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Monday, April 19, 2010

Demand Justice for Elderly Gay Couple Forcibly Separated and Evicted | Change.org

Clay Greene and Harold Scull were a gay couple living in Sonoma County, California. They had been together 20 years, building a life and a home together.

One day Harold had a terrible accident, and was taken to the hospital. Knowing that hospitals can sometimes be tough places for gay and lesbian couples, at least when it comes to visitation rights, the couple had all of their legal paperwork in order. But it didn't matter.

Health care workers would not allow Clay to see his partner Harold in the hospital. Then Sonoma County officials got involved, going to court to get permission to make financial decisions on Harold's behalf. The government then placed the couple in separate nursing homes, took control of the house they shared, and then brazenly auctioned off all of their household possessions.

Harold would die alone three months later, separated from Clay, his partner of 20 years.

Now, with the help of several attorneys, Clay is fighting back against Sonoma County for their unjust actions during the final months of Harold's life. Imagine having the person you love forcibly taken away from you, then your house, and finally all of your household possessions. What would possess a County to act so craven?

Send the Sonoma County Director of Human Services - a defendant in Clay's lawsuit - a message demanding justice for Harold and Clay. Though there's no compensation that can be afforded Clay that would equal the value of the relationship he had with Harold, the County needs to admit that it was wrong, and work with Clay and his lawyers to achieve justice. It shouldn't take a full blown trial for Sonoma County to admit that it not only acted inappropriately in this case - it acted downright inhuman.

Posted via web from Firesaw

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