A father and son are fighting for their right to marry, but it’s not as weird as you think
A Wales woman is hoping to launch a church that’s fully accepting of LGBTQ+ parishioners. (Getty Images)
A couple who are legally father and son have suffered a setback while fighting for their right to marry – but it’s not as weird as you think.
Pennsylvania couple Nino Esposito and Roland Bosee have been together for more than 40 years – but had no legal recognition for the majority of their relationship.
Out of fear over their lack of legal rights in 2012, Esposito ‘adopted’ Bosee – which was not an uncommon arrangement before same-sex relationships were legally recognised.
However, Now same-sex marriage is legal the pair are hoping to dissolve the adoption, so they can marry under law instead.
The pair have fought a court battle over the issue – but their request was rejected by a trial court judge, who says that he only has the ability to annul adoptions in instances of fraud.
According to CNN, Judge Lawrence J O’Toole of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County said he was “sensitive to the situation” – but that the couple “cannot [marry] because they are legally father and son”.
Witold Walczak, the Legal Director of the ACLU Pennsylvania said: “We don’t believe the Pennsylvania judge who refused to annul this adoption was unsympathetic… he simply felt that the legal path to doing so should be forged by an appellate court.
“The ACLU is hopeful that the Superior Court will apply established legal principles to allow annulment of adoptions by same-sex couples who that they can finally partake of their constitutional right to marry.”
Earlier this year in the same state, a man was able to marry his former son – after an adoption order they filed to get legal rights was dissolved to allow them to tie the knot.
Norman MacArthur and Bill Novak, 76 and 78, had pursued an adoption to ensure they had some legal rights in the eyes of the law – but successfully fought to have it dissolved this year in order to marry instead.
