Tweet
The Blend has received this news hot out of the White House Press Office.
The President, in an extremely positive development for LGBT families, has directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that hospitals participating in Medicaid or Medicare will allow patients to designate who may visit them as well as name their primary caretaker and decision maker. Countless tragedies have occurred because of denial of access or ability to decide on the health of a loved one because the hospital would only recognize the rights of a blood relative.
I’m happy to report that my state, North Carolina, recently put this into place on its own, as you’ll see in the memo.
According to the White House, these measures could require substantive changes to the visitation policies of hospitals in at least twenty-five states whose laws do not currently require the extension of visitation rights, and will hold hospitals participating in Medicaid or Medicare to the highest care standards nationwide.
The changes in this official memorandum also benefits widows and widowers without children, members of religious orders, and others whom otherwise may not have been able to receive visits from good friends and loved ones who are not immediate relatives, or select them to make decisions on their behalf in case of incapacitation. Full text of the memo below; the PDF can be downloaded by clicking the image.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release April 15, 2010April 15, 2010
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUBJECT: Respecting the Rights of Hospital Patients to Receive Visitors and to Designate Surrogate Decision Makers for Medical Emergencies
There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean — a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.
Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides — whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay. Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives — unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.
For all of these Americans, the failure to have their wishes respected concerning who may visit them or make medical decisions on their behalf has real consequences. It means that doctors and nurses do not always have the best information about patients’ medications and medical histories and that friends and certain family members are unable to serve as intermediaries to help communicate patients’ needs. It means that a stressful and at times terrifying experience for patients is senselessly compounded by indignity and unfairness. And it means that all too often, people are made to suffer or even to pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall.
Many States have taken steps to try to put an end to these problems. North Carolina recently amended its Patients’ Bill of Rights to give each patient “the right to designate visitors who shall receive the same visitation privileges as the patient’s immediate family members, regardless of whether the visitors are legally related to the patient” — a right that applies in every hospital in the State. Delaware, Nebraska, and Minnesota have adopted similar laws.
My Administration can expand on these important steps to ensure that patients can receive compassionate care and equal treatment during their hospital stays. By this memorandum, I request that you take the following steps:
1. Initiate appropriate rulemaking, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395x and other relevant provisions of law, to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. It should be made clear that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy. You should also provide that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The rulemaking should take into account the need for hospitals to restrict visitation in medically appropriate circumstances as well as the clinical decisions that medical professionals make about a patient’s care or treatment.
2. Ensure that all hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid are in full compliance with regulations, codified at 42 CFR 482.13 and 42 CFR 489.102(a), promulgated to guarantee that all patients’ advance directives, such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, are respected, and that patients’ representatives otherwise have the right to make informed decisions regarding patients’ care. Additionally, I request that you issue new guidelines, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395cc and other relevant provisions of law, and provide technical assistance on how hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid can best comply with the regulations and take any additional appropriate measures to fully enforce the regulations.
3. Provide additional recommendations to me, within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, on actions the Department of Health and Human Services can take to address hospital visitation, medical decisionmaking, or other health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
BARACK OBAMA
My questions (and answers):
- In practice how would this be enforced? If denied access or decisionmaking what are recourses?
- What would be the consequences of non-compliance for the hospital? The obvious — the hospital could lose its Medicare/Medicaid funding.
These details are to be determined by HHS as the process moves forward during the HHS rulemaking process which the memo details. It requires HHS to promulgate those rules, and once that’s concluded, it will be enforceable.
Below the fold, reactions from orgs, and an email from Janice Langbehn.Tammy Baldwin:
Statement of Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin
On President Obama’s signing of a presidential memorandum regarding the visitation rights of hospital patients and the ability to designate surrogate decision makers in the case of emergencies
April 15, 2010“President Obama’s decision to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take steps to ensure that hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to receive visitors and designate others to make decisions about medical care in the case of an emergency is the right one. It follows the lead of many states and makes a strong statement about who we are as a nation and what we value.
No one should face the distress of lying ill or injured in a hospital bed with the loved one you designate barred from your bedside for any other than a compelling medical reason. For too long, such access has been arbitrarily denied many individuals, most especially to gay and lesbian Americans.
President Obama’s action tonight puts us another step closer toward our goal of equal rights for all Americans and I applaud his decision.”
President Obama Issues Memo on LGBT Health Issues; Calls Janice Langbehn from Air Force One
President tells Lambda Legal client that what happened to her was ‘outrageous’ and thanks her for her courage.(New York, NY, April 15, 2010) – Late today Lambda Legal learned that, after signing a memo directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take steps to address hospital visitation and other health care issues affecting LGBT families, President Barack Obama called Lambda Legal client Janice Langbehn to express his sympathies for the tragic loss of her partner Lisa Pond and the treatment she suffered.
“The steps that President Obama outlined tonight are a great leap forward in addressing discrimination affecting LGBT patients and their families,” said Kevin Cathcart, Lambda Legal Executive Director. “These measures are intended to ensure that no family will have to experience what the Langbehn-Pond family did that night at Jackson Memorial Hospital. We are so proud of Janice and her family – she stood up and told her story and it made a difference.”
Last September, a federal district court rejected Lambda Legal’s lawsuit filed against Jackson Memorial Hospital on behalf of Janice Langbehn, ruling that no law required the hospital to allow her and their three children to see her partner. Langbehn and the children were kept apart from Pond by hospital staff for eight hours as Pond slipped into a coma and later died. After that Lambda Legal worked with other LGBT organizations and officials at Jackson Memorial Hospital to change hospital policies on visitation and respecting the wishes of same-sex couples and their families.
