http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/15/AR2010041505502.html?hpid=topnews

Quote :

"President Obama mandated Thursday that hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and allow same-sex couples to share medical power of attorney, perhaps the most significant step so far in his efforts to expand the rights of gay Americans. The president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation in a memo that was e-mailed to reporters Thursday night while he was at a fundraiser in Miami. Administration officials and gay activists, who have been quietly working together on the issue, said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding, a move that covers the vast majority of the nation's health-care institutions. It is currently common policy in many hospitals that only those related by blood or marriage be allowed to visit patients."

Quote :

"Today, President Obama signed a presidential memorandum taking important steps to protect the visitation and healthcare decision-making rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. This important action was inspired by last year's New York Times profile of the tragic experience of partners Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn. Despite having an advanced healthcare directive, Janice, and the couple's children, were kept from Lisa's bedside as she lay dying. Lambda Legal represented Janice in a lawsuit against Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and worked with them to revise their policies in the wake of the tragedy. As part of its ongoing efforts to promote executive actions which would improve the lives of LGBT Americans, the Human Rights Campaign worked with White House and Department of Health and Human Services staff in support of today's memorandum. "Discrimination touches every facet of the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, including at times of crisis and illness, when we need our loved ones with us more than ever," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "No one should experience what befell the Pond-Langbehn family, and the President's action today will help ensure that the indignities Janice and her children faced do not happen to another family." According to today's announcement, the memorandum directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promulgate a regulation requiring all hospitals that receive federal Medicare and Medicaid funding - nearly every hospital in America - to allow patients to designate who may visit them and prohibiting discrimination in visitation based on a number of factors, including sexual orientation and gender identity."

-Human Rights Campaign


So gay couples can have visitation rights without having to fill out paperwork and pay legal fees on a state by state basis and hoping they'll accept it. Also, I believe this means you can now designate your best friend or roommate in advance as an allowed visitor.

4/15/2010 10:52:28 PM

homophobes republicans are probably rolling over in their graves.

(well almost, since the party is all but dead)

4/15/2010 11:17:44 PM

looks like obama is going to everything he can do to gain support with the gay community without touching the gay marriage debate

[Edited on April 15, 2010 at 11:30 PM. Reason : well, at least not during this term]

4/15/2010 11:28:21 PM

^Well its not like he has a high hurdle to jump to be the best option. McCain voted for the Defense of Marriage act, which made it so that even if a state chooses to allow gay marriage the federal government wont recognize the state's decision, and of course he has supported anti-gay marriage initiatives in CA & AZ that I can think of off hand. He is also against repealing DADT. Which is almost exactly where the likely 2012 candidate, Mitt Romney, stands as well.

Extending spousal benefits for gay couples for those working in the federal government (which helps set the standard more broadly), the gov counting married couples who are gay in the census, aiming to have DADT repealed this year, extending hospital visitation rights, and saying he'd sign DOMA repeal if it makes it to his desk (which isn't the same as endorsing gay marriage, but it would make gay marriage fully equal in the states that have chosen to allow it) are easily enough to overcome the McCain hurdle.

[Edited on April 16, 2010 at 12:28 AM. Reason : .]

4/16/2010 12:12:21 AM

Quote :

"Extending spousal benefits for gay couples for those working in the federal government (which helps set the standard more broadly), the gov counting married couples who are gay in the census, aiming to have DADT repealed this year, extending hospital visitation rights, and saying he'd sign DOMA repeal if it makes it to his desk (which isn't the same as endorsing gay marriage, but it would make gay marriage fully equal in the states that have chosen to allow it) are easily enough to overcome the McCain hurdle"

Without reading a lot about them or thinking much on the subject (gay issues just aren't really a hot button issue to me), I'd say that I agree with all of those positions, save repealing DADT (though I think it does need to be adjusted)

4/16/2010 12:42:07 AM

I applaud the prez.
With the horrible DMV-type of health care everyone will be getting, it is comforting to know the gov't will let your loved ones be near as you die.

4/16/2010 12:42:29 AM

^does not understand the healthcare bill.

4/16/2010 1:16:16 AM

I knew they couldn't have visitation rights, so that's a good thing to change, but I didn't know they couldn't have medical power of attorney. It was my understanding that you can assign medical power of attorney to anyone you damn well please and, provided they are competent to have such power, the state doesn't have a say in it.

4/16/2010 7:48:29 AM

Quote :

"homophobes republicans are probably rolling over in their graves. "

not all republicans are socially retarded.

4/16/2010 8:32:40 AM

A placebo for the gay community. Way to beat around the bush

4/16/2010 8:55:09 AM

I, too, hate progress.

4/16/2010 10:52:41 AM

^^^ My layman understanding was that it was far to easy for family members to override the medical POA of a partner.

4/16/2010 10:54:26 AM

props to Obama on this. Accepting the rights of people to marry (without gov't acknowledgment) and granting equality to those rights is absolutely the right thing to do.

4/16/2010 4:32:44 PM

This is pretty much the only good thing he has ever done. I freely admit that he did the right thing here.

