Laurel Hester

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Laurel Hester (born August 15, 1956 , † February 18, 2006 in Point Pleasant , New Jersey ) was an American police officer with the last rank of lieutenant . The lesbian officer in the New Jersey Police Department became known after she asked from her deathbed that same-sex partners should also receive pensions in the event of death .

Life

Hester worked as a police officer in Ocean County for 23 years before she retired due to severe lung cancer . The cancer metastasized and spread to her brain so that she didn't have long to live. Hester owned a house with her life partner, who was not entitled to a pension in the event of death.

This is the case with two- sex couples; same-sex partnerships did not benefit from the privilege in Ocean County. Hester appealed to local authorities and eventually went to the Policemen's Benefit Association to change this ordinance. On November 9, 2005, the five Republican District Freeholders voted against this proposal. One of them, John P. Kelly, argued that the "sanctity of marriage" should not be violated. On November 23, between 100 and 200 people protested against it.

On January 18, 2006, Hester appealed to the district officials in a video message from the hospital bed. They held a conference call with the district Republican Party MP on January 20. On January 25, in the absence of John Kelly, the other four district officials unanimously granted the pension payments to Hester's partner.

Their struggle was filmed in the 2007 documentary Freeheld , which received the Academy Award for Best Short Documentary at the 2008 Academy Awards on February 24, 2008 . In 2015, it was implemented as a feature film with Julianne Moore in the lead role, which was released in German cinemas on April 7, 2016.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lieutenant Who Won Pension Rights for Her Domestic Partner Dies at 49 at nytimes.com, accessed February 14, 2014
  2. ^ Zach Galifianakis, Julianne Moore & Ellen Page Heading to 'Freeland' at firstshowing.net, accessed February 14, 2014