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Jackson Memorial barred lesbian from seeing dying partner
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
6/26/08
"The family vacation cruise that Janice Langbehn, her partner Lisa Marie Pond and three of their four children set out to take in February 2007 was designed to be a celebration of the lesbian couple's 18 years together.
"But when Pond suffered a massive stroke onboard before the ship left port and was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital, administrators refused to let Langbehn into the Pond's hospital room. A social worker told them they were in an 'anti-gay city and state.'
"...'No matter what your definition of family is, this family went through terrible indignities,' said Donald Hayden, a Miami lawyer who joined the national advocacy group Lambda Legal in bringing the suit. 'The partners here did everything they were supposed to do under law and were still denied visitation rights that should have been allowed.'"