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Plaintiffs Face Aftermath of Md. Court Decision
Retirees Charles Blackburn and Glen Dehn of Baltimore, who have been partners for more than 28 years, said that in the days before the ruling they put aside their worries about being separated in a nursing home someday.
"We were planning our wedding all weekend," Blackburn said.
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Off to the side of the plaintiffs, a man stood quietly and listened. He was Kevin-Douglas Olive, a middle school French teacher who had been following the progress of the same sex marriage case with more than just academic interest.
He said he received the news of yesterday's ruling in a flood of e-mails and phone calls during his planning period at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School in Baltimore. He cried, then called a substitute teacher to cover his classes and left for the day. He found himself drawn to the news conference.
Everything reminded Olive, 35, of the legal challenges that confronted him and his partner, the late Russell Groff.
The couple met in 1998 in Tennessee and moved to Baltimore County in 2000 because the public schools offered domestic partner benefits. Olive worked, Groff focused on his art, and the two married in 2003 in traditional Quaker fashion.
Then Groff, who was HIV positive, fell ill and died in 2004. He was buried according to his will in Olive's family plot in Tennessee -- an action Groff's estranged parents fought in court. A settlement reached last month allowed Groff to remain in the plot, but Olive's name was removed from the tombstone.
This week, Olive plans to meet with a group of Quaker elders and seek their advice: Should he stay in Maryland, which doesn't legally recognize the love he shared with Groff? Should he move?
"Do I want to stay in a state that would rather give into discrimination and an outdated definition of marriage?" he asked. "I'm a Christian. I understand where conservatives are coming from. But this is about protection . . . this is denying protection."
"I grew up in the South and thought if I moved north, things would be better. I feel like I keep getting pushed. Or maybe I'm running."
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