MENY's 12th Annual Gala - Buy Your Tickets Now!

Justice for Harold and Clay

Dan Savage has posted a pdf of the complaint filed by Clay Greene in Sonoma County, California, against the County of Sonoma, the Agua Caliente Villa senior residence, and North Bay Auctions, LLC. In April 2008, Harold Scull, Clay Greene's partner of 25 years, fell at the couple's home in Sebastopol, California. He died that August. Greene's complaint makes the following allegations, among many others:

• The County and the nursing home did not allow Greene to see Scull, his terminally ill partner of 25 years, from June 2008 until Scull's death in August.


• On or about June 28 and continuing through August 2008, the nursing home and county officials "falsely imprisoned" Greene at Agua Caliente Villa "restrict[ed] and limit[ed] his movements and communications with his friends, family, and the general public."


• County employees disparaged and demeaned Greene and made derogatory references to Greene's sexual orientation and age.


• After [Harold Scull's] death, employees of the County "further expressed displeasure at dealing with expressions of grief by a gay man who had lost his long-time partner."

This case is as vivid an illustration as anything of the importance of marriage equality for same-sex couples. Despite the wills, proxy forms, medical directives, and other legal documents that Harold and Clay executed to protect themselves and the life they had built together, they were not enough to prevent the couple from being forcibly separated, kept in separate senior "care" facilities while one died alone, and robbed of all their personal possessions. This is why, with due respect to the president, changing the hospital visitation rules set by the Department of Health and Human Services is not enough. What is to prevent President Obama's successor from changing those rules? Until the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed and the marriages of all couples receive equal recognition under the law, travesties like that which befell Harold and Clay will continue to occur.

Join the Facebook page "Justice for Clay Greene and Harold of Sonoma County, CA."

Follow this case at the National Center for Lesbian Rights' website and see how you can get involved.

Harold and Clay, Ctd., or Why Marriage Matters

The National Center for Lesbian Rights has more on the story of Harold Scull and Clay Greene. Greene and Scull were partners for twenty years. Despite their extensive medical directives, wills, and power of attorney designations, when Scull suffered a fall in 2008, Sonoma County, California officials separated the couple, sold all their possessions, and placed them each in separate nursing homes. Greene was prevented from seeing Scull before his death. Greene is now suing the county, the auction company, and the nursing home.

Dan Savage has suggestions for further action. Join the Facebook page "Justice for Clay Greene and Harold of Sonoma County, CA."

Harold and Clay

From Get Equal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights:

Harold Scull and Clay Greene were a loving couple for 20 years. But as Harold neared the end of his life, our government treated them like perfect strangers, tearing their lives apart simply because they were gay.

Harold and Clay did everything they could to avoid this fate. They wrote wills and detailed medical directives in preparation for sickness or death. But when Harold went to the hospital after a serious fall, Sonoma County and health care workers claimed Clay was simply Harold's "roommate," terminated their lease, placed them in separate nursing homes, and auctioned off all their belongings.

Three months later, Harold died alone, without Clay's comfort to ease his passing. Clay grieved by himself, away from his home, and stripped of all his possessions.1

Clay is now represented by dedicated attorneys, including the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who are committed to seeking justice for Clay.

We can no longer watch in silence as our community endures such inhumanity. 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).

Last Thursday, President Obama issued a directive to the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a rule that would prevent hospitals from denying visitation privileges to same-sex partners.2 This was a step toward fairness and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans (LGBT), but it falls short of his promises to fight for equality in marriage, the military, and employment.3

As we push this week for the repeal of DADT, which bans openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military, and for the passage of ENDA, which would protect LGBT people in the workplace, Harold and Clay's story reminds us that there are no fractions of equality. President Obama's memorandum last week is simply not enough. We expect and deserve real and sustained leadership on behalf of the full dignity and humanity of every member of our community.

Please share Harold and Clay's story with President Obama and remind him of the promise he made to be a "fierce advocate for equality"4. Ask the President to call on Congress to act NOW to repeal DOMA and DADT and to pass ENDA, and ask your friends and family to do the same.

