Horrific Case Of Homophobic Discrimination Sees Elderly Gay Couple Separated And All Their Belongings Sold
Posted: 19th Apr 2010 Author: Michelle Penny Topics: News
You and your partner have been together for two decades. You’re totally dedicated to each other and want to make sure that each other is looked after should happen, so you make sure everything from wills to powers of attorney and medical directives in place.
Having done that you can now both live your lives together reassured that whatever happens you will be able to be there for each other right?
Well apparently not. At least not in the case of Harold and Clay. At 88 years old Harold was starting to become more frail, but still living at home with his beloved 77 year old partner Clay.
That was until the evening he fell up his front steps.
Needing medical treatment Harold was taken to hospital. Now having drawn up legal medical directives this should have meant Clay was consulted through the whole process. Not only did this not occur but both county and health care works refused to let Clay see Harold.
And it gets worse.
The country then went further and isolated the couple placing them in separate nursing homes.
Totally ignoring the relationship that existed between the two, the county then acted to treat Harold as a man who had no family, despite Clay and his 20 year relationship. When Clay contested this in court, in order to be able to make financial decisions for Harold, he was denied the right with the county gaining limited access to Harold’s account to pay for care instead after they described Clay as just a “roommate”.
Surely though it can’t get worse. Well actually yes it can.
Clay and Harold had spent 20 years accumulating memories and possessions that would always remind them of the times they had together. These were things to cherish forever.
Except the county didn’t see it that way. They instead took everything the men had owned and auctioned it off. They also removed Clay from his home, placed him in a nursing home against his will, then terminated Clay and Harold’s lease surrendering the property back to the landlord.
And it just gets sadder. Three months after being hospitalized Harold died. And he didn’t die with the man he loved. He died in a nursing home he never wanted to be in. And Clay is now not only left without the man he loved, but also with nothing to remember his partner by other than a photo album that Harold had painstakingly created for Clay in his last few months.
Probably the most depressing story we’ve heard about this year, there is some small amount of light appearing at the end of the tunnel with Clay having finally been released from his nursing home. Alongside this NCLR are working with court-appointed attorney, Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa and Stephen O’Neill and Margaret Flynn of Tarkington, O’Neill, Barrack & Chong to represent Clay in a lawsuit against the county, the auction company, and the nursing home.
Set to go to trial on July 16, 2010 at the Superior Court for the County of Sonoma this is one case we will be following very closely.
Photo by Diego_3336
