All Men Are Still Not Created Equal

My friend recently showed me an article about an elderly gay couple, Harold and Clay, who were separated and their possessions were auctioned off. And that's putting it lightly. When I was reading the article, I could hardly believe it was happening in America - it sounded like something from a fascist nation. Not only that, it took place in California which most people seem to believe is one of the more liberal states.
While at home, Harold fell down the the steps and had to be taken to the hospital. “Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold's care from the first moment,” which was definitely not the case. Instead, the healthcare and Sonoma county workers refused to let Clay see Harold and even placed them in different nursing homes to separate them. The county treated Harold like he had no family and the court allowed the county limited access to Harold's bank account to pay for his healthcare. Then, without authority and without determining what belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned it all off (after Harold's death). Furthermore, when they placed Clay in a nursing home (against his will), the county terminated his and Harold's lease gave their home to the landlord.
After three months of hospitalization, Harold died in the nursing home, without seeing Clay in his last months of life. Currently, Clay has nothing left because he has not been able to recover any of his property and he was just released from the nursing home with the help of his lawyers. They are going to trial to pursue a lawsuit against the county, auction company, and nursing home around July.
I feel like this entire story completely defies American values as well as the personal rights of Harold and Clay. I understand that some people just can't handle the idea of homosexuals but the way the government handled this situation was despicable. Neither of them got a fair opportunity to defend themselves (which they shouldn't have had to do in the first place) and their needs and personal rights were completely ignored.
Another thing that bothers me is that even if you don't agree with the idea of two men being together, it is none of your business what they do as long as they aren't hurting you. Also, the whole separation of church and state that our founding fathers tried to establish is not exactly working out since most people's hatred of homosexuals stems from religion. And because they believe their religion tells them it's wrong, they think it should also become law that two people of the same gender shouldn't be allowed together. This whole situation (which, thankfully, is rare) shows the American government in a really bad light and shows how much work still needs to be done to make sure people don't have their rights taken from them.