Marriage Of Elderly Gay Couple Stymied By Earlier Adoption

ALLEGHENY COUNTY (KDKA) -- For 45 years, Nino Esposito and Drew Bosee of Fox Chapel have lived together as a couple.

Now they want to get married.

"We wanted a real family. We have no family. Our parents are dead. We have nobody to share this. We wanted to be a family," said Esposito.

"Marriage is now our legal right. Based on what the Supreme Court decided, it's always been our legal right. It's just been denied us," added Bosee.

True, so what's the problem?

Well, three years ago, before gay marriage was legal here, 78-year-old Esposito adopted 68-year-old Bosee as his son to guarantee the family rights that straight couples have.

But last March, when they asked Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Larry O'Toole to annul the adoption so they could get married, O'Toole said no.

"We were totally surprised when this happened," said Bosee. "And apparently his feelings were that, among other things, he didn't have authority to do it."

That was despite the fact that judges in eastern Pennsylvania have already annulled adoptions so gay couples could marry.

Why not just get married regardless of the adoption?

Because the state's incest laws prohibit that.

"You could end up in jail for ten years for doing such a thing," noted Bosee.

So now they've appealed O'Toole's decision to the state Superior Court.

Given the conflicting court opinions across Pennsylvania, U.S. Senator Bob Casey says he's going to ask the U.S. Attorney General for advice on what couples like this should do all across America.

On Friday afternoon, Casey met with both Esposito and Bosee in Pittsburgh.

"It was inspirational to meet them because they are doing something difficult," Casey told political editor Jon Delano.

So will this elderly couple ever get married?

"If we live long enough, we should. We hope we will," said Bosee.

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