President Obama recently began to show his opinion of homosexual relationships to be unlike those of past presidents. He ordered a change in America’s hospital visiting rights. He wants to grant same-sex partners the right to visit their loved one sin the hospital when they once could not, because they were not considered family.My mother, a doctor, saw the first cases of HIV/AIDS to appear in gay patients in Los Angeles. Even then, same-sex partners were sneaking in to see their loved ones who were dying of these horrific diseases.

Though many patients can have their loved ones visit in the hospitals, there are countless others who are denied visitation rights to loved ones who are sick or dying.

The President has also vowed to reverse the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prohibits gays and lesbians from being “out” in the military.

Finally, Obama is also working towards creating anti-discrimination legislation which will secure the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) employees.

Gays don’t have to look far to see the discrimination that lies ahead of them. Living in the South, we often hear how “wrong” it is to “lay with” someone of the same sex – that we are going to hell for our sins. Being discriminated against is a heavy burden to bear for the GLBT community, forcing some to grow up repressed and feeling unloved and disrespected.

The GLBT community has suffered at the hands of bigots – which sometimes include their families and friends – for decades. Unspoken on this campus are the stories of families who have stopped supporting their kids once they learn their kid is gay. Imagine if an unsupported gay man or woman is denied visitation from their significant other just because of their sexual preference.

Obama has the insight to say “hell no” to this discrimination. He has made it clear gay Americans will not be denied medical visitation rights.

When I hear the slanderous poison being spewed by the anti-gay movement, I wish they were in my head as I stroke the hair of the person I love, watching him with an affinity that is unobstructed by gender-bias and unmoved by the bigots of my time.

All types of Americans deserve rights, even if they happen to be gay. The President’s memo is a start, which I’m hopeful will cause a domino effect.