The President’s memorandum to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services includes the following: HHS should promulgate rules for hospitals that receive Medicaid or Medicare funds that require them to respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. HHS should also take steps to ensure that such hospitals have adequate policies to respect the legal documents that some patients have designating who can make decisions for them if they are incapacitated. Finally, the President directs HHS to report back to him in 180 days with additional recommendations about actions it can take to address hospital visitation, medical decision-making and other health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families.
“It was very rewarding to hear ‘I’m sorry,’ from the President because that’s what I have wanted to hear from Jackson Memorial since the night Lisa died, ” said Janice Langbehn. “I hope that taking these steps makes sure that no family ever has to experience the nightmare that my family has gone through.”
UPDATE: I received a nice email from Janice Langbehn-Pond this morning.
from Janice K. Langbehn
to pam@phblend.net
date Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 6:30 AM
6:30 AMhi Pam, thank you for covering the story about President Obama calling me and signing the memo yesterday. I know we have long way to go in the LGBT movement but if the memo enlightens one health care facility so that holding someones hand as they are dying is not a GAY right but a HUMAN right - I will take it.
Unfortunately it those last precious hours with Lisa the kids and I will NEVER get back - and at least President Obama was willing to say he was sorry for how we were treated. Jackson Memorial in Miami REFUSES to apologize to the kids and I.
thanks Pam!
www.theLPkids.com or www.theLPfamily.com
HRC:
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. In addition, the memorandum calls on the Secretary to issue new guidance and provide technical assistance to hospitals to help them comply with existing federal regulations that require them to respect individuals’ advanced healthcare directives and other documents establishing who should make healthcare decisions for them when they are unable to do so. Finally, the memorandum directs HHS to conduct a larger study of the barriers LGBT people and their families face in accessing healthcare.
In addition to efforts to address these and other issues facing LGBT people through executive and legislative action, the HRC Foundation has worked for several years to encourage hospitals and other healthcare providers to adopt pro-LGBT policies and practices. Since 2007, the Foundation, in a joint effort with the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, has published the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), a rating of healthcare facilities based on five main policy criteria: patient non-discrimination, visitation, decision making, cultural competency training and employment policies and benefits. In 2009, ten facilities reported LGBT-inclusive policies and practices for every one of the 10 HEI rated criteria. The 2010 HEI will be released in the coming weeks.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force responded to President Obama’s memorandum tonight that instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a rule that would prohibit hospitals from denying visitation rights to same-sex partners, and allow same-sex couples to share medical power of attorney. The new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding.Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director,
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force“With this action, the government is taking a significant step toward recognizing our underlying humanity. Most people in this country already agree that no one should be left alone to die or be denied the right to see their loved ones in the hospital due to cruel and discriminatory bias. This is a profoundly painful experience that loving families all across the country have had to endure for years. An end to this practice can’t come soon enough. We are pleased the administration has taken this step.”
National Stonewall Dems:
National Stonewall Democrats commended President Obama for issuing a memorandum that instructs his Department of Health and Human Services to issue regulations that would require hospitals that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding to allow same-sex couples visitation rights. The memorandum further required hospitals to allow patients to designate their medical power of attorney.Said Michael Mitchell, Executive Director, National Stonewall Democrats:
“When President Obama accepted the Democratic nomination in Denver in 2008, he said that while not everyone may agree on same-sex marriage, ‘surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital.’” With his memorandum, the President took a bold step toward righting the injustice that too many lesbian and gay couples feel in their most vulnerable moments — when someone is injured or ill.
“We are proud of the President’s actions, and look forward to seeing it implemented as soon as possible.”
Freedom to Marry:
Statement from Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, on President Obama’s directive to the Department of Health and Human Services to create new rules providing same-sex couples hospital visitation and medical decision-making rights in any hospital participating in Medicaid or Medicare:“The President’s directive is a small, but welcome step forward. It addresses one of the many ways same-sex couples and their loved ones are made vulnerable and harmed by the denial of marriage and the safety-net of protections marriage brings – in this case, the assurance that a spouse can be by a loved one’s hospital bedside and participate in medical decision-making at a time of great need. The Administration’s step today, though small, will mean a lot to many people in harm’s way. The President’s memo is particularly noteworthy in its acknowledgment of how same-sex couples are uniquely affected by marriage discrimination and are thus in need of this kind of remedial presidential directive. Of course, the real cure is to end exclusion from marriage, pass the federal Respective for Marriage Act, and provide all families the full measure of protections. Piecemeal steps, addressing one protection at a time, will take up a lot more time than either the Administration or American families can afford.”
Third Way President Jonathan Cowan issued the following statement on the President’s announcement of a new HHS rule on hospital visitation:“President Obama’s actions today recognize and reflect one simple common ground principle: human dignity. No matter what your viewpoint on marriage or any other form of relationship recognition for gay and lesbian couples, we should be able to agree that it is inhumane to deny a sick person the right to have their loved ones at their bedside in their time of need, and that every American, gay or straight, should be able to comfort the ones they love as they lay dying. Yet there are so many stories of heartache which illustrate that people are still being denied such access throughout the country, from Washington state to Florida, and everywhere in between. In drafting this memorandum, the Administration consulted with religious hospitals and health workers to be sure that it was crafted in a way that did not threaten religious liberty. Everyone should be able to protect and care for the ones they love when they are hospitalized. We applaud the President’s commitment to protecting the human dignity of every American and following the Golden Rule, treating others as we’d like to be treated.”
78 Comments
This is what I like to seeI’m very happy to see this development. The specifics need to be worked out, but this is incredibly good news for the many people who have been through traumatic experiences because of discriminatory measures preventing LGBT folks from visiting their loved ones in the hospital.
Give with one hand….while taking with another?
