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January 22, 2006
It's About Time! Thank You!
Posted at January 22, 2006 11:14 AM in Gay & Lesbian Issues .
According to an article on the Ocean County Observer's website, Ocean County's freeholders, reversing themselves after months of battering at public meetings
and in the press are scheduled to vote
Wednesday to extend pension benefits to the domestic partner of Lt.
Laurel Hester and other members of the Police and Fire Retirement
System.
The decision came after a political teleconference among the Republican leaders of the county yesterday afternoon.
The agreement that emerged calls for the freeholders to vote Wednesday, after a closed-door meeting that is a routine part of their caucuses, to extend the pension benefits to Hester and her partner, Stacie Andree. Thank God!
In addition, state Sen. Andrew Ciesla, R-Ocean, has asked the state
Office of Legislative Services to prepare a bill he will sponsor that
will eliminate the difference in the pension inheritance rights of
members of the police and fire retirement system and other state public
employee retirement systems.
On the Big Gay Picture site, Michael Jensen states:
I just got off the phone with Dane and Laurel. It sounds like there is a mob of reporters, including NBC, besieging Laurel's house to cover the story. Laurel told me she is on Cloud Nine over the freeholders' change of heart. Dane sounded exhausted, not surprising given how much time he has spent keeping Laurel company while simultaneously fighting for her cause. If Dane doesn't come out of this whole experience known as one of our community's best friends it will be a shame. He and Laurel have changed so many lives and minds in New Jersey and beyond, that it's remarkable. After Dane's life has calmed down, I'll talk with him again for his thoughts on the whole experience.
For a little background on this story which can also be found here (with a video in Windows Media format), Lieutenant Laurel Hester of Ocean County, New Jersey has become the most famous LGBTI police officer in America. Lieutenant Hester learned about her cancer last fall and sought health and pension benefits for her same-sex partner, Stacie Andree, just as any dying person would seek for his or her surviving spouse. The reaction of her employer? Giving benefits to Lieutenant Hester's partner Stacie, Ocean County freeholder John Kelly maintained, would violate the sanctity of marriage. He declared Lt. Hester and her partner not moral.
Let's hope and pray the right thing is done here.