(1725)  Tue 18 Mar 97 22:38
By: Rod Swift
To: All
Re: Shame on the Christians!
St:
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@EID:fb03 2272b4c0
@MSGID: 3:690/660.0 332ea8e0
 * On 14-03-97 at 19:58, MARTIN GOLDBERG wrote to KEN YOUNG,
   on the topic of "Driving Mr. Daisy" in echo Holysmoke:

MG>  KD>> Because straights already have rights.
MG>  KY> Yes, and so do gays.

MG> Better ask some of your fellow xtians about that.

No.  Let's give him a blast here.  Let's start with this one.

This is the story about Karen Thompson, and her 7 year battle to
regain custody and control over her life-partner's life after a
tragic car accident.

If Karen were able to marry Sharon Kowalski, the couple would
never have been subjected to years of litigation over who
controlled Sharon's affairs.  Sharon would have automatically
had Karen considered her closest next-of-kin.

Because they could not, they were destined to be treated as
strangers to each other in the eyes of the law.  It is only after
all of Sharon Kowalski's legal next-of-kin not wanting to take
care of her that "strangers" were given the chance to apply to
care for Sharon.

Christian love caused 7 years of misery for two women -- one
distraught from being unable to see her disabled lover, the other
distraught from being denied access to her lover *and* being
crippled tragically.

Christians should hang their head in shame if they claim gays are
equal to straights.

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[From Boston Globe, 18 December 1991, without permission]

                Minnesotan wins guardianship
            of lesbian lover after 7-year fight


St. Paul -- For seven years, Karen Thompson fought for the
right to care for her lesbian lover, who had been left a
quadraplegic by an auto accident.  Her lover's parents and a
judge refused.  But yesterday, a state appeals court said
yes.

"There aren't words to express the hell the system has put
us through," Thompson said after the Minnesota Court of
Appeals ruled she was most qualified to act a Sharon
Kowalski's guardian.

The ruling was hailed as a landmark by gay-rights activists.

Kowalski, 35, a former physical education teacher, suffered
brain damage and was forced to use a wheelchair after the
accident in 1983.  Over Thompson's objections, Kowalski's
father, Donald Kowalski, won guardianship in 1984 and ended
Thompson's right to visit.

Thompson, a professor at St. Cloud State University,
continued her court battle.  Kowalski resigned last year as
his daughter's guardian, citing medical problems of his own.
 A judge appointed Sharon Kowalski's high school track
coach, Karen Tomberlin, as the new guardian.

The decision was overturned by the ruling yesterday, which
said Sharon Kowalski had indicated that she wanted to be
with Thompson and the Thompson is the only person willing or
able to care for Kowalski outside an institution.

[There is a picture of Karen Thompson with the caption
"Karen Thompson, holding a news conference in St. Paul
yesterday after her victory, describes the battle to become
guardian of her lover."]
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 * OLX 2.1 TD * Bugger me with a fish fork!

--- Maximus 2.02
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