Normally when we hear about a parent trying to marry their adopted kid, images of a perverted Woody Allen and his much younger daughter/wife paint a cringeworthy picture. However, this story of a Pennsylvanian father and his adopted son trying to tie the knot is easily one of the most beautifully heartbreaking stories you’ll hear today.

Let me introduce you to Nino Esposito, 78, and his partner Drew Bosee, 68. After meeting at a church in Pittsburgh on Easter in 1970, the pair fell in love and have spent the past 45 years together. But after 40 years together the couple worried that they would never live to see the day when they could legally marry in their state. So in 2012, Esposito took advantage of a legal loophole and adopted Bosee in order to gain inheritance rights and other benefits afforded to straight couples. Now that same-sex marriage is legal nationwide, Esposito is trying to marry his adopted son, but a judge is refusing to reverse the adoption.

Man adopted partner after 40+ years together, but now they’re trying to undo that and marry: https://t.co/BoikNBnave pic.twitter.com/Ct4uasoKY3

— New Day (@NewDay) November 3, 2015

Judge Lawrence J. O’Toole, of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County said that he was “sensitive to the situation,” but still ruled against the couple, recommending that a higher court rule on the issue.

O’Toole noted that revoking an adoption in circumstances other than fraud “would place in jeopardy and imperil adoption decrees generally,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

But this kind of legal maneuver isn’t uncommon for gay couples. The ACLU of Pennsylvania told CNN that it learned of many couples across the country who “lawfully took advantage of adoption laws in order to protect their relationships.” Esposito and Bosee even knew of other couples who successfully annulled their adoptions in order to get married.

Bosee, who is a former freelance writer, talked about his predicament saying,

It’s sort of ironic that by doing the adoption, we thought we were getting ahead of the game. But instead of being a help, it’s become a roadblock, a hindrance, to what we should be allowed to do now.

Esposito and Bosee have already take O’Toole’s advice and filed an appeal to the state Superior Court to annul the adoption. Arguments are expected to get underway in early December. Yet, the elderly couple still feels like they’re in a race against the clock to finally have their union recognized. Bosee said,

We thought we wouldn’t live to see what the Supreme Court did this year with same sex marriage throughout the country. Now, we’re concerned we’re not going to live to see our own marriage happen

Hopefully that doesn’t happen, and Esposito and Bosee get a happy ending to their story.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Man Tries to Marry Adopted Son: Don’t Worry, it’s Not Actually Creepy appeared first on Law Street.

The internet has a remarkable way of showing you the worst that humanity has to offer, most notably so in the form of user generated comments. When you ask someone their opinion on something and replace a pen and paper with a keyboard and computer screen, the results may shock you. People truly get nasty. Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling became blatantly aware of this fact after sending this tweet congratulating his 17-year-old daughter on her college acceptance.

Congrats to Gabby Schilling who will pitch for the Salve Regina Seahawks next year!!

— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) February 25, 2015

Who could have predicted that this one little congratulatory tweet would unleash an internet storm of tweets full of gross profanity, referencing rape and bloody underwear (possibly a reference to when Schilling played a game with an injured ankle, and had a “bloody sock” at the end)? The whole mess now has Schilling rushing to his daughter’s defense and taking legal action.

I’m going to spare our readers by not embedding a ton of the offensive tweets into this post, but most of them went something like this:

@WhatsLIAMdoing @Cubb_E@beth_lee@richiereiss This tweet? Or the one on the left you favorited? pic.twitter.com/Qwh9TmOrMH

— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) March 2, 2015

Shocked, Schilling took to his “38 pitches” blog to confront his daughter’s cyberbullies. He speaks about being in sports his entire life, knowing “guys will be guys,” but points out that he never spoke with his friends about women in this way. After doing some online digging of his own, Schilling then proceeded to share information about specific bullies in his post writing:

The Sports Guru”? Ya he’s a DJ named Adam Nagel (DJ is a bit strong since he’s on the air for 1 hour a week) on Brookdale Student Radio at Brookdale Community College. How do you think that place feels about this stud representing their school? You don’t think this isn’t going to be a nice compilation that will show up every single time this idiot is googled the rest of his life? What happens when a potential woman he’s after googles and reads this?

The other clown? He’s VP of the Theta Xi fraternity at Montclair State University. I gotta believe if Theta Xi is cool with a VP of one of their chapters acting like this I’d prefer to have no one I know in it.

According to USA Today, Nagel has since been summarily suspended by his college and will be scheduled for a conduct hearing for further disciplinary action. “The other clown” is Sean MacDonald, who has since been fired from his part time ticket sales jobs for the New York Yankees.

Schilling concluded the post in a the kind of frantic rant you’d expect from any father protecting his daughter. He then took to Twitter responding to many cyberbullies with some choice words and tweets about “friends in the special forces.”

According to Schilling, so far nine trolls have faced consequences. As a result, many of the offensive tweets have been deleted, but that hasn’t stopped more from popping up in their place. Schilling appears to be going after the truly persistent.

According to CBS, Schilling says some of the tweets were more than just offensive–they were against the law. He says he’s seeking legal recourse, he’s been speaking with the FBI and local police, and is currently discussing the possibility of filing criminal charges. This man’s personal vendetta to hunt down each one of these cyberbullies is a warning to anyone thinking about posting hateful comments on social media, and more importantly proof that you should never mess with a man and his daughter.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Curt Schilling Seeking Legal Action Against Daughter’s Cyberbullies appeared first on Law Street.