{"id":13776,"date":"2009-02-18T07:18:47","date_gmt":"2009-02-18T14:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=13776"},"modified":"2014-11-06T07:33:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T14:33:59","slug":"why-gays-need-marriage-to-protect-them-from-bigots-like-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/02\/18\/why-gays-need-marriage-to-protect-them-from-bigots-like-this.html","title":{"rendered":"Why gays need marriage — to protect them from bigots like this"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opponents of gay marriage — and even gay “civil union” — argue that it’s all unnecessary because, well, if they really want to have all those protections and rights that straight married couples get automatically <\/em>and by force of law<\/em>, then they can go to a lawyer and get nearly everything all handled that way. Never mind that such documentation can cost thousands of dollars, that’s just a “minor inconvenience” vs. the Inutterable Horror that Would Be Unleashed upon Society if Gays Got to Be Married.<\/p>\n

Except all that paperwork? Well, it doesn’t appear to actually mean anything to some folks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

As her partner of 17 years slipped into a coma, Janice Langbehn pleaded with doctors and anyone who would listen to let her into the woman’s hospital room.<\/p>\n

Eight anguishing hours passed before Langbehn would be allowed into Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center. By then, she could only say her final farewell as a priest performed the last rites on 39-year-old Lisa Marie Pond.<\/p>\n

Jackson staffers advised Langbehn that she could not see Pond earlier because the hospital’s visitation policy in cases of emergency was limited to immediate family and spouses — not partners. In Florida, same-sex marriages or partnerships are not recognized.<\/p>\n

[…] At Friday’s hearing, Langbehn’s lawyers argued the case should be tried because Langbehn had the proper documentation to make medical decisions on behalf of her partner, and was not consulted about Pond’s condition for hours despite seeking answers every 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

[…] Though Langbehn had documents declaring her Pond’s legal guardian and giving her the medical ”power of attorney,” Jackson officials refused to recognize her or the kids as family.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She had the paper work<\/em>. She had all the docs she was “supposed” to have to allow this. But the hospital decided to ignore it.<\/p>\n

\n

Jackson attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case on grounds that the hospital has no obligation to allow patients’ visitors.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Right. Never mind that straight couple are given such access, and consulted in such decisions all the time. Mere coincidence.<\/p>\n

I hope suit she’s filed goes forward, and she gets a million zillion dollars from it. And I hope every yahoo out there who pretends that all that (expensive) legal paperwork has the same legal force as two teenagers filling out a form in front of a justice of the peace will remember the case of Janice Langbehn and Lisa Marie Pond.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(via Les and Ed Brayton<\/a>)<\/p>\n

<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opponents of gay marriage — and even gay “civil union” — argue that it’s all unnecessary because, well, if they really want to have all those protections and rights that straight married couples get automatically and by force of law, then they can go to a lawyer and get nearly everything all handled that way. … Continue reading “Why gays need marriage — to protect them from bigots like this”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,718],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gay-stuff","category-marriage-equality"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6839,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/12\/21\/proof_of_harm.html","url_meta":{"origin":13776,"position":0},"title":"Proof of harm","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 21-Dec-04 10:47am","format":false,"excerpt":"Gay marriage proponents have asked for proof that gay marriages will somehow harm straight marriages. The proof has finally been discovered: if your community starts marrying gays, the feds will...","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24588,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/16\/in-sickness-and-in-health.html","url_meta":{"origin":13776,"position":1},"title":"In sickness and in health","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 16-Dec-11 6:54am","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been long known that marriage makes for healthier individuals, overall. Life expectancy is higher among married couples than singles, etc. Whether it's a matter of general happiness, or having someone else to care for you, or whatever, it's a pretty clear effect.So it's not at all surprising that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30076,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/04\/forcing-gay-marriage-down-our-throats.html","url_meta":{"origin":13776,"position":2},"title":"Forcing gay marriage down our throats!","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 4-Sep-12 12:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So how does anyone (even Barack Obama) \"force\" gay marriage \"on America\"? \u00a0I mean -- does that mean everyone has to get gay-married? \u00a0I've never quite gotten it. \u00a0I mean, it's not like my marriage to my wife will be invalidated, or only worth half as much, or be otherwise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":77,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/06\/20\/unintended_cons-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":13776,"position":3},"title":"Unintended Consequences","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 20-Jun-03 11:13am","format":false,"excerpt":"Some interesting observations (via some linked posts) on an unintended -- but positive -- aspect of gay marriage: rationalizing custody laws. After all, if gender is removed from the \"roles\"...","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20889,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/04\/29\/unblogged-bits-fri-29-apr-11-0530.html","url_meta":{"origin":13776,"position":4},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Fri. 29-Apr-11 0530)","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 29-Apr-11 5:30am","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Barber: Gay Marriage \"Devalues\" The Institution of Marriage - \"Exactly. If gays are allowed to get married, who knows how many straight people are going to get duped into getting gay-married because it will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marriage Equality"","block_context":{"text":"Marriage Equality","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/marriage-equality"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9082,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/02\/21\/fabulous_news.html","url_meta":{"origin":13776,"position":5},"title":"Fabulous news!","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 21-Feb-06 11:19am","format":false,"excerpt":"Social conservative groups, having evidently already solved the persistent problems of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, comforting the afflicted, and other actually-spelled-out in the Bible Christian...","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46666,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13776\/revisions\/46666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}