Sam Beaumont’s Brokeback Mountain was a spot near the Arkansas River where he met his partner Earl Meadows in 1977 for the first time.
“It was a pretty day — January 15th, 65 degrees,” Beaumont said. “He came up, we got to talkin’ till 2 in the morning. I don’t even remember what we said.” But “I knew it was something special.”
Sam and Earl settled down together, and actually took the Jack Twist fantasy of owning “a little calf and cow operation” with his partner and made it their reality, a kind of Brokeback utopia that went on for 25 years.
One of Beaumont’s sons remembers life with Meadows fondly: “As far as I was concerned, I had two dads.”
Unfortunately, Beaumont and Meadows’ Oklahoma ranch, where they raised Beaumont’s three sons together, was taken from Beaumont in 1999 after Meadows died of a stroke. Meadows had no surviving parents or biological children, but there was a will that provided for his longtime partner. But because that will was short one witness signature, a cousin of Meadows was able to successfully wrest control of the ranch, a piece of property worth $100,000, in which Beaumont had invested twice that. Beaumont’s emotional investment was most likely far greater.
Imagine the pain of having the home where you’d raised your kids and lived for 25 years with your partner being pulled from under you. Sadly, I’m afraid this isn’t the first or the last time this has happened in our country.
Last year Oklahoma added a discriminatory amendment to its constitution barring same-sex couples from ever having their unions recognized or from receiving any of the rights of married couples.
To add insult to injury, the cousins are suing Beaumont for back rent for the 25 years he lived on the ranch with Meadows.
Partner’s Death Ends Happy Life on the Ranch [indianapolis star]
