Your Stories
The Need for Legal Planning
When I was first admitted, the woman in the X-ray department was very kind to us and allowed my partner, Brenda, to come in the back with me. However, once they put me in my room, they wouldn’t allow Brenda in or tell her my condition because she wasn’t "family."
When a Partner Becomes Disabled
My now-deceased partner, Rodney, went on disability in 1995 and stopped working. He was able to retain his health insurance through COBRA (at the employer’s full cost) for 33 months after going on disability. From that point on, the race had begun.
Standing Up and Saying, ‘This Is Wrong.’
In November 2004, voters in Michigan passed an amendment to their state constitution that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Proponents of the amendment had said it wouldn’t affect the health insurance benefits some same-sex couples already received, but in March 2005, the Michigan attorney general announced that because of the amendment, state and local governments could not longer offer same-sex domestic partner benefits to their employees.
Candidates to Debate GLBT Issues
Presidential candidates will gather next month to discuss GLBT equality at a forum presented by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the Logo network. Candidates currently confirmed to appear include (in alphabetical order): Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich and Barack Obama.
Next of Kin
At my mom’s deathbed was her partner, her sister, my sister and me. Minutes after Mom died, the doctor on call came into the room and asked who next of kin was. Melanie, my mother’s partner, responded saying she was her partner and healthcare proxy, then added that she also had power of attorney.
A Mom Remembers Her Daughter Coming Out
My daughter felt that she had to move away from home because she was so afraid that I would disown her because she is gay.