Video report from KWTV News (owned by local state concern Griffin Broadcasting, an arm of the syrup-makers, and affiliated with the Oklahoman) on Sam Beaumont, the gay man who shared and worked a ranch with his partner, Earl Meadows, for 25 years. When Earl died, he left everything to Sam. Meadows's blood relatives sued to have the will thrown out because it lacked the signature of a witness, required under Oklahoma law.

They won - they took all the land and evicted Sam from his home of a quarter-century. Now they're suing Sam for $13,000 in estate taxes on the 401K and life insurance policies that Earl left him. Sam was named as the beneficiary, so Earl's relatives couldn't get to those funds, but now that they've taken the rest of the estate from Sam they want Sam to pay their share of the taxes on what they took.

You may have read about this story, but this is video, so it's by nature a bit more compelling, to hear Sam's rancher drawl and see that he's just like any other man who spent his life working the land. Two things, however, are worth calling out.

1. Although the events in this story happened quite some time ago (Earl died in 2000), none of the Oklahoma media paid one lick of attention to it until the Indianapolis Star picked it up. From there, it went to lots of gay blogs and magazines, and showed up in People this week. Even KWTV's intro to the story is quite clear that they would never have reported this story of incredibly gross discrimination had the national media not picked it up and forced their hand.
2. It should go without saying, but doesn't, that if Sam and Earl had been allowed to marry or even become domestic partners, Sam would have automatically received Earl's property upon his death as the surviving spouse. This same kind of death without a valid will happens tens of thousands of times in Oklahoma every year, and as long as the couple is straight and could get married, the surviving spouse has no fear that relatives of the dead partner will come in and take everything away from him (or her). Wills are not always easy to get right, and there's no question a huge number of people who think they have valid wills right now do not. If you're gay, though, you can't get married, and even the dead man's explicit and unquestionably clear wishes are put aside in favor of blood relatives and their greed and hate for who he was.

When conservatives or "moderates" tell you that gay marriage is a "special right," or that it's not necessary, remember Sam and Earl. This shit happens every day, and in places like this, the media really hates to tell you about it.