Gay Discrimination Case Tossed in Florida

A federal court in Miami has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Washington state lesbian who was not allowed to visit her dying partner at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“The hospital took the position that we thought was pretty extreme — that it has no duty, no legal obligation, to allow visitors [of any sort] in the hospital. The court agreed,” said Beth Littrell, a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, a national gay-rights group representing Janice Langbehn, whose partner of 17 years died at Jackson in 2007.

Langbehn’s partner, Lisa Pond, suffered a fatal brain aneurysm on Feb. 18, 2007, shortly before they were to sail with their three children on a Caribbean cruise for gay families.

At Jackson, Langbehn said, a social worker would not let her visit Pond because Florida is “an anti-gay state.” Pond, 39, died the next day.

From the beginning, Jackson said Langbehn was not discriminated against and defended social worker Garnett Frederick, who denied making the comment.

Langbehn, with the help of Lambda Legal, sued the hospital. The case, which received publicity around the country, was thrown out Tuesday.

“We’re obviously devastated and disappointed in this decision,” Littrell said. “It highlights how vulnerable same-sex couples and their families are.”

Jackson on Tuesday again denied that gay patients and their families are treated differently.

You can read more of this story by Steve Rothaus at: MiamiHearald.com!

Anti-Gay Referendum Wins Spot on Washington’s Nov. Ballot

A referendum on an expansion of Washington’s domestic partnership law for gay couples has qualified for the November ballot, election officials said Monday.

The “everything but marriage” measure broadens recognition of domestic partnerships by granting gay and lesbian couples all the remaining state-provided benefits presently extended only to married heterosexual couples.

After a month of counting petition signatures, the secretary of state’s office said that Referendum 71 had 121,486 valid signatures — nearly a thousand more than needed to advance to the general election.

Read more at: Targana!

Nevada Maintains Separate But Equal

Today was the first day that unmarried Nevada couples, both gay and straight were able to begin registering as domestic partners for a new law that will take effect in October.

Couples who apply may receive their domestic partner certificates as early as October 1st of this year, the same day the new state law goes into effect extending similar rights to couples who live together to those who are legally married.

Applications are being accepted at secretary of state offices, and must be accompanied by a $50 registration fee, and require notarization.

The domestic partners law creates a contract that allows qualifying couples to receive many of the same rights, protections, benefits, responsibilities, obligations and duties that married couples receives, but does not require employers to offer health and other benefits to “partners”.

Many members of Nevada’s LGBT community are excited about the law, as they view it being a step in the right direction, however, critics consider the move to be an attempt to maintain couples as separate but equal.

For some, it’s like a constellation prize, and still represents gay and lesbian couples as second class citizens, as the law will not provide all of the same benefits as marriage, nor will the unions be called marriage.

Signature Error Rate Too High for Anti-Gay Referendum

The secretary of state’s office Friday morning released updated results of the signature check of Referendum 71, the attempt to overturn Washington’s new “everything but marriage” same-sex domestic partner law.

The numbers for Thursday’s count showed 6,483 checked and 935 rejected, for a cumulative daily error rate of 14.42 percent, said secretary of state spokesman Dave Ammons.

Thursday was the first day the Elections Division used two shifts of checkers. The verification process could be completed in another week to 10 days, Ammons estimates.

Read the rest at: Seattle PI

Wisconsin’s Domestic Partner Registry has Opened

Lesbian and gay couples lined up outside of county clerk’s offices in Wisconsin hours before the opened earlier today for the opportunity to sign up for the state’s domestic partnership registry.

On June 29th, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle signed the bill into law which made Wisconsin the first Midwestern state to enact protections for gay couples through the legislative process.

The provisions now granted to same-sex domestic partners were added onto a spending plan. The provisions grant same-sex couples some of the same legal protections as married spouses including hospital visitation, inheritance, and medical leave rights.

The registry however has caused a great stir of disapproval from the conservative and religious right.

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