northwest
Couple Fight for Rights
Hospital trip illustrates need for legal protections
by Dee Duderstadt
hen a straight couple say “I do,”
W
mitted so he could be excused on medical leave.
and release forms to un
they are given rights and respon
When Oravetz went to the hospital’s adminis
married couples. They
sibilities that extend heyond a
trative office, he was denied the documentation.
also indicated that the
public ceremony, often ones they
Rather, the clerk demanded a copy of the couple’s
incident
don’t realize they have. But gay
domestic partnership license, something they had
Oravetz and Brown de
couples are painfully aware of the rights
they
yet to
get. are
denied.
After an alarming incident at a Yamhill County
hospital, Lafayette couple Michael Oravetz and
Jonathon Brown learned this the hard way.
occurred
as
scribed it.
Oravetz was upset because she “would not
Hospital representa
have asked a straight couple for their marriage
tives indicated that they
license.”
took care of the prob
Hospital policy for such situations is to give
lem, although the facil
From left, Gabriel "Gabbie" Brown, Jonathan Brown, Jesse Brown,
Andrew Brown and Michael Oravetz demonstrate the need for laws
protecting nontraditional families.
Oravetz, 37, grew up in the Yamhill-Carlton
the partner a copy of the privacy laws and hospi
ity’s spokeswoman refused to confirm whether the
area of Yamhill County. He left for Portland years
tal privacy releases. This can then be taken to the
employee was reprimanded.
ago because he could not take the torment of his
sick individual and he or she can sign it, allowing
bigoted neighbors. Yet when he and Portlander
the partner access to medical information.
Brown, 39, were looking for a more rural place to
settle with their son and two daughters, Oravetz
“She wasn’t following hospital policy. It had to
do with her own prejudice,” Oravetz said.
returned to Yamhill County because he felt the
After Brown’s surgery, Oravetz returned to the
climate had changed. And, for the most part, the
administrative office, this time with one of Brown’s
couple believe it has.
nurses, and faced the administrator. Both he and the
But recently Oravetz and Brown found out
how important the domestic partnership license
is for couples to have.
nurse pleaded Brown’s case but were again denied.
As fate would have it, the woman’s supervi
sor happened to be walking past. The matter was
Brown was admitted March 10 to Willa
“I am very committed to him, and 1 know he is
very committed to me. I think what it gives us is
Oravetz and Brown, who have been together
an opportunity to show the world that gay people
for more than two years, registered as domestic
can get married and have a loving relationship
partners immediately following Brown’s release
just like my folks do,” Brown said. “It’s a step. It’s
from the hospital. Since Feb. 4, there have been
the closest thing to actual marriage.”
Oravetz interrupts, “to true equality that we’ve had
15 applications for domestic partnerships in
Yamhill County.
in a long time.. .to be an equal part of society,” finish
“It’s the closest thing we can actually get to
ing Brown’s sentence. “You finally feel some equality.”
being married,” Brown said of the license. “I am
“The only difference” between gays and straights,
not looking for more rights and privileges. I am
Brown explained, “is what we do in the bedroom.”
just looking for equal treatment.”
cleared up within minutes.
Oravetz interrupted again: “We all choose dif
The couple sat in their living room relaxing
ferent people. We just happen to choose people of
Willamette Valley Medical Center represen
after an evening meal. Their children were in bed,
the same gender. We’re out, and they aren’t going
tatives agreed that it is the hospital’s policy to
and the chickens had been fed and penned. The
to be able to closet us again.
While there, his employer requested that Ora
provide a copy of the Health Insurance Portabil
rural atmosphere took over as insect songs began
vetz get prtxif from the hospital that Brown was ad
ity and Accountability Act, privacy information
to compete with one another.
mette Valley Medical Center, where he was until
March 21, for severe pancreatitis and gallstones.
D ee D uderstadt is a McMinnville writer.
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