Sep 02, 2005   | COMMENTS     

pregnant with their second child they went to great lengths to ensure the hospital staff knew they were a family, she said. They met with an attorney and prepared an advanced directive, as well as a birth plan. But, she said, one doctor dismissed all of that planning.

Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, a statewide gay rights group, listed the obstacles faced by each of the plaintiffs at a news conference outside the courtroom.

“Stacey was treated like a stranger and denied access to her own son during a medical emergency after he was born. Charles and Glen worry about being denied access to an ambulance or hospital room or nursing home. When John Lestitian’s partner passed away, John lost the home they shared.”

Takia Foskey, another plaintiff in the case, told reporters that when she was working part-time, her two children were uninsured because they couldn’t be covered under her partner’s state health benefits. Her partner, Jo Rabb, is a Baltimore city bus driver.

In 2003, when Rabb had an emergency gallbladder operation, Foskey wasn’t allowed to see her and wasn’t given any information about her condition.

“I look forward to the day when [my partner and I] are no longer treated as legal strangers,” she said.