quote:posted by DavidL. Insurance benefits, hospital visitation rights, inheritance rights, etc. is not asking for anything extra or "special" as so many people like to say.
David,
I am a minister so i am in hospitals often, especially in emergency rooms and units. I have never seen a sign that said no gays allowed to visit. All hospitals post their visitation hours and guidelines, and everyhospital i have been to in this area is actually very lenient in the exercise of those rules. Gays are not being descriminated against when it comes to hospital visitation rights.
As for inheritance. Under the law if you don't have a Legal Will, a judge decides who gets your possessions, unless there is joint ownership, which is allowed in Alabama, i don't know about other states. If you want inheritance rights for your companion, I reccommend a Will.
As for insurance benefits, that is a decision of any insurance company as to what types of policies they want to offer. What you want the government to do is force a private company to offer a product that will be utilized by less than 1% of the population. They will not be able to charge more for that product since it will be seen as descrimination, therefore, the company will be forced to add the additional cost to every policy of heterosexual families and therefore everyone else will be forced to pay for your alternate lifestyle.
All the concerns you give i have logically and honestly addressed. The forcing of governments and private companies to placate your lifestyle over heterosexual lifestyle IS the granting of "special" rights.