Don’t get me wrong, I welcome this. But is this the cushion to the upcoming blow that a DOMA repeal won’t be brought up anytime soon, as in the next 3 years?
I was so unbelievably thrilled when I saw this…Then I realized he’s on his way to a fundraiser, kicking off the campaign fundraising season. Ugh. It’s like we really are ATMs for these people.
this is beyond welcomeIf you live in one of the 25 states without protections, this is beyond welcome — it’s life saving. It’s the kind of move that is sorely needed.
No less heat on DADT or ENDA, but I’m willing to give the Admin a thumbs up for addressing a real-world issue affecting many, many families. It’s not an either or.
Here’s a crumb from the table, be happy about it…But forget about getting any meat from the table.
This isn’t the first time he’s tossed us a crumb like this.
We now have a gentler more kinder DADT. So who cares if DADT is never repealed?
We can now visit our same sex loved ones, so forget about repeal of DOMA.
And they’ve been working on a jobs bill but no one seems to support it, may as well sack ENDA too.
sigh
Re: Here’s a crumb from the tableIt is not a “crumb” for families who have been denied entry even with the right documents.
Why must every forward step be sneered upon, belittled, and received with a “still not enough” reply?
Think for one moment about the families this helps today.
Think of the pain and suffering this will prevent this week.
Shall we throw this back and stamp our feet demanding more – shall we say “NO” because it isn’t everything?
Tell that to the next partner refused the simple dignity of holding hands in the ICU.
I’m willingto give them a thumbs up on this as well. But, I’m still not willing to give them any of my money, my time or my vote until they come through on ENDA and DADT. Period.
———– Don’t Ask, Don’t Give ————
I’m not going to reopen the gAyTM until they follow through on their promises. It was just two short months ago when Obama promised in the State of the Union address to repeal DADT this year. He’s not going to buy me off with hospital visitation guarantees anymore than when he tried to buy me off by “claiming” to provide new LGBT benefits to federal employees that those employees actually already had.
WOW,
so now if I’m ever able to live in the US with my partner, I’ll be able to be by his bed side should something unfortunate happen. How kind of the President.
SUPPORT THE UAFA!!!
as I said…What’s a crumb to some, is a life and death right for others.
I’m not sure why the need to denigrate this particular act by the Admin, which out of the many “crumbs” actually impacts a LOT of LGBTs.
Does it mean:
* Who cares if DADT is never repealed? No.
* We accept no DOMA or ENDA? No.
* No one is angry about the crappy record of this Admin in being candid when asked direct questions about policy? No.
* That criticism of the Admin will be shut down over this? No.
Ye of little faith that the LGBT community doesn’t realize what’s going on here. There’s a lot of accountability to hold and promises to answer to that candidate Obama made. Exactly who do people think is being “bought off” or made complacent by this memorandum?
“Let them eat cake. . .”While we receive stale bread and dirty water, the rest of America still goes plodding along with the full enchilada of rights and benefits.
Anyone who thinks this is a major advancement is drinking the Obama kool aid. While it is better than the u-hual rental benefits for federal employees, it is seriously lacking in any real substance.
Substance is ENDA and DADT. Great substance is DOMA.
I do, however, give Obama credit for including gender identity in this memorandum.
It’s a good somethingAn actual improvement in the lives of many LGBT Americans, just as the hate crimes protections passed into law last year were.
Is it everything we wanted? Of course not, that’s why we continue to fight and push and drag him along.
But this is a good something that we can be proud of and appreciate.
Now, let’s keep him moving on everything else. We’ve got a country to fix in a million ways, let’s keep dragging it forward one step at a time.
It’s not about who is being bought offit’s about will we allow ourselves to be led to the polls (and ATMs) with carrots when Obama has not delivered on his promises to the LGBT community. This memo is only a step better than rhetoric.
We deserve FULL equal rights under the law – this incremental baby step memo does not do much to change the segregationist laws which we are forcedto live under.
Pam’s right, it’s not a crumb!Hospital visitation is a HUGE issue around the country and it’s another nail in the coffin of separation between straights and gays in terms of rights.
Yes, it’s all happening too slowly for me, and I’ve been deeply disillusioned by the Obama administration’s progress on gay rights.
But this is vastly welcome and takes us many steps forward, despite the naysayers.
NoDOMA is HUGE. This is only one of the 1,138 rights denied by DOMA.
I would grant that inclusion in the HCR bill (eliminating the tax burden on spouse provided benefits or eliminating the barriers to providing health insurance to our SOs) would have been very nearly huge. But anything LGBT friendly was stripped out of the HCR bill).
Ask these questions: Does this memo cover ALL hospitals in the US? Is this memo permanent? Can it be rescinded by the next president? Does it help LGBT Americans provide health care to their partners?
Honestly, the denial of visitation has been declining and the forcing of Medicare/Medicals hospitals to allow the gays to visit each other is an easy lift.
I am thoroughly unimpressed.
Yay appeasementAfter the back-and-forth over whether or not the President wants to repeal DADT these past two weeks, this feels like appeasement.
… which isn’t to say it doesn’t make me happy, but I’m still not trusting this guy.
I’m with youI welcome ANY steps forward, no matter how small they may be perceived.
Where the locals and states lead, the feds followSodomy: dozens of states repeal; feds mop up after we roll into the 21st century.
Hate crimes: many locals and states first; feds mopping up the remaining jurisdictions last year.
Hospital visitation: several locals and states first; feds mopping up once DHHS writes rules.
Employment Non-Discrimination: some locals and states again blazing the trail; feds trying to catch up.
Marriage: states leading; feds waiting.
Local work matters and breeds success for the entire nation.
Keep at it where you live.
Great GESTURE….
