More Details on Gay Couple Victimized by California County

Available at the NCLR blog here.  Sounds to me like a case of greedy county officials wanting to liquidate all the couple's assets in a hurry to pay for the nursing home bill.  Read it and see what you think.  Emphasis mine:

“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.”

The couple lived in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California, about fifty miles north of San Francisco.  Ironically, according to Wikipedia, "the county's tolerant political environment have made the Guerneville area along the Russian River the home of a number of gay and lesbian resorts, which have catered to the San Francisco LGBT weekend-getaway community since the 1970s."

If you really want to read something that will make your blood boil, check out the pdf of the actual court petition filed by Clay and his attorney here (honk to Heretic Tom for the link).

In particular, note the repeated, public homophobic insults and intimidation of Clay by county and nursing home employees - "you know how those gay boys are," etc. - detailed on pp. 12-16.  And then notice on page 51 how, after they had utterly cleaned out the couple's house, and even taken all of Clay's clothes and shoes and underwear away, they left him sitting there alone without even a bed for several days until they came and locked him up in a home for dementia patients.

And when they took his two cats away by the neck and threw them in a truck, somebody shoved Clay to the ground when he tried to protest.  Nobody now knows what became of the cats.

I agree with Andrew Sullivan and Dan Savage, among other bloggers who are writing about this:  this needs to be protested more than Constance McMillen's prom, far and wide and loud.

A word to the wise:  Take a tip from your Head Trucker, guys.  If you live with a partner, and you intend it to be permanent - be sure both your names are on the deed, the mortgage, the lease, or the rental agreement.  You have been warned.

And if your partner isn't willing to do that, well - the two of you need to have a serious heart-to-heart talk about what your true intentions really are.

Actions speak louder than words.  It's very, very easy to say "I love you," anybody can do that. 

But how many can show it?   There is a difference.