Nino Esposito and Roland “Drew” Bosee first met on Easter Sunday in 1970 and have been partners roughly ever since, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. They live in western Pennsylvania, where for many years Esposito was a teacher and Bosee worked as a freelance and technical writer, but where same-sex marriage has been legal only since 2014. In 2012, two years before that court decision legalized gay marriage in the state (and before a Supreme Court decision legalized it nationwide), Esposito, now 78, legally adopted Bosee, who is 10 years younger. It was a common strategy at the time for same-sex couples in Pennsylvannia to provide some of the legal protections of marriage, such as hospital visitation and inheritance rights.
‘[Adoption] gave us the most legitimate thing available to us,” Bosee told CNN of the adoption.
Esposito and Bosee applied earlier this year for an annulment of the adoption so they could get married. A local judge said he was “sensitive to the situation,” but cited Pennsylvania adoption law in denying their request. The couple’s lawyers have appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey rallied to their side this week, sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting that the Department of Justice consider lending its support to their case.
“Our clients were deprived of their rights twice,” Andrew Gross, a lawyer for Esposito and Bosee, told the Post-Gazette. “They did the only thing they could do to become a family, and now they are getting hit a second time.”
Silent No More: Early Days in the Fight for Gay Rights
Caption from LIFE In commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, militants this year designated the last week in June as Gay Liberation Week and celebrated with a candlelight parade. The parade involved 300 male and female homosexuals, who marched without incident two miles from Gay Activists headquarters to a park near City Hall.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE When a bill guaranteeing equal job opportunities for homosexuals stalled in New York City Council last spring, militants demonstrated at City Hall. With fists raised, they shout a football style "Gay Power" cheer at police blocking the building.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights protest, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE A homosexual activist steps between a pair of police horses to be interviewed during a New York demonstration. Militants often charge police brutality and welcome arrest for the sake of publicity. They also encourage press coverage of their protest actions.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights protest, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights protest, California, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights protest, New York, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE Collared by a patrolman after he deliberately crossed police barricades at New York's City Hall, Gay Activists Alliance President Jim Owles submits to arrest. Members of his organization were protesting City Council reluctance to debate a fair employment bill for homosexuals.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights protest, New York, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights protest, New York, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights protest, New York, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay Pride, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay Activists Alliance, New York, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights rally, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGay rights event, 1971.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
