From the California Progress Report:
Rowe and Orbin attended the “Meet in the Middle” rally in support of marriage for same-sex couples in Fresno. After the couple completed a 14-mile march in 90 degree heat, Orbin, who suffers from epilepsy, collapsed in a seizure. The couple experienced hostility from the ambulance driver, but Rowe was ultimately allowed to accompany Orbin to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. However, when the couple got the hospital, the driver would not allow Rowe to accompany Orbin into the emergency room even though Orbin had been in and out of consciousness, and Rowe was familiar with her medical history and care.
Remember when the Prop 8 case came down and there were diariststelling us that this ruling meant that Prop 8 only had effect in name only, that it had been "cut to the bone"? That gay couples really would get all the same rights as married people now?
Those comments were depressingly ignorant, and now we have an incident that only confirms that they were wrong.
More on the flip.
Rowe and Orbin were "partners." They weren't lucky enough to be in the right place in their lives to sneak in a legal marriage in the very short window last year, so now, despite the rose-colored glasses of some commenters on the results of Prop 8, they are suffering from real, tangible discrimination.
I warned that that simply was not the case. The mere existence of separate categories encourages separate treatment. I thought that people would have learned that lesson after 1955. Furthermore, it will require an ocean of further litigation to determine the contours of this separate but equal regime.
For now, "partners" like Rowe and Orbin don't have hospital visitation rights. That's not even separate but equal! Yet, it will take a Court case to enforce Assuming the rosy view of the Prop 8 case is correct, it will still require interpretation from a court, because this hospital—and doubtless numerous other institutions—will continue to hide behind the California Court's recent ruling.
Just in case I haven't made myself clear: yes, that court ruling really was that bad.
Edit: It's my belief that this would not be a tenable policy if Prop 8 weren't the law. Even if a Court ultimately prohibits this kind of thing, there is no doubt in my mind that the Prop 8 ruling makes this kind of thing even plausible, subject to a "reasonable" dispute in Court. So, while the wheels churn defining these limits in the Courts, how many people will face disasters like this?
This just makes me sad. Yet another reason it is not a good time to be a Californian.
Late Edit: For archival purposes (I doubt anyone will be reading this anymore), I am linking this article from the Fresno Bee with more details. I can't imagine what it would be like to be kept away from my wife if she was in the hospital, no matter why.... thanks for all of the tips and recs, more than I think I've ever had.