A same-sex couple with a record of giving to the University Of Alabama have pulled plans to donate their estate to their alma mater.
Elliott Mitchell and Clark West met at the University Of Alabama in 1972. They’ve been together ever since. Now in their 60’s, the couple, who married in Hawaii in 2013, live in Sarasota, Florida but retain their love for their alma mater. That devotion included a $1 million donation a decade ago. The couple, who made their money in real estate, have no children and decided to leave their estate, worth $15 – $18 million, to the school where they met.
But those plans changed when the couple realized that even if the Supreme Court were to rule that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage, the State of Alabama would continue to do everything it can to delay or even refuse to support those rights.
“They are going to contend every single right that inherently comes with that decision of the Supreme Court,” Mitchell, a real estate developer, told AL.com. “If they can find a sufficient reason to delay those benefits, they’re going to do it.”
“We just have to assume that any legal arrangement or any financial arrangement would not be honored in Alabama,” Mitchell added.
“He and I are just like everybody else,” West, a licensed mental health counselor, says.
The couple point to the story of Paul Hard, an Alabama man whose husband, David Fancher, was tragically killed in a car accident months after they married out of state. Hard had to sue to have his name listed on his husband’s death certificate, and has had to fight his mother-in-law in court over his rightful share of his husband’s estate.
“After 42 years together, we would not be allowed to visit each other on our death bed,” Mitchell said.
Explaining their decision to not donate their estate, the couple wrote a two-page letter to University Of Alabama President Judy Bonner and the Board of Trustees, saying they “realize there is no support in the legislature or initiatives at the University to create a dialogue” about same-sex marriage. “Instead, there is a very strong and continued effort by the state and the majority of its citizens to exclude this group in every way possible.”
The response they received?
None.
The University did issue a statement when contacted by AL.com, describing the couple as “loyal members of the UA family.”
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Image by David Smith via Flickr an a CC license
Hat Tip: The Advocate