…but note it only directs they “INITIATE rulemaking.” At the ice-glacier speed his Administration works, hospitalized LGBTs and their loved ones won’t benefit from this for months and months…just like implementing lifting the HIV travel ban took ages even tho it was waiting on his desk when he was sworn in after Bush had already signed it, and those crumbs of benefits for the partners of gay federal employees STILL haven’t been implemented nearly a year after they announced them in the wake of the boycott of the DNC LGBT fundraiser.
Now in the middle of the harshest criticism yet for his failure to keep his promise to PERSONALLY FIGHT for repeal of DADT…and days before he’s going to be met by another huge protest by angry gays when he comes to L.A. Monday to fundraise for Barbara Boxer….comes another serving of pie in the sky. At least this one’s in POTUS-writing unlike his promises re DADT, ENDA, and DOMA.
Per se, I don’t have any problme with someone doing the right thing for the wrong reason. And another benefit is that it’s the second time he’s shown us he knows how to use a pen with lavender ink.
NOW, when he actually shows some courage to use that pen for something that Troglodytic Senators and Generals aren’t squealing about and entire organizations exist to stop like using his legal powers to freeze discharges which he declared months ago weaken national security and which would NOT require months and months of delays like lifting the HIV travel ban, extending minor partner benefits, and simply opening hospital doors and doctors’ ears have and are, call me.
Read the memo.And the disclaimer at the bottom.
. . .so it’s kinda like throwing an invisible bone to your dog.
Glacial is right.Lifting the HIV travel ban took 18 months in fact. Reading the memo, I only see that HHS is to report back within 180 days (that’s six months folks!) but no mention is made of when the new rules would actually take affect. The rule-making process has its own schedule. So, 180 days to report back, some months more to receive comment and suggested changes from the Administration, writing of the proposed rule, publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register, a public comment period, usually 45 days, possibly hearings, re-writing of the rule, then final publication in the Federal Register before the rule becomes effective. A good move on the administration’s part, certainly, but we’re looking at implementation in December 2011 or January 2012.
OOOOPS…
I overlooked the part about this supposedly being because his heart went out to a lesbian who wasn’t allowed to see her partner who died.
But that happened TWO YEARS before he was sworn in. WHAT TOOK HIM 15 MONTHS TO GET AROUND TO THIS? Are they keeping these little boxes of cookies and crumbs to only open when they need to try to calm the natives like those they know they’re going to be faced with at that huge protest that will be waiting for him when he arrives at that fundraiser for Barbara Boxer in L.A. Monday?
Will his Presidential limousine drive by those protesters and all the rainbow flags and then go inside and claim he doesn’t know why the protestors are there as he did in L.A. last year?
Because it IS still not enoughAs Dale8 suggested above, Obama will use this to soft-pedal marriage, since this measure removes one of the strongest arguments for marriage. As Pam and others note, this is a big step, but it is still far short of equality.
Threat of withdrawal of Medicare funding from HOSPITALS…Was the way they forced Hospitals to take Medicare in the first place…Now of course, Medicare pays MORE than INS co's do and HOSPITALS love it.Now it is necessary to see how it will be enforced! Especially by our seeminglyRepublican led DOJ.
Man…After reading most of the comments on here I had to check that I wasn’t on some conservative website bashing the President.
I understand everyone’s anger at the snail’s pace this administration is using to push forward LGBT legislation; but did people really expect any different? Did everyone think that this administration was going to handle DADT, ENDA, Hate Crimes, and overturn DOMA all within the first 90 days?
I’ve always said the best we can hope (and fight) for is one major initiative a year. Hate Crimes was last year. ENDA/DADT this year and next. We really can do DOMA ourselves (through courts) but if you wanted it legislatively overturned you are still talking 2012 or 2013 at the earliest. And hopefully along the way we get other wins like Anti-Bullying, Immigration reform, and yes…Visitation Rights.
This doesn’t prevent me from fighting for all of this right now, but I’d be delusional to expect it all right away. I can appreciate small advances while the bigger ones are still in the works.
Earth to Will & others with Kool Aid hangovers…
Between Obama’s election in November and being sworn in on January 20, various gay groups met with his transition team [consisting of both gays and nongays] and presented detailed explanations of what LGBT related issues needed worked on and exactly HOW they could be done. They included NOT keeping DADT repeal opponent Gates on…ignored, of course. And he’d promised a year before that he would start PERSONALLY fighting for repeal THE DAY HE TOOK OFFICE.
And we’re still waiting.
RE your “one a year” thingy from last year…hate crimes…there is NO evidence that Obama kept his promise to personally fight for it. The bill, in one form or another, had been around for since 1999 so don’t go building any statues to St. Obama.
As today’s announcement is NOTHING more than an order to START the process of creating hospitalization-related policies, this doesn’t meet your willfully diminished expectations either. And based on what we know so far, your belief that DADT repeal will still happen this year OR next IS delusional.
Great news!Really happy to see this tonight. It’s obviously not progress on DOMA, ENDA, or one of any number of bigger issues, but it’s something; it’ll make a substantive difference for people once it’s actually in place. It doesn’t mean that I’ll push any less hard on those other objectives, or that I’m blindly trusting the potential motives behind this move, but this is good news. I’m celebrating it.
For all those regardless of marital status,this is great. I’m guessing, Nancy Polikoff would approve: http://www.blogger.com/profile…
Actually before 1999But it was 199 after the Shepard murder that it started to finally be noticed. The FBI had been ordered to track hate crime statistics including those based on sexual orientation since the 1989 Hate Crime Statistics Act.
Exactly what I expected from you Michael….Your assessment that nothing has been done is wrong. Steps have been made although slowly on DADT. He did not promise when the appeal would happen and if you think that he was going to get rid of Gates I’d like some of that stuff you are smoking. I don’t care how Hate Crimes got passed, all I care about is that it did. What he did or didn’t do behind the scenes is no concern of mine.
