Back in April, we reported on the story of
Clay Greene Vs. Sonoma County as an example of why marriage equality is an important goal for the gay community. For those of you who don't recall, Clay Greene and Harold Scull were two elderly gay men who lived together for many years, without marriage or domestic partnership, here in Sonoma County California....yet they had drawn up powers of Attorney and all neccesaary documents naming each other as benificiaries of each others estate, clearly defining their relationship to each other. Yet, when an incident occured in which Harold Scull fell from his front steps, requiring 911 to be called....all that documentation came to naught as the county ignored their relationship to each other. Clay Greene maintains that it was accident....that Harold lost his footing. The county however, claims that it was domestic abuse,siting an april 12th police report, and immediately removed both men from their shared home and involuntarily placed them into separate nursing homes....claiming that it was to protect Harold from Clay. The county then proceeded to assume control of Harolds finances, sold their home, and auctioned off their shared belongings. Harold eventually died a few months later apart from his longtime partner Clay Greene. Clay and Harolds cause was eventually picked up by attorney Anne Dennis and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who now advocates for Clay Greene. They sued the county on the basis that the counties actions were based off homophobia and that a similar scenario would not have occured had the individuals involved been a heterosexual couple. It was a hard road for Clay Greene that has finally come to completion....