Too bad he can't do anything else properly son, but at least he hasn't fucked me up the ass with a 10ft pole yet.

4/16/2010 4:34:38 PM

Quote :

"I applaud the prez. With the horrible DMV-type of health care everyone will be getting, it is comforting to know the gov't will let your loved ones be near as you die."

4/16/2010 4:57:57 PM

Quote :

"^does not understand the healthcare bill."

4/16/2010 5:01:41 PM

Quote :

"A placebo for the gay community. Way to beat around the bush"

Bush would have never signed something like this. You have to start somewhere.

4/16/2010 5:29:19 PM

Quote :

"This important action was inspired by last year's New York Times profile of the tragic experience of partners Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn. Despite having an advanced healthcare directive, Janice, and the couple's children, were kept from Lisa's bedside as she lay dying."

Keeping that from happening again is more than a placebo.

4/16/2010 5:40:32 PM

I don't think any rational human being could oppose this. There is no logical argument against it.

4/16/2010 6:26:10 PM

Quote :

"^^^ My layman understanding was that it was far to easy for family members to override the medical POA of a partner."

See, it seems to me this is something that should be fixed in general. Family or no, if I assign medical PoA to someone, it's because I want them to have that power, and not other people who think they may or may not have my interests at heart. This new policy seems to be a good step towards fixing that, but in general, a signed witnessed PoA should override anyone else claiming to have authority.

4/16/2010 8:01:20 PM

Do you folks that are straight see why this had to be done? This is a basic right that heterosexuals take for granted. People have had to die on hospital beds, alone, for homosexuals to see this change. And it's not even legally binding.

And people wonder why gay folks feel like they have to fight for everything.

4/16/2010 8:12:45 PM

no one ever takes gay protests seriously because ya'll make such an event out of it.

4/16/2010 10:54:14 PM

Bet you'd have said that to MLK. Making fun of people protesting for their rights doesn't make you a better person.

4/16/2010 10:59:15 PM

If gay people were actually oppressed like black people were (and in some areas still are), maybe you'd have a point.

4/17/2010 12:45:02 AM

Who the fuck let Al Sharpton in here?

4/17/2010 12:58:28 AM

Quote :

"no one ever takes ... protests seriously because ya'll make such an event out of it."

I think that is exactly the opposite of how protests work. This Washington protest/rally last year (bigger than the tea party Washington protest around the same time) got the President to speak out, at the weekend of events organized around it, for repealing DADT for the first time since taking office. One of the things this very protest was pushing for was fair hospital visitation rights.



This protest at the NC Governors mansion got some local news coverage too. NC remains the only southern state to not have amended its constitutional to ban gay marriage.



You may disagree with the overall value of protests, or whether the President would have arbitrarily decided to issue such a directive now without the prodding of events such as these, but I just don't buy the idea that people would pay more attention to protests if only people didn't "make such an event out of" them.

4/17/2010 1:34:06 AM

http://www.nclrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issue_caseDocket_Greene_v_County_of_Sonoma_et_al


Offered without comment. It speaks for itself.

4/18/2010 7:43:37 PM

^sounds like two men who don't know how to write legally binding documents, combined with a flair for the dramatic.

4/18/2010 9:44:46 PM

You have a gift for taking away the human tragedy of people that truly suffered. Kudos on your inhumanity.

4/18/2010 9:50:33 PM

I have a gift for being able to read through the tear-jerk bullshit and realizing that something doesn't add up. There is another side to this story that makes a lot more sense than the one you posted; a likely scenario is that their shit was auctioned off to pay for their outstanding medical debt.

4/18/2010 9:55:59 PM

One man's "tear-jerk bullshit" is another's injustice.

4/18/2010 10:01:55 PM

eleusis hates faggots

4/18/2010 10:42:25 PM

I had no idea...

4/18/2010 10:44:07 PM

waiting until after your lover dies is not the proper way to protect your rights. Either they did not have proper legal documentation as claimed, they owed a fuckload of money, both men were gravely ill and incapable of making decisions, or some combination of these scenarios. There isn't some vast conspiracy going on here to undermine two dying gay men.

4/18/2010 11:14:31 PM

^ no conspiracy, eh.

Explain the Marriage Defense Council, National Organization on Marriage, Republicans in Congress on almost every gwy issue, amongst others. I mean, you really don't have to look far to find groups that are open about their wish to explicitly deny rights to gay men and women.

But back to the topic. We shall see what the court says on the case I linked to above.

4/18/2010 11:20:10 PM

how many conserative Republicans do you think there are in Sonoma County, California? quit rambling about stupid shit in an effort to prove a point about an entirely different topic.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 11:37 PM. Reason : Sonoma County is considered more far left leaning than San Francisco, FYI.]

4/18/2010 11:30:13 PM

I personally feel like my rights have been trampled, my taxes increased, and the defense of this great nation compromised by allowing one dude to be in the geographic proximity of another dude who happens to be in the hospital.

