NJ couple denied partner benifits

Ocean freeholders reject gay worker's dying wish County will not allow partner to receive benefits
By TRISTAN SCHWEIGER Staff Writer, (609) 978-2015(Published: December 8, 2005)

TOMS RIVER-For 24 years, Lt. Laurel Hester worked as an investigator for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.
Now Hester is dying of lung cancer, and when she dies, she wants her partner, Stacie Andree, to receive her pension and other government benefits. Thus far, the Ocean County freeholders are not allowing her to do that.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hester addressed the freeholders at their regular meeting to again ask for the right to leave those benefits to her partner. She was joined by Andree and a crowd of supporters who filled the room, a crowd that included gay-rights activists, religious leaders, other officers and ordinary citizens.
"Twenty-four years is a long time in the closet. And were it not for this set of particular circumstances, I would not have to be here to announce my sexuality, because frankly, it's nobody's business," Hester told the freeholders.
Hester, unlike her supporters who stood when they spoke, sat at the microphone. She appeared weaker than she did at a rally on the same issue held the day before Thanksgiving. She said her condition was deteriorating, and, as she addressed the freeholders, frequently stopped to cough.
She told the board that in the past two weeks two other New Jersey counties - Mercer and Union -passed laws extending benefits to domestic partners. And she thanked the crowd who turned out, saying, "You're the ones with courage."
In unison, many responded: "You are."
The presence of the supporters gave the meeting an entirely different atmosphere than freeholder meetings generally have in Ocean County. Typically quick and calm proceedings, public comment on Hester's situation took up about an hour and a half and became emotional several times.
Many in the crowd were holding large red signs that read: "Ocean County Freeholders. Don't let officer Laurel Hester die like this. Have compassion."
Among those who spoke was Dick Chinery, a former chief investigator for the Prosecutor's Office who was Hester's longtime supervisor. He spoke highly of her dedication to her job over the years, calling her "a wonderful girl."
"Please do something for her. She spent 20-some years protecting the citizens of Ocean County," Chinery said.
Hester's case has fueled debate throughout New Jersey over the state's domestic partnership laws, which allow, but do not require, local governments to provide benefits to same-sex couples.
At the time of the November rally, Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay-rights group Garden State Equality, said that Hester's case is important to the debate over gay marriage, arguing that the freeholders' refusal to allow Hester to leave Andree her government benefits shows stronger laws are needed.
But at the meeting Wednesday, Goldstein portrayed the issue as one of common decency.
"Don't look at her as lesbian, straight, what have you. Look at her as a woman who could be your daughter," said Goldstein, who at one point got down on his knees before the freeholders to plead for Hester's cause.
After the public session ended, Freeholder Director Joe Vicari said he was sympathetic to Hester's situation. He told her the board was grateful for her decades of service.
"If I had to rate people, Laurel Hester would be at the very, very top," Vicari said.
Vicari objected to the characterization by some of Hester's supporters that the county's position was one of prejudice. He added that, "since the day I first heard of this, I anguish over this every single day. It hurts me."
But he said Hester and her supporters should be making their case before state lawmakers.
"It has not been caused by this board of chosen freeholders," Vicari said. "It's been caused by the state Legislature."
That comment drew boos and angry shouts from the crowd, and several took up the chant, "It's in your power!" After a brief attempt to restore order, Vicari quickly ended the meeting without elaborating further.
Last month, however, Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. portrayed the matter as one of county fiscal policy, saying the county wouldn't extend any benefits to employees beyond the ones it is contractually obligated to grant.
Goldstein rejected Vicari's contention that the matter was a state issue as a "grotesque lie." He said his organization is now discussing an economic boycott of Ocean County.
"We're looking at that very seriously, to hit these people where it hurts," Goldstein said.
To e-mail Tristan Schweiger at The Press:
TSchweiger@pressofac.com