Gays, lesbians get boost

By Kathi Wolfe

McClatchy-Tribune

President Obama deserves praise for standing up for gay and lesbian Americans.

On April 15, he issued a memorandum requiring hospitals that are receiving federal Medicare or Medicaid funds to grant same-sex partners visitation and health care decision-making rights.

“There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital,” Obama wrote in the memo.

As a lesbian, I knew in my gut what he meant.

Desperate need

For any human being, there are few times more critical in our lives than when we, or those who we love, are ill, incapacitated or dying in a hospital. During these moments, we desperately need to be with our partners.

Yet, those of us in same-sex relationships haven’t been able to count on hospitals granting us this basic right. Sometimes, we’ve been permitted to see our loved ones. But, often we’ve been barred from visiting the people we love most in the world when they most need us.

The Department of Health and Human Services has six months to develop rules so that hospitals can implement Obama’s memo. It will take much longer than that for gays and lesbians to achieve full equality in our society.

Kathi Wolfe is a writer for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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