Just as Obama issued his health memo pushing for LGBT access in hospital settings, activists pointed out how anything short of full marriage may not be enough to stop institutional bias. And even marriage may not be enough.
Harold Scull and Clay Green, together 20 years, suffered a horrible indignity, despite having all of their legal paperwork in order.
The National Coalition for Lesbian Rights, in Greene v. County of Sonoma et al, is fighting for Greene, whose partner died.
"In the 33 years of our organization's history, this case is perhaps among the most tragic NCLR has ever been involved in," said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell. "Clay and Harold had taken all of the necessary precautions, including living wills and powers of attorneys, to protect them in a time of crisis. Not only were their relationship and legal documents ignored, Clay and Harold literally lost everything. These appalling events demonstrate how urgently same-sex couples need full equality rather than a patchwork of rights that can be dismissed and ignored in a culture that still treats LGBT people as second-class citizens. This never should have happened to Clay and Harold."
"We can no longer watch in silence as our community endures such inhumanity," saidGetEQUAL in a statement. "Join us and our friends at the National Center for Lesbian Rights in sending a letter to President Obama, asking him to fulfill the American promise of 'liberty and justice for all" by immediately calling Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ) , to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell ( DADT ) , and to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ( ENDA ) ."
Here is a summary from NCLR's Web site:
"One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold's care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes.
"Ignoring Clay's significant role in Harold's life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold's 'roommate.' The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold's bank accounts to pay for his care.
"What happened next is even more chilling: without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold's possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold's lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.
"Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county's actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property. The only memento Clay has is a photo album that Harold painstakingly put together for Clay during the last three months of his life.
"With the help of a dedicated and persistent court-appointed attorney, Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa, Clay was finally released from the nursing home. Ms. Dennis, along with Stephen O'Neill and Margaret Flynn of Tarkington, O'Neill, Barrack & Chong, now represent Clay in a lawsuit against the county, the auction company, and the nursing home, with technical assistance from NCLR. A trial date has been set for July 16, 2010 in the Superior Court for the County of Sonoma."
See www.nclrights.org .
