Who gets away with these abuses? Why is this happening? Why is this woman's partner and family being subjected to a prolonged grieving process because of the hate of some cemetary board members?

Why should she have to sue to have a headstone carved with a message contractually agreed to?

I hope this cemetary gets its ass sued all the way to the US Supreme Court -- should they appeal it.

Here's the first AP article I could find in my article archive:

ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 16, 1997

By SCOTT BEKKER

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A lesbian woman whose partner died of cancer sued a suburban Philadelphia cemetery Tuesday for refusing to include the phrase "life partner" in her epitaph.

The lawsuit alleges the Har Jehuda Cemetery in Upper Darby breached a contract by overruling the legally binding wishes of Cynthia Friedman, who died in 1994, and her partner Sherry Barone.

Barone said Freidman wanted the phrase "Beloved life partner, daughter, granddaughter, sister and aunt" on her headstone.

"This is the case that answers that question that comes up in state Legislature after state Legislature around the country," said Barone's lawyer David Buckel. "Why aren't legal documents enough? Why do gay people need the right to marry as well?"

Mindy Brooks, a lawyer for the cemetery, said she had not seen the lawsuit and would not discuss the case.

The headstone remains blank 2 1/2 years after Friedman's death.

"I didn't complete the grieving process that a person should have after losing a loved one, and I will never recover from the emotional and spiritual agony of the unveiling at Cynthia's unmarked grave," Barone, 36, of Santa Monica, Calif., said in a statement.

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