But you did say it correctly… “what we know so far” is exactly it. You are guessing. Your assessment that I am delusional is a guess because you do not know what is actually happening or what will happen between now and next year. It is only a guess. You might be right but you will not be able to call me delusional until the end of next year. At which point someone owes someone else a drink.
Typical ObamaRahmbotic pivot…
First, you give him credit for hate crimes, then, when challenge, you simply say how it happened doesn’t matter.
And unless you know things not in evidence, NO steps have been taken by ObamaRahm that will lead to repeal. In case you have been in a coma since Feb. 1st, the OPPOSITE has occured. They executed a plan to convince Congress NOT to even consider a vote on repeal until December 1st… nearly two months after the only mechanism everyone agrees is the only one to get it repealed, the Defense Authorization bill, will have been signed and sealed…and one month after the Dems will have lost so many seats that any chances of repeal thereafter are gone.
That’s not just ME saying it, but every gay group in the land.
Yes, Obama could wake up tomorrow, discover that his testicles have finally descended, kick homophobo Rahmbo to the curb, order an immediate discharge freeze, and personally call every Dem fence sitter into the Oval Office and say, “You will repeal this by July 1st or I will support NOTHING else you’re working on related to your state/district. If you’re up for reelection, and fail to have passed repeal, I will not campaign for you.
If YOU think that’s possible then it’s you who needs to put down the bong and step away from the ObamaRahm clown car.
YawnEverytime we get uppity enough, we get another Friday memo covering some minor issue, instead of real action on DADT and DOMA. Quick, send the Democrats some money so they’ll keep liking us a little.
While this is good news,I’ll save the celebration for when the rules are actually implemented. This is a directive to create rules, but no rules have actually been created yet.
(I’m also a bit curious if a “request” by the president is the same as an order. That is, are they required to actually implement this or is this a suggestion?)
It’d be nice to know which specific hospitals would fall outside of the scope of this memorandum (if implemented).
Do you read posts…Or just start name calling when someone doesn’t agree, or to use your term, drink the Kool-Aid that your serving. I did not give anyone credit for Hate Crimes. You see that it the difference between you and me. If DADT, ENDA, or DOMA are passed in the next few years I will not give “credit” to Obama. The credit belongs to everyone who has worked over the decades to get these things passed. Obama is not a savior, he is a piece of a very large puzzle.
I get it that you are still pissed off that Clinton did not win the election, but your descent into playground name calling and characterizations that everyone who does not agree with your views must be stupid, contributes nothing to the conversation.
The Dems are going to have just as much trouble now passing any of these laws as they are going to have after the general election. Needing 1 or 6 to overcome the filibuster doesn’t make much difference in this environment especially with the likely non-support of the blue dogs on these issues.
But O I’m stupid so forget everything I said. I don’t have a brain so no one should pay me any attention.
RE: Enforcement
It’s a memorandum, not an Executive Order. Unless renewed by the incumbent, it expires when he leaves office. Just about the time the regulation would be promulgated. So it will probably be put on hold until after the presidential election.
Maybe I’m being too cynical….
Do YOU read what YOU write?
You began with
Ipso facto, there’s no substance to our criticism…it’s not “the President”…it’s we haters who oppose him just to oppose him.
Then YOU start talking about what it was reasonable or not to expect from THIS administration, which, of course, IS the subject of the thread, and then you start making excuses for THIS administration. And then you deny you did.
But, of course, your ultimate defense is to dismiss criticism as being motivated by Hillaryitis.
But that’s consistent with what the ObamaRahmbots are doing across all the blogs…unearthing the excuses and “change the topic,” “shoot the messenger” gimmicks that were moldly months ago which all revolve around the same Messianic myths:
Obama has done nothing wrong and everything right. His plate has been too full to do anything else. We must be patient. Sure, not last year, not last month, but maybe next month, maybe next year. It’s not that he’s doing nothing, it’s that we simply don’t know about them, and he loves us soooo much. He’s better than Bill Clinton. He’s better than Bush, McShame, Palin. He’s the most pro gay President in the History of the World AND its future, too. He heals the sick and makes the little gay boys talk out of their heads. Hope! Change! Yes, We Can! Yes, We Can! Yes, We Can!
My problem is I’m an athiest. I don’t believe in any god, least of all Our Lord & Savior Obama Christ.
This is big.It’s huge. It’s a very good thing. But it’s a very good thing that would be superfluous if the President had kept his promises. It is literally the very least he can do and still try to claim that he is any kind of ally of our community.
That yawn is contagious.I couldn’t agree more.
not quitefor this to be reversed would take another order, followed by a public comment period and then implementation. so yes is can probably be reversed, but it will not expire automatically and reversal would require deliberate presidential action in full view of the public. i’m sure this change won’t be made gladly or adhered to in some places, but this is a smart way to help acclimate people to lgbt families in a way that will be difficult to backpeddal on. it’s a smart move.
Same here.Any policy that can be imposed by a presidential memorandum can be reversed by a presidential memorandum. We can probably take it as permanent, assuming it actually gets implemented, because only the very most strident homophobes oppose hospital visitation rights. Popular support is widespread and overwhelming, so there’s no political risk involved.
If a policy like this had been in place when Lisa Pond had her aneurysm, Janice Langbehn would have been allowed to see her — at least, after she had her advance directive faxed to Florida. This is not equality. It’s not anything like equality. But if you ever need it, it’s a very big deal.
No Michael…You don’t read… I said the sentence you gave and then the exact next sentence was…
Meaning, I get the anger and I expect it. Some of the anger is warranted but as I said, why did anyone expect anything different?
