Case No. SPR-81815

This is the case number of my latest/most justified source of outrage. I'm also a tiny bit in hate with Charles Barkley right now, but we must pick our battles, and I don't think I could take Chuck. Actually, this makes me so angry that I don't even think I can make jokes. So I will have to explain what is going on here with bullet points and question words.

Who: Clay Greene vs. Sonoma County et al.
What: Embroiled in despicable legal battle of an inconceivable nature, which you will shortly discover
Where: Sonoma County, California.
When: April, 2008 - today
Why: Because there is evil in the world. Even in stupid sunny California.

Now, I did not actually set out to be a champion of LGBT rights, but come on people. This is getting seriously out of hand. Ok, I am going to try to power through this without hyperventilating, and/or too many unnecessary all-caps pontifications.

• Clay and Harold live together as partners for 20+ years
• Clay and Harold know they're getting on in years, and name each other as beneficiaries in their respective estates and assign each other as an agent in medical decisions
• April, 2008: Harold, 88 (not in great health to begin with), slips and falls on front steps 
• Clay calls an ambulance and Harold is taken to hospital
• THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS

Breathe...

• The men's agreement is COMPLETELY IGNORED by the County
• County refers to Clay as a "roommate" and treats Howard in the hospital as though he has no family, revoking his powers of attorney
• County liquidates an investment account to pay for medical expenses
• County INVADES THEIR HOME, TERMINATES THEIR LEASE, AND SELLS 20 YEARS OF ACCUMULATED BELONGINGS
• County REMOVES CLAY FROM HIS HOME AND PLACES HIM IN A NURSING HOME AGAINST HIS WILL
• 3 months after initial hospitalization, Harold passes away HAVING NOT SEEN CLAY EVER AGAIN
• Clay now has nothing left of his life with Harold, and has been unable to recover any of their possessions, including pets who are most likely dead too

THIS IS SO NOT OK.

Clay is suing the following people/entities: A few specific members of the Sonoma County Government, including the Director of the Human Services Department, the Public Guardian/Conservator, and several Deputy Public Guardians; North Bay Auctions, LLC - the auction company that STOLE 20 years worth of belongings, some of which were actually quite valuable; and Agua Caliente Villa, the nursing home gulag where Clay was held AGAINST HIS WILL.

I went ahead and did some detective work, and you can read all about this so-called "assisted-living community." Purportedly, Agua Caliente Villa meets "the needs and desires of our residents by dispensing in balanced measure activities, freedom, solitude, companionship, choices... and love. Our singular goal is to provide a home environment for people who need more care than they or their families can give them." You can go here and check out their information page for "residents" prisoners. 

Directly beneath the words "Residents Rights" is the following paragraph (all typos are certainly not mine): "Agua Caliente Villa provides care to all with the utmost concern for the dignity and personal independence for every resident. Realizing each resident is unique, it is out goal to provide supportive care which enables everyone living in the facility to enjoy life to the greatest extent possible. Should there ever be an incidence of verbal or physical abuse of any kind, you are encouraged to report it immediately to a staff member or the administrator. Every staff member pledges to uphold resident rights which include at a minimum the rights listed here. "

If you click on the link (which I conveniently transported to my blog from their unedited website), you are lead to a list where Number 6 refers to the RIGHT TO LEAVE THE FACILITY AT ANY TIME.

There is CLEARLY A LOT MORE THAT I COULD SAY HERE but like I said, the anger is getting a little too palpable. I have no words for this. It's abominable, despicable, appalling, shocking, vile, horrifying, contemptible, straight-up criminal and completely unimaginable. Ok so I have some words. 

Since there isn't really anything anyone can do to make life any better for Clay at this point, the NCLR has launched a visibility campaign to get the word out. So get the word out. Tell people how this is the opposite of human. And that it is SO SO SO WRONG. I'm babbling now due to rage-induced delirium. If I ever find myself in this particular part of the world, I will be throwing lots of rocks. Especially if I've just gone wine tasting. There better be enough friggin' rocks.

**If you need to vent somewhere slightly more visible, go here**


4/20/10 UPDATE


The Sonoma County newspaper finally ran a story about this today. The headline reads "Lawsuit ignites firestorm in gay community against Sonoma County." Even this title makes me mad - I wish we could create an actual firestorm. Flames! Grrr! I'm thinking this particular firestorm would involve much more than just the "gay community."