Get Out, Get Active, GetEQUAL

-Robin, Kip, the GetEQUAL crew, and our friends at the National Center for Lesbian Rights

***

1 - Sonoma County CA separates elderly gay couple and sells all of their worldly possessions (The Bilerico Project), http://www.bilerico.com/2010/04/sonoma_county_ca_separates_elderly_gay_couple_and.php

2 - Obama orders new rules on hospital visitation for LGBT patients and families (AMERICAblog Gay), http://gay.americablog.com/2010/04/obama-issues-new-rules-on-hospital.html

3 - Obama Says Marriage Law Should Be Repealed (Washington Post), http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702722_pf.html4 - Obama: Choice of Warren reflects diversity of ideas (CNN), http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/18/obama.warren/

A Victory for Compassion

President Obama has directed the secretary of health and human services to issue rules that would give same-sex partners hospital visitation rights and make it easier for them to make medical decisions on behalf of their partners. The new rules would affect any hospital that participates in Medicare or Medicaid, which comprises almost every hospital in the country (New York Times). This is great news for anyone who has dealt with a hostile hospital administrator or worried that they would be turned away from their partner's side.

Still, one can't help but think that this is a just a band aid that, while rectifying one of the grossest injustices of marriage inequality, doesn't fully address the issue. As Andrew Sullivan points out, if LGBT couples were fully equal under the law, we wouldn't have to rely on the kindness of strangers, so to speak. We would simply be able to exercise our rights.

Let President Obama know that you appreciate this action on behalf of LGBT equality, but that we expect more from the White House on marriage equality.

No Prop 8 Repeal This Year

An initiative to repeal Proposition 8 in California will not be on the ballot this November (San Francisco Chronicle). Advocates of repeal failed to collect the number of signatures needed to bring the measure to a vote. Supporters of Prop 8 were quick to gloat that the failure to gather enough signatures was indicative of California's opposition to same-sex marriage. However, recent polls indicate that a majority of Californians now support marriage equality (Daily Dish). Marriage equality activists will now try to place the initiative on the ballot in 2012.

Supreme Court Favorite Receiving Opposition for Pro-Gay Views

Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who many pundits consider the front-runner to receive the nomination to fill the seat of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, is being criticized by conservative activists for some pro-gay stances she has taken in the past. When she was dean of Harvard Law School, for instance, Kagan signed an amicus brief supporting an appellate court ruling that permitted law schools to restrict military access to campus recruiting events due to the military's discrimination against openly gay servicemen and women.

LGBT rights opponents may be overly pessimistic about Kagan, however (and LGBT rights supporters too sanguine). Following her confirmation hearing as solicitor general, Kagan was asked to clarify whether she believed that the Constitution provides for same-sex marriage. She said, "There is no federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage." Kagan also said that she didn't remember expressing an opinion on the issue (Wall Street Journal).

Maybe Bjork Will Play Your Wedding Reception

Iceland is finalizing a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage. The nordic island nation became the first country to have an openly LGBT head of state when it elected Johanna Sigurdardóttir prime minister last year (SDLGN).

Campaign to End Discrimination in Social Security

If you are legally married to your same-sex partner, you can be denied the survivor benefits that an opposite-sex spouse would receive. This is the cruel reality of life under the Defense of Marriage Act -- no matter how long you have paid into the system, and no matter how long you and your partner have been together, federal law would not recognize those marriages, even if LGBT couples could marry in all 50 states.

The Rock for Equality campaign is seeking to end this injustice. 700 protesters marched in Los Angeles on Sunday to bring attention to the discrimination that LGBT couples face in receiving Social Security benefits (AP).

Towleroad has more. You can become a fan of Rock for Equality on Facebook.

MENY's 12th Annual Gala is Coming Soon!

Marriage Equality New York's 12th Annual Gala will be held April 28 from 6:30PM-9:30PM, at SLATE in Manhattan. We hope you'll make it, and bring your friends and colleagues. The Gala will feature 3 hours of open bar, amazing food, and the most amazing celebrities (and you)!

B.D. Wong is coming, as is the cast of HAIR. Stay tuned for more special guests!

This year's Gala honorees are:

• New York State Senator Jose Peralta - recently elected to the State Senate, Peralta is a longtime supporter of Marriage Equality


• Shannon Minter for her legal work on behalf of marriage equality and the LGBT community


• B.D. Wong for his contributions in media exposure for LGBT couples


• Queer Rising, for taking marriage actions to a new level including being arrested at the NYC marriage bureau during Freedom To Marry week.

Come show your continued support for making marriage equality the law in New York State...soon!

All of this, at the sleek and trendy NYC hot spot SLATE, for the low, low price of $100 per ticket. BUT...if you buy 5 tickets (put your own group together!), it's only $400 total. You can choose whether you go free or share the $20/ticket savings around. THIS DISCOUNT OFFER IS FOR TICKETS PURCHASED BY APRIL 12.

Buy your group - or individual - ticket(s) at www.MENY.us/gala12.php.

Help us get the word out about MENY's Gala to people in and around New York City. If you have any questions about the Gala, contact Gary Steinkohl, Education Director and Board Vice President, Marriage Equality New York.