
76 year old Bill Novak, and Norman McArthur, 74, met 52 years ago, and were desperate to be legally together as a gay couple. They decided that Bill would adopt Norman as his son because this was the only way they could remain together legally.
Luckily for them, both parents were dead, so, the adoption proceeding was fairly easy.
Mr MacArthur said: “I was the son and Bill was the father. Bill is two years older than I am, so that was the only reason.”
Fifteen years later, the ban on same sex marriage has been lifted, leaving the two men free to marry.
But
unfortunately, the couple’s original lawyer, who had advised to go for
adoption as the only legal way they could remain together, told them no
court would dissolve an adoption unless another person adopted Mr MacArthur.
However,
a friend advised them the courts may allow a petition to vacate an
adoption if it was made clear the only reason for it was to give a legal
underpinning to the relationship.
The couple
showed up in court on May 14 hoping the judge would sign the petition to
vacate their adoption so they could get legally married with 30 friends
to show the case was out of the ordinary, and the public gallery burst
into applause when the judge decided to dissolve the adoption.
Ten
days later, the lovebirds were legally married at a small private
ceremony conducted by an old friend of the couple’s who is an
Episcopalian priest.
“I feel incredibly happy. It’s the only way I can describe it – just enormously happy,” Mr MacArthur said. “It was very much worth the wait."

No comments:
Post a Comment
Disclaimer:
*Don't Forget To Drop Your Comments After Reading
*Comments on this blog are opinions of the readers and NOT posted by Thompson Ukpe.
*Peddygist Readers are SOLELY responsible for the comments they post on Peddygist.com
*Follow On Twitter #peddygist
*Follow On Facebook @ facebook.com/peddygist
Thanks For Your Comments