I made no excuses for anyone, I just stated that my expectations were for one major initiative a year. That was MY expectation. It has nothing to do with the Administration’s timeline and you can go back to my comments last year hearing me say the same thing. My comments were about expectations not excuses. Everyone seems to have the expectation that everything should have been done last year and MY expectations were different; but yet you immediately accuse me of making excuses for the Administration.
And my Hillary comment has to do with the discussions you and I had during the primaries (and once again you can go back through the history to find them). I don’t make generalizations about people who oppose or have a different viewpoint than me, as you do.
This conversation is over before Pam kicks me out; besides once again nothing substantive is being added.
Finally. Action.More still needs to be done obviously, but this is great news.
So, I’ll only need three documents when traveling in the U.S.1. A copy of my California marriage license to prove that I’m legally married in six* states and District of Columbia.
2. A copy of my California Registered Domestic Partnership for the eight other states that recognize DP’s and Civil Unions.
3. A copy of Advance Health Care Directive for the remaining 36 states, after HHS regulations become effective in 2011 or 2012.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY where I’m taken at my word, like opposite sex couples, whether married or not and not required to produce proof of their relationship, MAYBE SOME DAY!
*One of the 18,000 married in California before November 5, 2008. (CA, CT, IA, MA, NH, VT)
ExactlyThe goal is to placate the gays – keep us neatly contained in a pen for as long as possible.
One step forward, two (or four or six) steps backward has always been the Obama approach to LGBT issues.This is a good step and we’d welcome were it not for the fact that it’s a clear signal that he’s going to screw us on other issues, sans lube. He always does. It’s just a question of time.
He never repudiated or apologized for his about face on same sex marriage. He used to support it but soon discovered the power of the cult inspired bigot vote and quietly slinked over to the christer bigot camp.
He never repudiated or apologized for being associated with the blatant bigotry of ex-gay pentecostal swine Donnie McClurkin, mega-pig Rick Warren, DNC chair Tim Kaine or ordained pentecostal bigots Leah Daughtry at the DNC or Joshua Dubois who led Obama’s intense efforts to swipe bigot votes from the GOP and was rewarded with the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
He never repudiated or apologized for his brazen sabotage of the defense of same sex marriage in California, Florida and Arizona. In his ‘debate’ with McCain at Rick Warrens Orange County bigotfest Obama inflamed and galvanized bigots with his rabble-rousing comment ‘Gawd’s in the mix’. He repeated his sick remarks on MTV. The bigot cults gleefully used his comments to whip us.
The California Field poll, which showed us winning late in the fight suddenly reversed. Obama went out of his way to pander to bigots like Rick Warrens southern baptist cultists and followers of the child raping roman cult and descendents of Brigham Young, organizer of the massacre at Mountain Meadows.
He never repudiated or apologized for his defense of Bill Clinton’s legacy of bigotry, DADT and DOMA, and for the use of vile slanders by his DoJ in their court briefs. Who remembers the name of senior DoJ officials fired because they permitted bigots to lie about us?
The only questions now are when will he backtrack and what the issues will be. What we can be sure of is that he’ll put that damn bus of his reverse and back over us.
With Democrats like the Clintons, Biden, Obama, Reid and Pelosi who needs Republicans?
It’s good but it’s absolutely NOT huge. It is, however better than another helping of easter eggs.
an email from Janice Langbehn to the Blend
Probably most hospitalsHow many hospitals do you think don’t take any money from Medicare or Medicaid? I doubt it’s more than a small %, but perhaps some Blender knows differently.
well said!
If you are or your partner/spouse has been hospitalized––this means a lot. We always bring our medical power of attorney forms and patient advocate forms and have them entered in our folder at check-in, even when it’s a hospital that should have them on file already. We also introduce the other as “my partner” and any surgeon we’ve worked with has seen both of us together more than once, and every nurse gets introduced, too to make things crystal clear.
We’ve only had a handful of hospital “trips,” but two have been for major surgery, and knowing what’s happened to some GLBT people around the country, I am very happy this memorandum has been issued. I have been very vocal here, elsewhere, to the party, to the White House, to my Senators about Obama not doing enough, and this isn’t enough I agree, but I can be happy with it without kick-starting my frustration at slow progress on our rights.
The one thing that concerns me is this:
Does that mean that someone denied access in spite of whatever HHS works out has no legal recourse? Would lawyers on The Blend care to comment?
One big plus – news coverageI am right in the middle of the emotions being discussed on this thread – happy at the announcement, but still planning on denying the Dems any $$ until I see a real change in attitude towards LGBT equality. ‘
However, what I am loving is the MSM coverage of this – so far no anti-gay talking head explaining how this will destroy society (actually I think including the part about widows and widowers was genius, because it really blunts that kind of criticism). That is what I see as the real benefit. Unlike the administration’s defenses of DOMA and DADT, which treat LGBTs as second-class citizens, this is a real recognition of our lives – AND it gets the Langbehn/Pond story out there for all to see.
As for the rulemaking, yes it is slow. In fact, the HIV travel ban rule was one of the fastest I’ve seen. Remember when HIPAA was implemented (ensuring privacy and security of medical information)? The law was actually passed in 1996, but the rules were not promulgated until 2001, with implementation in 2003.
I work in healthcare, and I think the likely result of this will be changes in hospital policies, at least in the major cities, well before the rule is in place.
DO WE HAVE TO FIGHT THE GOVERNMENTfor each and every of the 1138 rights due to us married folk?
How Many are Run by the papists and other religious folks?I would avoid them at all costs.
We can congratulatePresident Obama on this totally awesome move on the part of his Administration and still be critical of his slow pace on gay rights and his overall willingness to keep our issues in the closet as much as possible.
