Court Tosses Suit by Lesbian Allegedly Denied Visitation with Her Dying Partner

In an illustration of the hazards that travel across state lines poses to gay and lesbian families who have no federal recognition and no nation-wide protections, a Washington woman whose partner succumbed to a stroke while on vacation says that she, and the women's children, were denied visitation privileges even as the stricken woman lay dying in a Florida hospital.

A suit that followed the incident was tossed out of federal court on Sept. 29.

As reported at EGDE last February, Janice Langbehn, her partner of 17 years Lisa Marie Pond, and their children had traveled to Florida from Washington and were about to embark on a cruise from Miami when Pond collapsed, either from a heart attack or because of an aneurysm (media accounts have cited both).

After eight hours of enforced separation, Langbehn finally was permitted to join her stricken partner, even as Pond received final rites.

Up to that point, the staff at Jackson Memorial Hospital allegedly refused to allow Langbehn to be in the room with Pond due to a policy that bars any but what the hospital considers to be "immediate family," such as blood relatives or married spouses--but not life partners of the same gender, who are not allowed to marry under Florida state law.

In the two and a half years since Pond's death in February of 2007, Florida voters have also approved an amendment to the state constitution denying family equality to gays and lesbians as a matter of the state's bedrock law.

Langbehn said that a social worker at the hospital told her that she and her children had traveled to "an anti-gay state," where her relationship with Pond was not going to be accorded any weight.

The Langbehn-Pond Family Web site includes an article on the incident that was published by Washington newspaper The Olympian.

The article includes a rebuttal from the hospital's Vice President of of public relations, Robert Alonso, who said, "We have a very liberal visitation policy.

"As soon as it's humanly possible and appropriate to bring in visitors, we do."

Langbehn, however, said that the hospital seemed unconcerned with her wishes or her legal power of attorney to act on behalf of Pond until hospital staff learned about Pond's wish to donate her organs.

At that point, "They finally started talking to me," Langbehn was quoted as saying in The Olympian article.

Langbehn filed a federal lawsuit against the hospital, alleging negligence and infliction of emotional distress.

An account of the situation as told by Langbehn is available at the Family Equality Council Web site, and reads in part, "More than one tragedy occurred that February day in Miami: I lost my partner, my love, my life, our kids lost their 'other' mom and what makes all these tragedies more horrible is how I was treated by the Social Worker and receptionist at that hospital in Miami by telling me I couldn't see Lisa nor make important decisions about her care."

Langbehn's account continues, "...I paced and watched other families being brought back into the trauma center, yet my family waited, with no word about Lisa's condition.

"Our children Danielle, David, Katie and I all lost the ability to be with Lisa in her last moments of consciousness, to hold her hand and to say goodbye and that is something that can never be given back to our family."

The suit was thrown out by the court, according to a Sept. 29 blog carried at the Miami Herald.

In his "Gay South Florida" blog, Steve Rothaus quoted Lambda Legal attorney Beth Littrell, who said, "The hospital took the position that we thought was pretty extreme--that it has no duty, no legal obligation, to allow visitors [of any sort] in the hospital.

"The court agreed."

Social worker Garnett Frederick denied having told Langbehn that her family was at the mercyo fan "anti-gay state," the blog reported.

Said Littrell, "[The court's decision] highlights how vulnerable same-sex couples and their families are."

According to the blog, Littrell said the dismissal of the case was not a ruling on the question of whether the hospital had discriminated against the family.

The blog quoted Jackson Memorial spokesperson Jennifer Piedra as saying, "We have always believed and known that the staff at Jackson treats everyone equally, and that their main concern is the well-being of the patients in their care."

Added Piedra, "At Jackson Health System, we believe in a culture of inclusion.

"For more than 90 years, the institution has taken great pride in serving everyone who enters its doors, regardless of race, creed, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. We also employ a very diverse workforce, one that mirrors the community we serve."

Piedra went on to say, "Jackson will continue to work with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to ensure that everyone knows they are welcome at all of our facilities, where they will receive the highest quality of medical care."

Virtually identical words were spoken to EDGE by another hospital spokesperson, Lorraine Nelson, for a May 11 story.

That article detailed how a coalition of GLBT groups had sought to exert pressure on the hospital to guarantee inclusive visitation policies that respect same-sex families.

James Beaudreau of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association was quoted in that same article as saying, "Janice's case illustrates the fact that discrimination in health care settings is still far too common for LGBT individuals."

Added Beaudreau, "No one should be told that they do not fit the definition of 'family' after rushing a loved one to the emergency room."

Ironically, a situation not unlike the one the Langbehn-Pond family encountered in Florida occurred in the family's home state of Washington, leading to another, unrelated lawsuit.

As reported in The New York Times in an May 18 article on the Langbehn-Pond Family's situation, Sharon Reed and Jo Ann Ritchie were kept apart by a temp nurse who insisted that Reed leave Ritchie's side even as Ritchie was dying.

Reed's lawyer, Judith A. Lonnquist, was quoted as saying, "One of the things her partner said to her was, 'I'm afraid of dying. Don't leave me alone.'"

Added Lonnquist, "That's why the suffering was so enormous--she felt as if her partner was thinking she had betrayed her trust."

The New York Times article noted that in the absence of marriage equality and nationwide protections for gay and lesbian families, the families had both taken what steps they could to try to protect themselves, including power-of-attorney, living wills, and advanced medical directives.

All that preparation was insufficient: though married mixed gender couples can count on federal rights that are automatically conferred upon them when they wed, even same-sex spouses who marry legally in the handful of states where marriage equality is extended to gay and lesbian families can find that once they cross state lines, they are legal strangers to their own husbands and wives.