This is why we need gay marriage.

This is one of the saddest things I have ever read. It makes me sad, angry, and helpless all at the same time. It tears me up that there are people in the world that are so heartless that they would separate two people who love each other in their final days together.

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

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 andconfined 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.

Please see the following pages for information:
[4/20] A new post from the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), which is providing legal assistance in this case:
http://bit.ly/c5SwK5

[4/19] A prior post from the NCLR, which explains the case:
http://bit.ly/9hK5j

[4/17] The original Bilerico Project article:
http://bit.ly/a8OAKC

The NCLR case docket (text is identical to Bilerico article):
http://www.nclrights.org/greene

PDF of legal complaint/court documents:
http://bit.ly/bDbSoi

Here is the Facebook page… please join if you’re on Facebook.

How could anyone let this happen? What kind of people could just stand by and let it happen? I swear, my faith in humanity is slowly being eroded by stories like this.

Related posts:

1. NYS Senator Diane Savino speaks on the Marriage Equality bill YouTube - NYS Senator Diane Savino speaks on the Marriage...
2. Memories I was going through a box of pictures my mom...
3. Snow and stuff I’m sitting here in my living room this morning, trying...