It’s not an either/or thing.
Pam astutely points outthese visitation rights are already a given in states that have marriage equality or “everything but marriage” domestic partnerships and civil unions. So I don’t expect GLBT couples in those states to be all that enthusiastic about this,
For those couples in flyover territory and in the South this is important. A crumb, yes.
Low hanging fruit? Most definitely.
But they never even had this…
which hospitalsfrom the Washington Post:
Obama has backed down every single time the right-wing, particularly the religious right-wing, has balked at one of his proposals. Why assume he won’t do the same this time? At best, any rights granted us will be severely watered down, probably by a “freedom on conscience” type provision for Catholic and other religion-affiliated hospitals.
On EWTN this morning, a spokesman for the Catholic hospitals association (I forget precisely what it’s called–only caught the tail end of the segment) was already screaming about this. It looks like Bart Stupak will have one more mission before he leaves congress.
Good golly!Obama, talking out both sides of his mouth? Gee willikers, that‘s never happened before!
One plusWithout getting into the merits of this or the discussion of what’s enough or pace of progress, it is great that gay and lesbian people were explicitly mentioned as part of why this was issued.
All too often things that benefit us are written in ways that exclude mention of us or are broadly useful to people and we sort of slide in under the radar. It is a good thing that he specifically mentioned us and our needs in this.
I think it is also a great tactical thing to include members of religious orders, and widows and widowers, because that may help defuse some of the opposition. Not much, but some.
Exactly.Yes, we’ll keep putting pressure at the top, but it’s talking to people today, in our own communities, as individuals, that will continue to build the support for change. Our own stories and our own words are our most powerful tools.
DOMAI think that language is in there to prevent an immediate and unsuccessful clash with DOMA. This is federally issued. If it were interpreted as creating a federal right for same-sex couples based on that relationship it could be seen as conflicting directly with DOMA. I suspect that was carefully considered.
I don’t know if this means that the government is sending the signal that hospitals don’t need to bother complying, or just that any issues (including legal) with enforcement can only be based on noncompliance with the directive, not a violation of a right or benefit.
Here in my stateMost of the hospitals are run by religious organizations or they have some religious ties.
When I went to the ER last week, I had to weigh supporting a religion vs going to the best hospital.
So…I went to the religious hospital.
Pretty much.I shrank a copy of my marriage certificate and keep it in my wallet. You need a magnifying glass to read it, but it’s there. In addition, my ID notes that my husband holds my Durable Power of Atty for Health care so that in the event that I can’t speak for myself, they can hear it from my wallet as well as from him.
My interpretationThat “disclaimer” only applies to the memorandum itself, in that it directs a Cabinet official to start the process. Meaning the memo itself isn’t enforceable against a hospital.
But the resulting rule changes promulgated by HHS would be enforceable, and the remedy available would be according to whatever is laid out in the rule (which we of course have yet to see).
My $.02 anyway.
These rules will take months and months to be released…
But we’re probably just seconds away from the revelation that ObamaRahm will allow exceptions for Catholic or other religiofascist-run hospitals.
All straight people have to do is SAY, “I’m his husband/wife” and they automatically can see their partners, make medical decisions for them, ad infinitum as hospital personnel immediately annoint them as hallowed symbols of The Great Heternormative Family.
Even in secular hospitals, medical emergencies are medical EMERGENCIES and what is a gay partner going to do when some ignorant or religiofascist nurse or doctor says, “No you can’t see them or override what his/her homohating Mother wants even if you have in your possesion or go home and get that piece of paper!” …. call the Health & Human Services police? Call HRC’s sheriff’s department?
Just in time for midterm fundraisingAnd that’s all I have to say about that.
Not mutually exclusive.A few ounces of water is life or death to a person in a situation of dehydration, but when that’s all that’s been provided it has done far too little overall. It’s still a crumb to the feast on the table restricted to those who aren’t TBLG.
This isn’t a proposed initiative
Basically because he won’t have too.The mandate is through the Government and anyone receiving medicare or medical moneys. But he was also smart enough to open this little freedom up for everyone. So not only does it apply to the glbt community but to anyone who would just prefer someone other than a family member or blood relative having sway over their medical choices and access to them. To repeal it for the lgbt community is to repeal it for a lot of other people as well. The only catch is that another president can mandate it away. But I doubt by then anyone will want to let go of this real life ,death, and comfort choice.
LOL face it, its huge!But it is also very unexpected and does not make up for promises he is breaking now. BUT IT IS HUGE!
I think people are missing a very big point about this mandateIt goes further than marriage equality. It is bigger than Civil unions. This covers literally everyone. ANY relationship from Married to recent friends. This mandate is big not just because it focuses on the LGBT community but because it offers everyone who can speak for themselves or prepare in anyway the right to have who they want in their lives at their most vulnerable moment.
Sad thing is I don’t think people get how much of this is less an advancement in LGBT rights as much as it is an advancement in human rights and medical rights, which in this case is a good thing. This is a thoughtful plan that like a rising tide lifts all boats. People forget that one of the reasons Civil Unions is so popular is because in many states it doesn’t just cover LGBT couples it covers Senior citizens who can be united in a way that doesn’t force them to loose Social Security support by getting married. In this same way though it is about us it is not just about us. Its about everyone dealing with this issue of knowing they want by their side at their most vulnerable and life threatening moments. I can this not be big in so many ways??
Right, right….
…until HE mandates it away for any LGBT person unlucky enough to be in a Catholic or other religiofascist-run hospital because it is only a matter of time before we’re told they are exempted because “God is in the mix.”
He is PROPOSING to have HHS draft these regs. They aren’t real yet, and may never be, in the form we’d like to see them take.
