We owe much to Fredia Hurdle and her partner Lynn, who were among the plaintiffs in the case that paved the way for marriage equality in Pennsylvania. The New Civil Rights Movement reported this morning that Fredia passed away last Thursday after a stroke. She was only 50 years old. What makes this news even sadder is that the Hurdles, who had been together for 24 years, were not able to take advantage of the equality under the law that they helped secure. Just tragic, all around.
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
For half a century, Fredia Lynn Hurdle was a woman who friends and family say lived life large. She was born on Oct. 15, 1963, in Norfolk, Va., the youngest of the Rev. Willis M. and Addie Odessa Hurdle's five children.
She spent many years as a bus driver for Greyhound Lines, eventually logging over 1 million miles. In 1990, she was driving a new route, and a passenger who helped her with directions turned out to be her co-pilot for life.
“She was just larger than life,” said Lynn Hurdle, who started buying bus tickets so the two could spend time together. “I just got captivated with her and her life and her personality.”
Soon, Fredia Hurdle moved her home base from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh to be close to Lynn Hurdle, a nurse. Together, the two women raised Lynn Hurdle’s daughter, Ashley Wise, and also helped raise some of Fredia Hurdle’s nieces and nephews after her sister died. Fredia Hurdle later worked as a driver for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
How the Hurdles, who had a wedding ceremony five years before it became legal in Pennsylvania, came to join the ACLU's lawsuit in Pennsylvania is through an injustice many gay and lesbian couples know all too well. After Fredia had been hospitalized for emergency gall bladder surgery, the hospital refused to give any information to Lynn because they were not legally married. Legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania Witold Walczak, whose wife knew the couple, asked the Hurdles to be a part of the lawsuit, and they accepted.
You know the rest of the story. Judge John Jones overturned Pennsylvania's ban, and Governor Corbett's decision not to pursue an appeal guaranteed marriage equality in the state. Now that it was legal, Lynn wanted to get married in July (the anniversary of their original ceremony), but Fredia convinced her to wait until after her daughter got married so as not to take the spotlight away from her. She said, "It's legal. We have time." And they had no reason to think otherwise. Lynn tells the Post-Gazette:
I was looking for the next 25 or 50 years together. It's been shell shock.
Very sadly, the Hurdles were not able to take full advantage of the civil rights they helped secure for gay and lesbian Pennsylvanians. That's cruel and tragic, there's no getting around it. But so many gay and lesbian couples in Pennsylvania have the Hurdles to thank for their newfound marriage equality. Fredia's work will not be forgotten.
Condolences to Lynn and the rest of the family. Rest in peace, Fredia, and well done.