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Gravestones at Montefiore Cemetery in New York, NY
Mark Goldberg is fighting to lay his husband David, who died in September, to rest at the Jewish cemetery.
A retired New York neurologist is fighting to lay his late husband to rest after a Long Island cemetery allegedly refused to allow the burial in the family’s designated plot—seemingly because the couple was gay. The lawsuit, filed in state court, accuses New Montefiore Cemetery of violating the family’s contractual rights and inflicting both financial hardship and ongoing emotional distress, The Independent reports.
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Mark Goldberg and his husband, David, were married for years before David’s passing in September at 75. Goldberg’s family owns five burial plots at New Montefiore Cemetery in Babylon, and, according to The Independent, two remain unoccupied. When Goldberg attempted to bury his husband in one of the vacant family plots, cemetery administrators allegedly rejected the request, which the lawsuit attributes to discrimination against the couple’s same-sex marriage.
New Montefiore, a Jewish cemetery, restricts burials to members of the faith and has a range of regulations, including bans on alcohol, refreshments, and the scattering of cremated remains on-site. However, its publicly available policies do not include any prohibitions against LGBTQ+ people being buried there. The lawsuit argues that by denying David’s burial, the cemetery is in breach of its contractual obligations to the family.
Goldberg is now seeking a court order compelling the cemetery to allow the burial, along with damages and legal fees.
LGBTQ+ people have faced discrimination in end-of-life matters for years. While the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell, ushering in marriage equality, eliminated many legal barriers, Goldberg’s lawsuit underscores the reality that discrimination persists. CNN reported that in 2017, a Mississippi funeral home refused to cremate Robert Huskey after learning he was in a same-sex marriage, forcing his husband, John “Jack” Zawadski, to find a provider nearly 90 miles away.
That same year, the Diocese of Madison issued guidance suggesting that Catholic funerals could be denied to same-sex couples, further denying LGBTQ+ individuals dignity in death. CNN also previously highlighted the case of retired Air Force Lt. Col. Linda Campbell, who had to fight Veterans Affairs to have her wife interred at Oregon’s Willamette National Cemetery. Her case helped pave the way for LGBTQ+ veterans to be buried with their spouses, but disparities remain—especially in religious and private cemeteries.