Anyway, the county is saying that the two men were kept apart due to a domestic violence incident, not intolerant, inhuman maliciousness. Now, is it just me, or do people not call the police when an incident like that happens? If Clay assaulted Harold so badly that he was never able to be released from the hospital and passed away after 3 months, why did no one call the police? Because it's bullshit, that's why. The 3 page article has these 3 sentences to say about the so-called firestorm (once again, the typos are not mine - does no one proofread anymore?): 


"Outrage spilled onto a Facebook page advocating justice for the couple. Organizers urged people to write legislators and news sources. Other vented about the handling by Sonoma County officials or called for a boycott of all local businesses."


The rest of the article is basically about the county's defense strategy, which apparently is to lie.

Prom. No Prom. Prom. No Prom. Prom!

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know about the whole Constance McMillen thing. In case you have been living under a rock, allow me to summarize: Itawamba Agricultural High School (Fulton, Mississippi) had a regularly scheduled prom. Then, Constance McMillen asked to bring her girlfriend as her date, and to wear a tuxedo (Gasp!). Surprise! - they said no. When the ACLU informed the school district that this was all sorts of not cool, they canceled the Entire Prom. Even though they'd probably already paid the DJ. Then the prom was back on, but it was a privately organized parent-supported prom at a furniture store (what?), but Tuxedo Constance and her girlfriend were not invited. Then Constance (presumably the bravest 17-year-old girl Ever) sued to try to force the school board to un-cancel the original prom, and then the parents got scared that they'd get sued as well, so they canceled the Furniture Prom, too! So it was on, then off, then on, then off, and, you guessed it, on again! The parent-sponsored prom is now back in business, except this time at the local Country Club. Because Country Clubs are famous for their open-mindedness...


And get this, the school board testified - under oath! - that the "media attention generated [by Constance contacting the ACLU] distracted the school from its educational mission, and that the board canceled prom in an attempt to restore order." Imagine how much less distracted and disordered they'd be if they had just let the poor girl enjoy her prom in the first place.


Now, this is Mississippi we're talking about. We don't honestly expect all of our civil liberties to be upheld in Mississippi. "First Amendment? What's that? Is that the one with the guns?" But come on. It's also the twenty-first century. You can't openly discriminate (against someone who is clearly a very smart girl) and not expect to get called out for it. Well, I guess you can try. But then you get all flustered and have to cancel and un-cancel the stupid prom a million times. During all of these proceedings, it came out (hah!) that Constance wasn't the only student at IAHS to contact the ACLU this year. A transgender student who attended the school for one (1) day (!) was sent home on his second day. When he returned after his suspension, they suspended him again. When the ACLU asked the school district to provide reasoning for his suspension (which was conveniently left blank on his suspension forms), they refused to talk about it. Luckily, this student has since found a safer, more accepting place to be, but holy crap Mississippi. Not building a good reputation here with the American Civil Liberties Union. Or our first gay president.


Anyway...on to the historical part of this ridiculous ordeal...


Meanwhile in the Blue States, there has been an overwhelming outpouring of support for Constance from all around the rest of the country. Facebook's Let Constance Take Her Girlfriend to Prom currently has 423,000+ supporters. This is more than 100 times the population of Fulton, Mississippi. In the regular, slightly less bigoted world, people have crawled out of the woodwork to make sure this school district gets what it deserves. Dan Savage took it upon himself to sic his loyal, kinky readership on the Itawamba School District: "Now it's our job to make discriminating against (and retaliating against) vulnerable gay students a much bigger distraction for the Itawamba County School District understand than allowing Constance McMillen to attend prom ever would've been." Well put, Dan, well put. Thousands of people have written angry, distracting letters to the superintendent and school board (you can, too!). On March 19, Constance went on The Ellen Degeneres Show and was awarded a $30,000 scholarship (presumably for college learnin'). And best of all, a high school in Marin County, California has openly extended her and her girlfriend an invitation to their enlightened liberal prom. She hasn't RSVP'd yet, but they're hopeful. It's nice to see so many people outraged at such a ridiculously intolerant event. Bigoted school boards in Mississippi remind us that we still have a long way to go, but we've certainly come a long way, too.

Here's Constance's Thank-You message to everyone who has supported her (try to ignore the southern accent). I sure hope her prom date is worth all this trouble. Oh, and suck it, Mississippi.