David W. Ross, the award-winning filmmaker whose new film, “I Do,” hits theaters Friday, talked about DOMA, immigration, and same-sex marriage — issues the film focuses on — with MSNBC’s “The Cycle.”
“A gay Brit in New York loses his immigration status and marries his best friend in order to stay in the country with his family,” the description for “I Do” reads. “When his lover is forced to leave the country, he must choose between leaving with him, or remaining with his family. The film views marriage equality in the US through the prism of immigration rights.”
Ross, who was a contributor to The New Civil Rights Movement, hit the public’s eye when he was 17 as the member of an A&M Records boy band, and has won several awards, including for the films “Quinceañera” and “The Receipt.”
Ross talked with “The Cycle” about the recent decision in the Senate to remove LGBT protections from the immigration reform bill, and whether or not that was the right choice.
“You’re talking about human beings. You’re talking about families. We number 40,000 plus living in America,” Ross said of binational couples. “Many Americans have to move out of the country to be with the person they love. I’m not that bright but did I the math. 40,000 bi-national couples, forty percent have kids. That’s a lot of children being affected. Being in a relationship, in a marriage, they have modern stresses. You add on this whole extra level at any point, ‘My mommy or daddy can be ripped out of this country.’ That is just, number one, it is terrifying. It goes back to, we just need people to realize that we’re not a talking point. We’re human beings and these are American families being affected.”
Ross produced and stars in “I Do,” along with Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Sopranos), Alicia Witt (Friday Night Lights), Maurice Compte (Breaking Bad, End of Watch), and Mickey Cottrell (My Own Private Idaho).
The New Civil Rights Movement will be showing exclusive clips from “I Do” all week.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640
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The New Civil Rights Movement is a financial supporter of “I Do.”