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On Thursday night, I had the privilege of seeing the new Broadway play Next Fall. Next Fall tells the story of Adam, who finds himself at a loss when his boyfriend Luke, who he has been with for four years, is hit by a taxi driver and rushed to the hospital in a coma. Luke’s friends and family quickly descend upon the hospital waiting room. Adam knows that Luke is not out to his parents, and tension quickly rises as Adam desires to see Luke, but also knows that he has no right to visitation.
Ironically enough, when I returned to my hotel room that night, I had several e-mail alerts notifying me that President Obama had ordered hospitals to grant same-sex couples visitation rights. I sat staring at my computer, slightly dumfounded. After attending a play that evening that dealt with issues of same-sex visitation rights, it was exciting and thrilling to see President Obama take action on this important issue.
At the same time, there is still a great amount of work that needs to be done for full gay equality in America. The President promised a repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy in his State of the Union address, stating, “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. It's the right thing to do.” In addition, it is time Congress moved forward to support and pass an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The time for this action is this summer and this fall, not next. With Republicans likely gaining seats in both the Senate and the House this fall, Obama may miss a golden opportunity to pass important legislation that will benefit the LGBT community.
Obama should be applauded for supporting visitation rights for same sex partners in hospitals, however it’s time that he stood up and pushed for legislation that will protect all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals from discrimination in the workforce.
dandaman6007
| 4/21/10 04:49 PM
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