Richard and Anthony

June 8, 2016 11:24 AM

In April of 1975, Richard Adams and Anthony Sullivan sought a green card for Mr. Sullivan, as Mr. Adams' husband. 41 years later, "the green card, granting Anthony permanent resident status in the United States, was issued on the 41st anniversary of his Boulder, Colorado marriage to Richard — a same-sex marriage that remained in the record and which was never invalidated by Colorado officials. "
posted by roomthreeseventeen (9 comments total)

I thought this was Richard Adams the English novelist, so I was surprised to find that he was a US citizen. Turns out, surprisingly, that it's possible for two or more people to have the same name.

Anyway, congrats. It's just very sad that common sense has finally prevailed, but that one of the abused is no longer around to see it. That would have been a party.
posted by veedubya at 11:42 AM on June 8, 2016

So many emotions. Not ready to make them public, and not sure I will be able to make them coherent.

So I will simply say Thank You for posting this FPP.
posted by cynical pinnacle at 12:41 PM on June 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

León Rodriguez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wrote on behalf of the President: “This agency should never treat any individual with the disrespect shown toward you and Mr. ­Adams,” Rodriguez wrote. “You have my sincerest apology for the years of hurt caused by the deeply offensive and hateful language used in the November 24, 1975, decision and my deepest condolences on your loss.”

Sometimes, doing the right thing is easy, even if it involves an apology.

We should do this more often.
posted by schmod at 1:29 PM on June 8, 2016 [9 favorites]

She sought legal counsel from Boulder’s district attorney who determined there was “nothing in the Colorado marriage code that would prohibit” her from issuing marriage licenses to two people of the same sex.

Rorex began issuing licenses to same-sex couples. In a 1975 article in The New York Times, Rorex suggested that marriage inequality could be “resolved by eliminating the gender words. Her reasoning, she said, was “Who’s it going to hurt?”

You're awesome.
posted by Monochrome at 2:44 PM on June 8, 2016 [5 favorites]

This needs to be in an updated People's History. This is exactly what folks need to understand and know about: a couple 41 years progressively ahead of the law, a judge 41 years ahead of her time, and a sincere apology 41 years overdue is a story about the qualities Americans should strive for.
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:00 PM on June 8, 2016 [9 favorites]

I thought this was Richard Adams the English novelist, so I was surprised to find that he was a US citizen.

I thought it was Andrew Sullivan and I was even more surprised. How could he have been there for 40 years? He'd have missed all the good parts* of Thatcherism.

* n.b. There were no good parts of Thatcherism.
posted by No-sword at 3:45 PM on June 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

I was curious for more about the clerk who made it happen, Clela Rorex. This Washington Post article tells more about her. She'd only been on the job for 3 months and had never (knowingly) met a gay or lesbian person. She was an active feminist. She got a lot of flack. And she was pretty awesome.

And in the most famous story from that time, she looked out her window one day and saw a man pulling up with a horse trailer and followed by a group of reporters.

She knew what was coming. As Rorex recounts in a documentary made about Sullivan and Adams called “Limited Partnership,” a man came in and said, “If a man can marry a man and a woman can marry a woman, why can’t a tired old cowboy marry his best friend?” Who happened to be a horse named Dolly.

But Rorex had prepared. She asked how old Dolly was, and when the man answered that she was 8, “I laid down my pen and said: ‘I’m sorry. Dolly’s underaged.’ ”

Both articles also point out that it was Anthony Kennedy who ultimately decided against them back in 1984, leading to their exile:

In 1984 they requested that Anthony be permitted to stay in the United States because deportation would cause Richard “hardship” as his spouse. The request was denied when the Judge in the case disagreed that Anthony’s deportation would cause “hardship greater than that which would be faced by anyone being deported.” (from the first article).
posted by Salamandrous at 5:16 PM on June 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

I had to explain to a colleague why so many people, who otherwise seemed so nice, were openly happy when Baroness Thatcher died. It was interesting to have to explain that taking milk away from poor children was probably one of the least awful things she ever did.

(End of derail.)

This article is wonderful for what has happened now but it's tragic that people had to live with this for four decades, when ultimately all they wanted to be was together. Thank you for putting this up.

Understanding when we're wrong, changing, apologising and making amends: still essential.
posted by nfalkner at 5:16 PM on June 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

This is a great piece; thanks for posting it.
posted by languagehat at 5:42 PM on June 8, 2016