Some Good News

Lt. Laurel Hester is a former police officer and 23 year veteran of the prosecutor's office who lives in Ocean County, New Jersey. She is dying of cancer, and wishes to leave her pension benefits to her significant other. Without it, her partner could lose their house.

The problem is that Hester's partner is another woman.

Hester has been fighting the courts for months. She appealed directly to the Freeholders to no avail. When she could no longer go to the meetings due to her failing health, she sent a tape pleading with them to understand the situation she is in. Although deeply moved by the video, the Freeholders stated that they had no intention of changing the law before Hester's death.

Today, all of that changed.

After begging and scraping for rights that married couples take for granted, receiving national media attention, and with the help Mark A. Seda, a Jackson Township Committeeman (and a Republican to boot... perhaps there is hope), Hester will have her wishes carried out.

From the press release:

Like many other people around the world, I've been learning a great deal recently about the issue of Domestic Partner rights that has placed Ocean County front and center on the world's stage through the incredibly courageous story of Ocean County's own hometown hero, Lt. Laurel Hester of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

From what I can see, I'm only one of millions who's been touched in a very big way by Lt. Hester's story. Her dignity and the incredible bravery she's displayed at the end of her life in wanting to change the world has inspired me to realize that as an elected official I should be standing by her side.

You can find a full transcript, plus more information on the story, at this site.