Apparently the internet doesn't want me to do my homework.
I'm curled up on the couch working on a rough draft of my Supernatural paper for class (the one about how this series is weirdly progressive toward queer characters for something in the homophobic horror genre), and after making some progress, I give myself an internet break...only to find this glaring back at me:
Sonoma County CA separates elderly gay couple and sells their worldly possessions (Via ontd_political, some literary agents' blogs, and Twitter.)
I hate that this could happen to someone, especially in a country that seems to view itself as modern and progressive.
I hate that there are so many quietly intolerant people around that pro-gay marriage rulings in liberal states get overturned and stories like this don't get adequate coverage in mainstream media.
I hate that, since I'm bisexual, my semi-tolerant older relatives can tell me to date boys because it's "less trouble" and probably be right, at least in terms of political shit like this. I hate that who I'm attracted to is in any way political. I mean christ, isn't human sexuality tricky enough without adding politics into it? And who the fuck decided that sexuality was an "issue" that needed to be dealt with by hospital administrators and government votes?
Anyway, among all the links I found this afternoon, there was one that did give me a little hope.
Obama signs memo on LGBT hospital protections, calls lesbian denied access
I remember the story of Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn from a year or so ago when theirs was the story being passed around the internet with angry comments. It's similarly heartbreaking (woman dies alone because hospital administrators won't recognize her partner of 18 years and adopted kids as family), but this new chapter to it...well:
"He said, 'Hello Janice, this is Barack Obama,' like he was my neighbor," Langbehn said. "He apologized for the loss of Lisa, and how we were treated, and called it outrageous. He talked about what his memo meant. I thanked him. I told him I was very honored and humbled that our family would be known to him. I thanked him on behalf of all families impacted by this change."
Langbehn said the president's getting involved "really hit home for the kids." She said her youngest, David, said it now means that "any other kids like me that have two moms, and one of the moms is dying, they get to see her."
It's a start. It's a small, way overdue start, but it's a start.
Sonoma County CA separates elderly gay couple and sells their worldly possessions (Via ontd_political, some literary agents' blogs, and Twitter.)
I hate that this could happen to someone, especially in a country that seems to view itself as modern and progressive.
I hate that there are so many quietly intolerant people around that pro-gay marriage rulings in liberal states get overturned and stories like this don't get adequate coverage in mainstream media.
I hate that, since I'm bisexual, my semi-tolerant older relatives can tell me to date boys because it's "less trouble" and probably be right, at least in terms of political shit like this. I hate that who I'm attracted to is in any way political. I mean christ, isn't human sexuality tricky enough without adding politics into it? And who the fuck decided that sexuality was an "issue" that needed to be dealt with by hospital administrators and government votes?
Anyway, among all the links I found this afternoon, there was one that did give me a little hope.
Obama signs memo on LGBT hospital protections, calls lesbian denied access
I remember the story of Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn from a year or so ago when theirs was the story being passed around the internet with angry comments. It's similarly heartbreaking (woman dies alone because hospital administrators won't recognize her partner of 18 years and adopted kids as family), but this new chapter to it...well:
"He said, 'Hello Janice, this is Barack Obama,' like he was my neighbor," Langbehn said. "He apologized for the loss of Lisa, and how we were treated, and called it outrageous. He talked about what his memo meant. I thanked him. I told him I was very honored and humbled that our family would be known to him. I thanked him on behalf of all families impacted by this change."
Langbehn said the president's getting involved "really hit home for the kids." She said her youngest, David, said it now means that "any other kids like me that have two moms, and one of the moms is dying, they get to see her."
It's a start. It's a small, way overdue start, but it's a start.