A Sad Story of Discrimination

This is the reason, we need rights.

This is a very sad story, John. I don't understand the refusal to encourage gay people who are in relationships.

The whole story is tragic.

Please explain your last statement, I am not sure if I missed your point...

Oh just bitter sarcasm. It's often those that profess to know the mind of god that are supporters of laws of discrimination like that.

You're right, and this is awful. You'd think people would just be happy that anybody loves anybody else.

yes, let's get those Republicans out of power positions!

Such a shame!
The sad thing is, in each instance the individual answering his phone calls made the decision not to tell him, falling back on the age old.. 'It's against policy' cop out. Even if the law doesn't include him as his partner's legal spouse/family, the individual answering the phone could have exercised a measure of compassion and let him know what had happened.
Surely the air charter company or the Airport itself makes you sign a waiver including who to notify in case of emergency. If so, and his partner put him down as his person to notify ICE then the airport can be held liable for not notifying him of the accident.

Hey John,..Bloomington is run by Democrats,look what it has to show for it!

T: This was happening in Florida with, despite the large amount of income it reaps from gay tourists and professionals in the tourism industry (and having a waiting for a gay scandal Republican Gov) doesn't allow gay adoptions, doesn't allow gay marriage, and was the seat (thanks Anita Bryant) of the modern fusion of Christian fundamentalism with republican party folks under the guise of 'family values'. I do not believe this is what was intended by those laws--they came out of an entirely different set of issues.

C: I'm not even sure what you are talking about dear, care to expand?

K: That's certainly part of what saddens me. The colonization of human and personal decision making processes by bureaucracy and fear of litigation.

Hey John,..I also live in Bloomington. In my opinion Bloomington is a horrible place to live. The Dr's are the drug dealers, the homeless are everywhere, many of them from Madison, (psychiatric unit now closed,) just dumped off here w/nothing. I have a friend who works at I.U and has a life partner and health insurance but yet a straight friend doesn't because he's not married to his girlfriend (of 6 years) The social service system is a joke, the court system is a joke, it all depends on the cash flow or your sexuality. If your gay they don't want to offend you, so you get in the door first, in fact I was in a discussion about this very same topic at Uncle E's. The final conclusion was, I was straight,..lol Don't get me wrong I have plenty of gay friends, they are not the problem, the problem is those who use them for ones own personal agenda. I've lost many friends in this town, A.I.D.S & Drugs. Nothing changes in this town yet the people keep voting Democrat. Imagine living in Bloomington and your not gay nor attend I.U.
I agree the story above is sad, Eric at least should have been told about Joe's situation...: o )
I think at times the knife cuts both ways.

C: I think Bton is highly conservative, actually. There are folks who like to pay lip service to liberalism, but this town isn't much more than a maroon spot in a red state. I've been threatened here more for being gay than when I lived and worked in two of the roughest parts of Philadelphia or than when I worked in the Central Ward of Newark, NJ. Being gay here is no treat at all. Even at IU.

So yeah, if your reference is the rest of Indiana, this place gives an illusion of being liberal--but being a democrat here would make you fairly conservative in other parts of the country.

As to your friend, he has the option of getting married. I don't. There's a difference there to me.

Regarding town/gown relations. Yeah, I imagine they suck for the folks that aren't affiliated with the school. I don't know that that has much to do with political affiliation as much as it does with greed.

John,..." I think Bton is highly conservative, actually"...You have got to be kidding?!?!...I'm sure your aware just how many years the Democrats have had the upper hand here in Btown.
Maybe the gay bashing came because Btown is highly populated w/GLBT.I have a friend who was beat up just out-side Bulls, by two men who are gay & not one of them was chgarged he on the other hand had a busted head.

I agree a majority of Indiana is "somewhat" conservative.

"As to your friend, he has the option of getting married. I don't. There's a difference there to me. "...tell me what is the difference? Life partners can have health insurance but straight couples don't unless they are married? Maybe they choose not to get married at this time? Is it the fault of "straight" people?

"I don't know that that has much to do with political affiliation as much as it does with greed."...and thats how I feel regarding the privacy bill - due to Republicans. I believe it was passed by both.
I agree some of the rights need to be amended but not all, one loop hole often leads to a weaker foundation.

My whole point about Btown is this, it's a wreck and the Democrats do nothing to help the town as a whole,unless it's dealing with I.U and brings in money, they could care uh less. So why not elect a Republican, they could do no worse. In my opinion it's worth a shot.

C: I've come to find that party affiiliation has little to do with actual belief system. Ford, a republican, would be about as liberal as Hillary Clinton is today. Bloomington wants to believe that it is a liberal place, so it elects folks that call themselves democrats. If you want change, you should run for some sort of office.

I'm sorry that your friend got beat up. I can't attest to the motives of the men that did it nor to the reasons they were not charged. Perhaps your friend was embarassed to have two fags kick his ass? I have no idea.

Still regarding your friend. The fact that he has a choice and I don't have one is the difference. He can be choosing not to get married for all sorts of reasons. Frankly, they don't matter. It's a choice he is priviledged to make.

LRS: Thanks for stopping by. :)

They do have a fine opera in the music school and it's gotten even better since the infusion of $20million from some big name donors in the past two years.

C: "As to your friend, he has the option of getting married. I don't. There's a difference there to me. "...tell me what is the difference? As John already alluded to they have a choice. IBM used to provide for SO benefits for G/L life partners. Once the Mass Supreme Court (majority republican) allowed G/L to wed IBM took that provision away. Now if they want benefits they need to be married. It is all about choice.

T: It didn't come out of "real family" vs. partner information sharing. It came out inappropriate sharing of information about HIV status.

"why not elect a Republican"

Well for one, they are usually anti-gay rights and spend too much time trying to poke their noses into people's bedrooms.

Or their wide stance shoes. :)

I think this would be the time to lie and say you are family. I know that's is what I would do if it was my son's partner.

I cannot help but add how much I consider myself to be lucky to be a Newjerseyan. Even though my civil union is way far from what it should be as far as marriage laws go, it sure is better than the "nothing" that my spouse and I went through during about fourteen years prior to that one!!

The laws simply have to be changed. We have common law marriages for some; now there should be recognition for all.

A late comment to this article, but I just wanted to tell you that gays and lesbians in Norway was just given the right to marry. Before this, we had partnership, which was -like- marriage, but we fewer rights.
Due to this new law, they can now be assisted with reproduction or adopt. It's wonderful!