Friday, October 30, 2009

Woman Left to Die Alone Because She is Gay

On February 2007 the Langbehn-Pond family was slapped in the face with the reality
that we still have a long way to go in this country to bring equal rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered individuals. It all began when the family decided to come to Miami from Washington State in order to take a vacation cruise. Before the boat left the dock Lisa Pond collapsed and was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Her life partner of 18 years, Janice Langbehn , followed close behind with three of the couple’s four adopted children in tow, with the belief that they would be able to be Lisa’s side, unfortunately they were kept out of her room and Lisa was essentially forced to die alone in a hospital room with no loved ones around. What’s worse, just this year US District Judge Adalberto Jordan ruled in a lawsuit filed by Janice after the incident that Jackson Memorial was at no fault for what happened; a fact that I find beyond belief considering Janice was able to prove that day that she shared custody of children whom she had adopted with Lisa, she held Power of Attorney for Lisa, and she had a Living Will naming her legal guardian including the power to make end-of-life decisions on her behalf. They had taken all the legal steps possible in the event that something should happen to either of them, especially in a state that had harsher views towards same-sex couples, and it still did them no good. In the end, Lisa was already in a vegetative state by the time her family finally got by her side…just in time to turn off ventilators. And four children and their mom were left devastated with unresolved feelings.

How long will it be before we learn to stop identifying people by their sexual orientation, color of their skin, gender, etc? And when will we decide that if two people love each other they should be able to celebrate that love by getting married and have that marriage stand for something no matter where they are. I don’t think that it should be the governments right to interfere with that. We need to learn to respect and have compassion for people who are not like ourselves and let them feel free to be themselves.



Hopefully the new hate crime legislation passed by President Obama will at least take strides to punish individuals who think that they can get away with blatant discrimination and acts of violence or verbal abuse. With the passing of this legislation funding will be increased to allowing the Justice Department the resources to track down and investigate crimes that are committed based on someone’s gender, sexual orientation, or sexual identity. And although the Langbehn-Pond weren’t victims of an overt act of hate, I believe what they experienced was pretty hateful, especially considering a nurse at the hospital even felt the need to mention that they weren’t in a “Gay friendly state,” as she chose to word it. I hope that their family can find peace and closure, even though it looks as if the Justice System isn't going to assist them in obtaining it.

1 comment:

  1. This critical opinion piece caught my attention because in my sociology class last semester we watched a movie where a similar situation occurred. A lesbian couple rushed to the hospital because one of them had a heart attack. The sick woman’s life partner had to wait in the general waiting room because technically she wasn’t family. She was sitting with a woman whose husband had also had a heart attack, and watched as the hospital staff kept the heterosexual woman updated during the entire stressful experience. At one point the heterosexual woman even said to the gay woman “but you don’t understand this is my husband, without him I would have no one.” The purpose of this line wasn’t to make this woman seem homophobic or rude but to show the common mistake that people make which is the assumption that everyone is straight. To her the woman she was waiting for couldn’t possibly be as important as her husband was to her. The gay woman ended up waiting all night and wasn’t even told when her partner, the love of her life, had passed away. I’m sure this is not uncommon and of course more shocking in real life than in a movie. Also, as horrible as it had to have been for the one waiting outside the hospital room, what about the person who is sick? They should have to be alone and sick or dying because their love and commitment isn’t accepted legally? I agree with Corey when she stated that we need to have compassion for all human beings. You don’t have to agree with everyone’s decisions, but you need to learn to accept that love is love no matter who is it between.

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