there is no way i would not be there with the person i love in their last moments!

This is so terrible! I hope they sue the crap out of this ridiculous hospital.

I find it shameful, what they did...

agree, tres, if they tried to keep me from my closest family and friends they'd better call in backup cuz i'd be giong in anyway!

this gave me goosebumps. this sucks for the family involved and i hope this hospital worker is fired. this is insensitive not to mention none of their damn business. who cares if this was her sister or friend or friggin NEIGHBOR for all i care. this woman was dying and someone cared enough to fight to say their goodbyes. i'd let them in.

This is BS! I think that administrator ought to lose their job. I agree with the police enforcements, they were on vacation, so what now you have to carry around your damn will and all these documents, (THAT THEY TELL YOU NOT TO TAKE! Just medical stuff)

truthfully, i'd probably be so angry and overwhelmed that i would punch that b*tch in the face. then i'd be in jail, which wouldn't help anything of course, but in reality i'm betting that is what i would do so there you go.

That's effing stupid. And it doesn't make any sense...I think the administrator was unnecessarily making their lives even more difficult, because I don't understand the law. As far as I understood, if someone was about to die, the legal side of it is separate from the social side - such as, friends and family could SEE the person, but to make any medical DECISIONS, papers like marriage licenses and PoAs would be needed. But the papers are NOT a requirement to SEE someone who is ill and dying. That's just silly.

This happened with my parents...my mother was dying, but I don't remember whether she had made my dad her PoA or not. I think he had to fax some PoA form over to the hospital to be able to make medical decisions for her, but there wasn't ANYTHING that barred him [or our family] from seeing her.

Wow. Things would have gotten REALLY ugly had I been this woman.

I am a Christian, but there's nothing about my religion's attitude twords gays I like. Stories like this just get me furious. It's just shameful that you have ignorance like this left in America.

This is disgusting. If someone was trying to keep me away from a dying loved one they would be in need of immediate hospital attention.

This is such a sad story:(

Just horrible!

this is so sad. I would totally be arrested had i been her. One of the reason i support gay rights so heartily, is because had this been 60 years ago, i would be barred from seeing my white boyfriend (i'm black)...this makes me angry!

For South Beach being so liberal Miami as a whole is not. The Archdiocese has a great influence in the city and it is a shame this had to happen to this family. I am baffled by the political/religious lines that get thrown up even in the face of adopted children and a partner of 18 years. I can only hope that one day people will not be discriminated against for loving who they love.

spacekatgal, well said.

Such a tragedy. I have no idea what I would have done had it been me. My heart goes out to them.

If Pond had custody and parental rights with the children she adopted with Langbehn, shouldn't the children have at least been able to visit her?

Quote: "I don't know about you, but when I imagine someone barring me from seeing someone I love who is in their loneliest, scariest hour, I think they'd have to call in police reinforcements. In a more just world, that wouldn't have to happen."

I could not have said it better myself! There is NO way I would not have been allowed to see them, there would have been some problems. Its is so sad that they would keep the family away like that because of their prejudices!

This is disgusting and shameful and I honestly hope that no good comes to this administrator, like, ever. They'd honestly have had to shoot me to keep me from my partner's side.

this happened to my aunt when her MALE partner of 10 years got brain cancer -- she was not considered family and couldn't be present for certain things. its not just same-sex discrimination (although OBVIOUSLY it exists), it is just some major flaw with the legal system about what and whom it will recognize as certain things and not others. disgusting and baffling.

Yet another reason why keeping gay marriage illegal in this country is a form of blatant discrimination with no real basis.

The question is, what was this law hoping to prevent by barring non-legal spouses? Certainly it wasn't put into place to purposefully target gay couples. Right?

This is exactly why we need to legalize gay marriage on a national level. Having it be legal in some states and not in others will only lead to more situations such as this.

And I agree that the children who were legally adopted should have at least been allowed in. Just because you hate the parents (that's what this is HATE), you shouldn't take it out on the children. That was their mother, plain and simple.

So unacceptable... So terrible... 18 years of devotion to each other and this is how they had to spend the end...

It is a sad situation that I have seen happen to a lot of people. NO ONE should be barred from seeing a loved one before they die.

It's simply unbelievable to me that this can still happen, in this day and age. And what about that poor patient? Doesn't anyone think it might be beneficial for them to have the people they've loved for 18 years be with them?? Stupidity at its lowest form.

Dumb question...but if you are straight and not married do you get to see your loved one? What I mean is do you have to PROVE you are their spouse or as long as you are a straight couple doors open. Why do homosexuals have to prove their legal status when I know for sure straights don't. A lot of people are not married, have kids together do not have POA or other legal paperwork and they get treated fine. I would have bumped protocol and let her partner visit.

People, you think you can force your way in? No way. Hospitals have lots of security, and you would be in jail so fast. You might not even know what happened to your loved one til you posted bail the next day.
This is pathetic. How can doctors and nurses be so heartless?

This site only seems to report on one subject now. Such a pity. You know there is more news in the world than being gay?

Because of the laws, this is why people need to be prepared BEFORE something happens like this.

If someone tried to keep me from my partners bed all hell would break loose. I can't stay away when he has a cold.