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Fred and George, 45 years together: An Arizona Love Story

Fred and George, 45 years together: An Arizona Love Story

PHOENIX — On Friday, Lambda Legal will ask the U.S. District Court in Phoenix to order the State of Arizona to provide an accurate death certificate to Fred McQuire for his husband, George Martinez, who died on August 28.

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Fred, 69, and his late husband, George, 62, of Green Valley, both veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, met in 1969. George served in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam, and Fred served in both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army and was stationed in Guam. Fred and George were married in California in July, after George was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer.

Their marriage is not recognized in Arizona.

After 45 years together, the state plans to issue a death certificate indicating that George was “never married,” and the surviving spouse section left blank.

Watch their story, via Lambda Legal:

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