Stop the Disrespect

A man in Missouri has been not only barred from his husband's hospital room, but has been arrested because he dared to assert his rights as the man's partner. No, this didn't happen ten years ago, or even five years ago. It happened two days ago. This is why we need nationwide same-sex marriage laws and LGBT non-discrimination laws. There is too much evidence that, left unfettered, bigotry against LGBT people will thrive. In the absence of clear, uniform laws, any hospital employee can become a petty dictator, imposing their own bigotries on already desperate medical situations. There's just something profoundly nasty about taking advantage of the situation when one partner in a same-sex relationship is incapacitated. How would any of us feel if our so-called loved ones used our illness to warp our lives to match their vision. The level of disrespect that shows is fundamental. Each of us has the right to shape our own lives even when we're not able to enforce it.