Cancer-stricken Ocean County investigator gets show of support

By JOHN CURRAN, AP Writer, from Newsday.com, Nov. 23, 2005

TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- A cancer-stricken law enforcement officer who wants her partner to get her death benefits got an enthusiastic show of support Wednesday, with more than 100 gay rights advocates turning out to denounce Ocean County officials for not agreeing to it.

Carrying placards and handmade signs, members of Garden State Equality and other groups staged a rally outside the county Board of Chosen Freeholders' office, accusing the panel of homophobia and hypocrisy in failing to extend benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian employees.

At the center of the dispute is Lt. Laurel Hester, 49, a 23-year investigator for the Ocean County Prosecutor's office who is fighting lung cancer. Hester wants the county to pass a resolution as provided for by New Jersey's 18-month-old Domestic Partners Act, which gives counties and cities the power to extend pension and health care benefits to the gay partners of employees if they so choose.

Hester, of Point Pleasant, fears that without her $13,000 death benefit, partner Stacie Andree, 30, will be forced to sell the house they now share after Hester dies.

The county has yet to act on the request. Donna Flynn, a spokeswoman for the freeholder board, had no immediate comment on the controversy Wednesday.

More than 100 agencies in the state have adopted domestic partnership benefit resolutions, including Bergen and Hudson counties.

"Ocean County Freeholders Where's Your Humanity?" read a sign hung from a recreational vehicle parked outside the Board's office.

"Shame on you, Ocean County," read a hand-lettered sign carried by Nancy McNeil, 62, of Toms River, who attended in a wheelchair. "My sign says it all," she said. "Who are the freeholders to pass moral judgment on a woman who put her life on the line for them?"

The rally, organized by Garden State Equality, featured its chairman, Steven Goldstein, who spoke through a bullhorn and introduced a series of speakers who support Hester's cause.

Among them was a seven-person contingent from the Gay Officers Action League of New York, which is made up of gay law enforcement officers.

"Straight or gay, we do the job. We put our lives on the line," said its president, George Farrugia. "Lieutenant Hester, we're here for you."

So were other supporters of gay marriage and domestic partner benefits.

"This is a moral issue," said Suzannah Porter, president of the National Organization for Women's New Jersey chapter. "It's about time that people who talk family values start valuing families."

Weakened by her sickness, Hester sat in a wheelchair at the center of the rally, a blanket over her lap as she spoke into a bullhorn held by Andree, who stood over her.

"As of this point, my prognosis is not very good," she said. "I don't know how much time I have left." But she said the battle over benefits -- not just for her partner, but for others -- had given her resolve.

"This issue has given me cause to fight and to stick around long enough to see this injustice rectified," Hester said.