Montana lesbian couples honored

Two lesbian couples who sued the University of Montana last year in an attempt to win health insurance benefits for the partners of gay and lesbian university employees were honored Saturday by the Montana Human Rights Network. The organization's annual Walt Brown Award was presented in Missoula on Saturday afternoon to Carol Snetsinger, Nancy Siegel, Carla Grayson, and Adrianne Neff. MHRN is honoring the women for "working to make sure all Montanans, regardless of sexual orientation, are treated equally under the law," the organization said in a news release. "Despite the knowledge that they would likely face harassment and intimidation for doing so, these four individuals had the courage to put themselves front and center in this struggle." Two days after they filed the lawsuit, the couples received threatening letters. Then an arson fire destroyed Grayson and Neff's home. Police have made no arrests.