Mon. September 26, 2011
Chicago, IL -
Alisha Brennon has filed a wrongful death lawsuit after her partner, Christina Santiago, was killed in the Aug. 13 stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair.
"We saw clouds coming. A man came out on stage and told us that the storm would move around us. It wasn't going to hit us," Brennon said, according to FOX Chicago News. "I was knocked unconscious, with her right in front of me on the ground. And I never saw her again."
Brennon's attorney Kenneth J. Allen filed the lawsuit in Marion County in Indianapolis reports the Chicago Tribune.
"I think the boldest inequality is the discrimination against gay and lesbian couples," Allen told the Tribune.
Santiago, programming manager for the Lesbian Community Care Project at Chicago's Howard Brown Health Center, was among seven people killed in the tragic accident before a Sugarland concert in Indianapolis.
Brennon and Santiago were among the first couples in Illinois to enter into a civil union when the partnerships became legal in June.
Since same sex partnerships are not recognized in Indiana, legal experts say the Indiana courts will have to determine whether Brennon has a legal right to seek compensation in Santiago's death.
Allen also represents another woman who lost her wife in the stage collapse.
LGBT-rights advocates hope the cases will challenge Indiana's lack of same-sex partner recognition.
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