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Josh Vandiver and Henry Velandia laugh during an interview in the Quad Sept. 13, 2019. The couple battled laws that would have deported Venezuela-native Velandia even though he was married to Vandiver who is a U.S. native. ERIC PRITCHETT, DN
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10.10.2019
n a given day, Henry Velandia could be more than 600 miles from his husband. Velandia’s home with Josh Vandiver, Ball State assistant professor of political science, is in Muncie, but his job as a dance instructor often requires him to travel. While distance is a common source of strain on relationships, the couple said they have a bond that has already been tested and thus strengthened by many obstacles. Velandia and his family came to the United States from Venezuela in 2002. While in the U.S., Velandia said he began pursuing his passion for dance. Then, in 2006, Velandia and Vandiver met in New Jersey. Vandiver chalks it up to fate — he was a graduate student at Princeton University, Velandia knew other graduate students there and things “just worked out.” “[We] immediately hit it off and were almost inseparable from that point on,” Vandiver said.
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He said the best way to describe Velandia is as “phenomenal.” “It’s the first word that comes to mind. He has these visions, this indomitable capacity to keep going and overcome hardships — he really is a phenomenon,” Vandiver said. “He’s got his own vision, he pulls communities together, he’s unstoppable. I have to keep up on my game so that I can be a fraction as phenomenal as he is, and I so admire that about him — it’s part of why I love him.” From the beginning of their relationship, Velandia said they were able to connect on a level that allowed them to “grow up together.” Vandiver had come out to his immediate family members, but Velandia felt he was not able to recognize his sexuality until he came to the U.S. “[Venezuela is] a Latin country, so it’s a little tougher to come out just [because of] the culture [and] the religious beliefs,” Velandia said. “A lot of things prevent you from being open and talking about, ‘Oh, you’re exploring.’ It’s not really allowed, but in America, you find that opportunity. So, to me,
America was like the American dream for many reasons — and I found my American boy, too.” Velandia and Vandiver decided to take the next step in their relationship in 2007 by taking advantage of Princeton University’s domestic partnership program, which recognized same-sex couples as partners and allowed spouses access to benefits including housing and health insurance even though the federal government had yet to recognize samesex marriages. During this time, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was still in effect. Signed in 1996 by then-President Bill Clinton, the act specifically denied same-sex couples’ federal benefits including “legal recognition of relationships, access to a partner’s employment benefits, rights of inheritance, joint tax returns and tax exemptions, immigration or residency for noncitizen partners, next-of-kin status, protection from domestic violence, and the right to live together in miliatry or college housing,” according to the Encyclopedia Britanica.
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