On Christmas day in 2009,
tragedy struck:
It is with deep sorrow that the Missouri State Troopers Association grieves over the loss of Corporal Dennis Engelhard. On Christmas Day, December 25, 2009, at approximately 10:30 A.M., Corporal Engelhard was working an accident on I-44 in St. Louis County when another motorist lost control of their vehicle and struck Corporal Engelhard.
Corporal Engelhard later succumbed to his injuries at an area hospital.
Corporal Engelhard was survived by Kelly Glossip, his partner of 15 years. Unfortunately for Kelly Glossip, this was the first in a series of tragedies:
Dennis Engelhard was killed in the line of duty, and when news of his death was announced, he was noted as single. Dennis' family tried to exclude Kelly from the funeral, refusing to discuss Dennis' time with Kelly and not allowing Kelly to inherit any of Dennis' personal items. Kelly Glossip, the man who had stood beside him for 15 years, was erased from the public record.
Since 2010, Kelly has been fighting to have his relationship with Dennis respected by the state of Missouri. He filed a lawsuit seeking the survivor benefits that different-sex spouses of public servants are entitled to in Missouri. Because Dennis was killed in the line of duty, Kelly should have been entitled to $28,000 per year to care for himself and for his son.
Yesterday, on October 31, 3013, after several years in court, the Missouri Supreme Court issued its ruling in Kelly's case. In a 5-2 decision, they declared that Kelly should not receive any of the survivor benefits. The ruling explained that survivor benefits are extended only to legally married spouses - and that because Kelly and Dennis were not married, Kelly was ineligible to receive these resources.
Of course, Missouri law did not allow Kelly and Dennis to get married.
Take a moment to watch this Kelly and Dennis' story, courtesy of The Legal Stranger Project:
Stories like Kelly and Dennis' are the reason we can never give up on equality.
