After enduring another setback recently, with the same-sex marriage ban is California staying intact till at least 2012, there has been quite a significant victory for the group. The online edition of the Washington Post, early morning on Friday, posted the headline "Obama extends hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners of gays". This was the most read story on the site.

This is definitely a step in the right direction and quite a victory for the group which has till now been facing one disappointment after another.

The order, which required hospitals to allow same-sex partners to visit each other in hospitals and have medical power of attorney, was signed by the President yesterday. If any of the hospitals refuse to comply or raise any undue objections, they would be putting their Medicare and Medicaid funding in quite some trouble.

American has always been touted as a free country, where each individual possesses the freedom of expression and has every right to live like he/she wants to, till the time all the regulations are being complied with. In such a country, gay couples are facing various troubles, and this has been going on quite some time.

The changes in years have not helped these people and there have been very few advantageous things that have been introduced for them. Many advocacy group have, time and again, brought to light that denying gays their rights is a direct breach of all the constitutional powers that every American citizen has been awarded. But this has not helped much.

In such a chaotic scenario, the little step taken by President Obama has come as a very welcome one and many are viewing it as a sign that things will soon get better.