Like most government regulations, they will take an achingly long time to develop (the administrative, enforcement and legal aspects of this could take years to formulate, in and of themselves), and then will be subject to a “review period” where the various interested parties get to “comment,” i.e. demand changes that soften them. As I and several others have pointed out, the religiously affiliated hospitals, and the churches and corporations that run them, will be clamoring for faith-based exemptions. And if Obama refuses to grant them (fat chance, there), congress will.
If Obama was even minimally serious about this, he’d at the very least issue an executive order, not just send a memorandum to HHS. And if he was really serious, he’d be pushing actively for legislation. You know, like ENDA.
Did we expect any different?To the extent that we did, it’s because Obama himself promised it would be different. Fierce advocate, remember? Are you under the impression that fierce is a synonym for snail’s pace?
If you’re saying that people were chumps to believe Obama’s promise…I agree.
Yes, DOMA is huge, and if it was repealed right now it would have an enormous impact…on couples who live in Mass, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa and DC., AND chose to marry.
This memo? This is huge for everyone else.
Yes…We agree that anyone who considered getting ENDA, DADT, Hate Crimes, and repeal of DOMA in the first year of this administration are chumps. You are not a chump if after four years we do not get all of these (except maybe DOMA) because it should be expected. Then any and all criticisms, blasting, and downright ugliness toward the president is warranted and, as far as I’m concerned, encouraged.
That doesn’t mean that I think we should shut up during those four years. On the contrary, we should be shouting from the rooftops and keep pressure on the President AND Congress AND the States. This is a part of the process. It just seems like some people are throwing their hands up in the air, calling this President useless and a waste of time, and ready to replace anyone and everyone in the process that they can. I’m just not in that camp yet because I think their is still progress to be made with what is currently in place. That’s my opinion. Obviously other fervently disagree.
As far as the fierce advocate passage. I never made much out of it to start with. Maybe that’s the reason my expectations are what they are. I don’t know what “fierce” means when you have as large of a process and as many people in play to get legislation passed. He wasn’t fierce on healthcare but it got passed and healthcare was what he said was his most important initiative. If he was more
“fierce” would it had happened sooner and better (public option)? Maybe, I don’t know, but it got passed and that’s the same thing I’m looking for with these LGBT initiatives. And just like healthcare I will not be saying he deserves all the credit (Kennedy anyone?) in passing something that took decades to get passed. He is just part of a larger process.
CHUMPS??Do you post under the name “Huntington” on JoeMyGod…
Because calling people “chumps” and protesting, “As far as the fierce advocate passage. I never made much out of it to start with” is the same kind of arrogant bullshit that he’s drooled rivers of.
For those of us “chumps” who aren’t PSYCHICS, all we can go on when deciding whom to vote for is what they say they will do. OF COURSE, all politicians promise more than they realize they can deliver, but in Obama’s case, it’s not just and issue of timing and what he hasn’t done he promised to do but also what he’s done against us.
And before you drag out your ping pong paddle yet again, yes, he never promised not to send his staff into court SEVEN times to defend DADT in the same homophobic terms used to pass it.
Yes, he never promised not to send his staff into court twice, so far, to defend DOMA in the same homophobic terms used to pass it.
He never promised he wouldn’t paint us as damned by God as he implied when he reinforced Catholic homophobia by saying to their press:
But when he promised:
and that amounted to nothing more than posing for a quick photo with Judy Shepard, and promised to
and I’ve seen no evidence he’s done a goddamn thing, and promised to
and then refuses to use his Congressionally mandated power to freeze discharges AND conspires with Gates to slow walk repeal to death, well, Sparky, only chumps would continue to be patient, and only people not paying attention to what every authority on Congress is saying about the do repeal in the pending defense authorization or die could bleat something about the possibility that it could be repealed in the next two years.
All your claims to personal impatience aside, everything you write while the Rome of LGBT rights burns translates as WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LEAVE BARACK ALONE?!
You are amazing…I didn’t bring up the chump word…QScribe did. And I clarified my position. And I guess you are saying that you are a chump based on my definition because you expected Obama to be our Savior and get everything we wanted him to do within the first 90 days of his Admin when you should have known better. Nobody could have done that. And he can’t do anything by himself. Its called Presidential Republic.
But at least this time you brought up something substantive. The DOJ issues. Once again we will be on different sides of this because we have different thinking. I care more about the Judges he puts in place. Then, I actually want him to let the DOJ do whatever they want on these. I hope the DOJ gives the cases to the most homophobic conservative a**hole that they can find in their department. The more outrageous the claims the more likely a judge (hopefully one appointed by a Democrat) will overturn existing law regardless of whether we can get it overturned legislatively. As we have discussed before, I didn’t like Bush not enforcing or following law and I will not be hypocritical here and want Obama to do the same (which in the long run wouldn’t work anyway). So if you got to do it go full force with the crap that the right-wing spews so that you are more likely to get an overturn. In other words look like you are doing a full-faith effort while knowing you are doing it badly.
On the other point, there is no excuse for the Catholic comments, Donny McClurkin, and Saddleback. I agree with you it was pathetic, insensitive, demeaning political bullsh*t. That’s all I can say about that.
That isn’t what I said, and you know it.People were fools to believe Obama’s patter, and they were fools to believe in the man himself. All the warning signs were there during the campaign, and large numbers of people chose to ignore them and his words, which were very clear, and instead let themselves be taken in by his hope/change baloney. But a very good percentage of the progressive community is onto him now. He’s been disastrous for us, disastrous for the environment, problematic (at best) for women, a near-total waste on health care… Maybe someday you’ll wake up, too. Now that would be real change. It might even be a sign of hope.