Denying these rights of any loving couple is monstrous. Florida is a backward state. Remember Anita Bryant? Well, her ilk are alive and well in the sunshine state. It is disturbing when religious groups get to dictate their beliefs on others. What about the beliefs or non-beliefs of other citizens??? It is time to legalize same sex marriage throughout the whole country.

Don't go to Florida on vacation.

In Florida, same-sex marriages or partnerships are not recognized, doesn't mean you can't behave like a human being and show some decency every now and then, or is that against the law down there? I often think what a nice planet Earth would be without homo sapiens.

Have a heart Florida!

Yes. BOYCOTT FLORIDA. If you're gay, boycott it for your own health.
If you are not, or if you have gay friends or relatives, boycott it in solidarity, UNTIL THEY FINALLY CHANGE THEIR LAWS.

It seems that the Christian Talibans' opinions trump a legal document. That is very serious.

My condolences to Ms. Langbehn, with profound sympathy for her and all of those similarly situated who run afoul of the persistent onerous enforcement of an obsolete social taboo in law and process.

It's a hard road for gay folk in any state occupied by conservative fundamentalist Christians (and other fundamentalist sects) who sincerely believe that the Creator of the Universe has declared homosexuality sinful and taboo, and thus cannot in good conscience support any policy promoting tolerance or social and moral parity between the sinners and the upright & godly.

And who are convinced deep down that homosexuality truly is a deviation and aberration-- at best a disgusting habit, like conspicuous public nose-picking and sequellae unfit to be mentioned. It's been around since the dawn of time, but that doesn't count for much because those squeamish about homosexual behavior yoke homosexuality to other primitive aberrations, e.g. bestiality, fetishism, promiscuity... as ex-Senator Santorum demonstrated, equating homosexuality with primitive or frankly depraved sexual behavior is their first line of defense.

Anyhoo, this prejudice is so deep-seated that to them it feels like an instinct, which is how it has been accepted traditionally.

If one has been programmed to believe, or has arrived at the belief by earnest ratiocination that the Authority of Authorities, the Creator of the Universe HIMSELF (let's not kid each other; fundamentalist and orthodox believers KNOW that God is a Guy) has given homosexuality a thumbs-down, mere mortals who aver otherwise must perforce be misguided or evil.

At the risk of stirring up petty bickering and dispute over who is or is not legitimately oppressed and victimized, and to what degree-- as if such qualities can be ranked like athletic performance-- conservative local governments supported by a sufficient bloc of conservative constituents resist the dissolution of traditional social and legal boundaries that underpin the class structure bringing order to local civic life.

The rearguard movement revealed in Ms. Langbehn's horror story recapitulates the politics of the civil rights era, when race relations were in contention instead of sexual orientation, identity, and practice. It's the same contest between the Goliath of the Establishment and In-Group pitted against the desperate David of an abused and oppressed lower-class minority.

The salt of the earth and their well-salted political demagogues-- whoops, I meant to write "leaders"-- are fighting an Armageddon to, as always, Preserve a Way of Life Against The Forces of Death's Realm.

"We Shall Overcome" never seems to go out of fashion; the singers change out of all recognition, but the song remains the same!

· Yr Obd't Servant

I am grateful to commondreams for increasing its attention to lesbian and gay issues like this. I myself (along with my partner) have experienced great hardship from the denial of marriage rights to our community, and so I sympathize with Ms. Langbehn - as well as with her partner, who because of this hospital's actions died alone, without her loved one by her side, with no one there but medical professionals who were all strangers.

Here in Massachusetts we have same-sex marriage rights, but even here the rights are really only partial - they do not include federal-level rights, only state-level rights. So even though it's really "marriage" it is still not equal to heterosexual marriage. There is a law called the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which forbids the U.S. government from recognizing any same-sex marriages granted by the states. Obama has said he would like to see DOMA repealed, but whether or not he will take any action remains to be seen.

I lived in Florida all my life till a month ago when I graduated college and moved here to DC. Last November, Amendment 2 passed, which enshrines in the Constitution that marriage is only between a man and a woman, AND THAT NO LEGAL EQUIVALENT OF MARRIAGE WILL BE RECOGNIZED IN FLORIDA. Which in the end once the backers of the amendment sue the state, no legal or medical benefits for civil unions, domestic partnerships, anything like that...including, naturally, visitation rights.

You are all missing the point here. yes this is a gay couple, and bigots can try to dismiss and disrespect them all they want, as the hospital did here [and I don't believe for one millisecond that they "did not intend to cause harm". bullshit.
But the point here is that these people have legal rights that have nothing to do with being gay. they were both legal guardians of the children with documentation to prove it. over and above that, it seems that Janice Langbehn was the legal and documented health proxy for her partner. You can make anyone your health proxy, and they MUST be consulted in the case when you are sick and unable to make your own decisions. They don't have to be a family member.
So in this case it was not about "honoring their relationship as partners", which of course anyone who is not a neanderthal bigot should - here hospital actually went out of their way to NOT follow laws regarding patient rights and health proxy designations JUST BECAUSE these women were gay.

I hope they are sued, judged, and severely punished for the sake of ALL patients at that hospital who are now in danger of having their legal rights ignored, health decisions overridden and disregarded if the doctors decide they don't like who was picked to be the health care proxy. This is not a joke, and should offend every single person in the state of florida.

Here's what the GLBT community need to do: follow Israel's lead. Being victims - and constantly using such victimization in their defense - of the German Nazi holocaust seems to excuse anything and everything Israel does today, even (especially) among the christian evangelical fringe in the U.S. Well, there weren't just jews in those camps; there were plenty of gays and lesbians as well.

"no gods, no masters" --m. sanger

The hospital personnel behaved in an arrogant, heartless way. They completely ignored the written wishes of the patient. The opportunity to say goodbye cannot be recreated.

Theoretically this could happen to anyone who is not married or who has no natural children or living relatives. It probably happened out of malice toward gay women.

Would civil union or marriage have helped this couple? I think so. Where common decency fails, you need laws.

Joe