier this year, when French authorities informed Minvielle that his expatriate idyll had cost him his French citizenship. The main reason, according to Minvielle and his supporters: because his spouse was another man.

The Netherlands recognizes official gay unions, but France does not. That, in essence, is what led to the revocation of Minvielle's French citizenship, though the bilateral Franco-Dutch immigration accords pertaining to the case are complex.

The trouble began when Minvielle adopted his Dutch husband's citizenship in 2006 — a right extended to foreign spouses of officially wed couples in the Netherlands, whether gay or heterosexual. Indeed, Minvielle says the main motivation for his naturalization was to show gratitude to a Dutch society that makes no distinction between gay and heterosexual marriages. Although the Franco-Dutch immigration treaty pertaining to his situation generally forces nationals from one country to surrender their original citizenship when naturalized in the other, there is a key exception that allows dual citizenship accorded through marriage. Minvielle figured that would work for him.

Gay Marriage Costs Him Citizenship
TIME