Comments on: Excellent Friday News: Obama Orders Hospitals to Observe Same-sex Visitation Rights

By: Feminism to a neurotic extreme » Blog Archive » Today in Getting Credit for Doing Nothing

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:44:50 +0000

[...] getting some good press (among the blogosphere) for his latest executive order that allows queer families visitation in hospitals. [...]

By: Ms. M

Ms. M — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:12:10 +0000

In an odd juxtaposition, my brother was in the hospital the day this was signed, with his partner, recovering from donating a kidney to said partner’s mother. Luckily he was at a hospital that treated him and his partner and family equally to a married couple, but if they had not been, that would have been pretty shitty. So this hit pretty close to home for me.

By: Ocean_breeze

Ocean_breeze — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:22:04 +0000

I had never thought of this and how it affects our gay community. This is terrible! So if your dying and your life partner isn’t directly related your shit out of luck?!?

The right to hold and comfort someone who is ill/scared/sick/dying isn’t just for blood relations! It’s a basic human right!

By: baraqiel

baraqiel — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:24:54 +0000

@PhD – Some people don’t understand that this applies to situations other than a gay couple (why, I don’t know, because Obama explicitly mentioned such situations). And so, I’ve seen multiple people say stuff like, “Well, I don’t think this is fair because then why can’t my girlfriend come visit me in the hospital?” The best was an MRA who claimed that this means Obama cares more about gay people than about fathers because bio-parents without parental rights can’t visit their offspring in the hospital without the permission of the custodial parent/legal guardian of the kid.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:43:25 +0000

There are no small steps when it comes to LGBT rights, imho. Every time we make progress, the ripple effects sweep us to the next step, and the next one…and one day, we’ll be there.

By: PhDork

PhDork — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:28:04 +0000

As important as this is for queer couples, I love that the memorandum realizes that there are, in effect, many kinds of families, that aren’t necessarily linked by marriage or blood, and that those families are no less legitimate.

It’s absurd to me that this hasn’t been SOP. My imaginary Great-Aunt Tilly could visit me, willy-nilly, but Pilgrim couldn’t, even if I said “yes, please, HER”? Dumb.

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:08:13 +0000

Agreed, Newt. This is one of the burdens on gay couples that I think is most painful and inhumane.

Now Obama just needs to get his act together on gay marriage.

By: NefariousNewt

NefariousNewt — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:30:37 +0000

This is the President I voted for.