The National Center for Lesbian Rights has more about Harold and Clay, a California same-sex couple that was manhandled by the government of Sonoma County, California. Here is a sample:The response to the horrific story of Clay Greene and Harold Scull has been very gratifying and inspiring. Clearly, their story struck a chord in all of us. To some degree we can’t help imagining ourselves in exactly this situation. Forty-eight hours ago, few people knew their names, and now a Facebook page in their honor has more than 5,000 fans. Quite simply, this case demonstrates how our relationships as LGBT people are so fragile, especially when we reach our later years. Just one small incident, in this case a fall down some steps, sends the world crashing down.From a conservative viewpoint, I find this nothing short of astounding. It's a horrible example of the state placing itself over and above the rights of the individual. Conservative believe (or should) believe that a man's home is his castle and that what goes on in said home should be respected and left the hell alone by the government.
Harold and Clay were in a committed relationship for twenty-five years, and they lived together for twenty years. Both Harold and Clay had worked in Hollywood and were passionate collectors of film memorabilia. Harold had worked for MGM studios in the 1950s and was a favorite of Louis B. Mayer in the studio’s heyday. At the same time, Clay worked in television with many popular stars of that period. In addition to his film industry career, Harold was an accomplished artist and avid collector, especially of Mexican and Central American Santos religious art and artifacts. Art, heirlooms, and memorabilia graced the walls of their leased home, in which they planned to live together until their deaths.
Those of us who are Republican and believe in the rights of same-sex couples to live their lives must speak out and say how unconservative this whole action is. I sometimes wonder, what could happen when my partner Daniel and I get older? Will we be treated with respect, or could something like this happen to us?
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Dennis, you and your partner have a relationship every bit as worthy of governmental respect and deference as my wife and I do. One day, I hope that you can call him "husband" and doing so will be unremarkable.
It's astonishing to me that people could think otherwise and call themselves "conservatives" and opposed to the expansion of governmental power, especially after such a graphic depiction of how that governmental power is used with what seems in retrospect to be deliberate cruelty. Didn't "live and let live" and "mind your own business" stand out as fundamental American ethics at one point in our history?
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