I plan to make a sign for my next protest that says "BARAK OSAMA'S FAG LOVE = NAZI COMMUNIST PR STUNT"

4/19/2010 2:45:55 AM

^So long as you turn that R backwards

4/19/2010 4:22:23 AM

I can't imagine anyone being scummy enough to force someone else to die alone knowing that their family (Including their fucking children) were right downstairs. If I worked there I'd have found a way to get them in to see their mom or butch mommadaddy, whatever she was. Either way, it's god awful and absolutely sickening.

I hope every person involved in preventing that woman from seeing her family on her deathbed dies an even more lonely, horrific death. I am so genuine about that last statement it's not even funny, there was not a shred of humanity within a single one of those workers. Not a fucking shred.

4/19/2010 7:38:17 AM

That reminds me: I need to hire a lawyer. It seems I've neglected to properly document and certify my relationship with anyone outside my registered family.

4/19/2010 9:01:31 AM

^^
Sometimes I wish I went into psychology so I can figure out what the fuck goes in people's heads. How do live with yourself after forcing a person to die alone, needlessly? There aren't words to describe it. Just sickening.

4/19/2010 11:14:03 AM

If you're eleusis, you start by blaming the victims.

4/19/2010 11:24:12 AM

you're not a victim if you choose to be one, and there's nothing wrong with blaming a guilty party.

4/19/2010 12:30:54 PM

Welcome back. Keep rationalizing.

4/19/2010 12:31:54 PM

eleusis is a misanthrope, and he didn't have a problem with this thread until Optimum said this:

Quote :

"Optimum: Do you folks that are straight see why this had to be done? This is a basic right that heterosexuals take for granted. People have had to die on hospital beds, alone, for homosexuals to see this change. And it's not even legally binding. And people wonder why gay folks feel like they have to fight for everything."

The vast majority of people in this thread were saying Yay!, this needed to happen, this is a good thing, good move on Obama's part, etc...and then Optimum just comes out of nowhere like, "Do you people even get it? Do any of you straight people understand why this is needed?!?! Gay people have to fight for everything!!!"

Now I'm not one of those people who argues that ten percent of the population (gay folks) should have to wait around and be patient with the closed-minded among us. But Jesus Christ, don't fucking alienate the people who are on your side. Don't make it a gay v. straight battle where no straight person can ever thoroughly understand your perspective and is therefore on the "other side." You'll lose. But judging by your "Waaaaaaahhhhh, we have to fight for everything!" bit, it wouldn't surprise me to discover that you actually enjoy losing.

4/19/2010 1:07:46 PM

My point was that this is yet another example of gays being told, in effect, "okay, now you can do this," something that others already take for granted. After a while, it gets frustrating to have to keep asking for changes to the law just to gain similar rights, regardless of if they occur. Apologies if you felt offended that I'm preaching about it, but that's how it feels to a lot of gay people.

[Edited on April 19, 2010 at 1:23 PM. Reason : .]

4/19/2010 1:23:24 PM

Yeah, I was gonna edit and lighten my tone a bit. It's not really my place to tell people how to handle their business.

4/19/2010 1:30:14 PM

Quote :

"I applaud the prez. With the horrible DMV-type of health care everyone will be getting, it is comforting to know the gov't will let your loved ones be near as you die."

4/19/2010 2:55:40 PM

Quote :

"^does not understand the healthcare bill."

Quote :

"Now I'm not one of those people who argues that ten _____ percent of the population (gayblack folks) should have to wait around and be patient with the closed-minded among us. But Jesus Christ, don't fucking alienate the people who are on your side. Don't make it a gayblack v. straightwhite battle where no straightwhite person can ever thoroughly understand your perspective and is therefore on the "other side." You'll lose. But judging by your "Waaaaaaahhhhh, we have to fight for everything!" bit, it wouldn't surprise me to discover that you actually enjoy losing."

Not being racist here but just pointing out that it works both ways. Feel free to replace 'black' with any minority group.

[Edited on April 19, 2010 at 3:03 PM. Reason : .]

4/19/2010 3:02:07 PM

Quote :

"Now I'm not one of those people who argues that ten percent of the population (gay folks) should have to wait around and be patient with the closed-minded among us. But Jesus Christ, don't fucking alienate the people who are on your side. Don't make it a gay v. straight battle where no straight person can ever thoroughly understand your perspective and is therefore on the "other side." You'll lose. But judging by your "Waaaaaaahhhhh, we have to fight for everything!" bit, it wouldn't surprise me to discover that you actually enjoy losing. "

you just summed up every post Optimum makes. "Waaahhh, waaaah, waaaah, I'm gay and we have it sooooo tough." He managed to come into a thread where everyone was in agreement with what happened and singlehandedly act like everyone in here doesn't understand how serious this issue is because they're not as flaming as he is. You can't help but want to troll the poor schmuck for it. The shit that comes out of his mouth in retaliation is hilarious.

I'm no misanthropist though. just because I hate your liberal views doesn't mean I hate humans in general.

4/19/2010 3:09:23 PM