Justice for Laurel Hester

Due to the large amount of publicity generated by her case, the freeholders caved and will grant death benefits to Laurel Hester's partner when she goes. This is a triumph for Hester and her fighting spirit, and for all those who stood behind her and unloaded the barrage of emails and phonecalls and threats of boycotts on the Ocean County freeholders.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, Sam Beaumont is fighting a lawsuit. He had literally lost the ranch along with everything else when the partner he raised two kids with died without a will. And now the cousins who got his partner's property have the indecency to sue Beaumont for back rent for the years he lived in his home.

In the fight for gay marriage, we need to focus on real people like Laurel Hester and Sam Beaumont. This is not some "how many angels on a head of a pin" question -- real people, good people are suffering because of our refusal to recognize their relationship. If a reality TV show can change minds through familiarizing and humanizing gay couples, surely the progressive movement can too.