Map of Tennessee highlighting Hamilton County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
James Nichols | Huffington Post | August 23, 2013
After 60 years of active involvement with their Tennessee church, a family is facing exile from their religious community because their daughter fought to pass legislation offering benefits to same-sex couples in the town where she worked as a law enforcement official.
Police detective Kat Cooper, who married her wife Krista in Maryland earlier this year, led the initiative that resulted in Collegedale, Tenn., becoming the first city in the state to extended family benefits to same-sex couples, according to Spectrum Magazine. The bill passed in early August after months of effort on the part of Cooper, spawned largely by the denial of health coverage for her wife despite their legal status as a married couple in states where same-sex marriage is legal.
Cooper’s mother, Linda, reportedly stood by her daughter throughout the whole process and embraced Cooper after the city council passed the bill on Aug. 5. A video of Cooper discussing her struggle to get the legislation passed can be viewed above.
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