Blind Prophecy

Reason Number 2 why LGBT Equality Matters is that it saves lives and promotes good health.

Yesterday’s argument about nondiscrimination law was based around the conceit that equality is important in and of itself for full citizenship in this country. Today, I’m concerned about the public health benefit of a more just and equal country for LGBT citizens. It’s not hyperbole when I say that real people are suffering and dying because this country has yet to embrace LGBT equality.

Obama and 111th congress must immediately work to repeal and counteract numerous bad health policies instituted by the Bush administration. These poor health policies include the creation and expansion of so-called “right to conscience” laws, abstinence-only programs, failure to invest in HIV/AIDS prevention (despite Bush’s questionable leadership internationally, domestic spending on HIV prevention has essentially remained flat), the absence of federal hate crime legislation, and continued willingness to give people and groups that promote heterosexist shame campaigns against the LGBT community roles of power and influence.

There are many health and wellness issues affiliated with the LGBT community. Among these are basic access to healthcare, resources for the aging, cancer (i.e. gay men have a higher risk for anal cancer because of HPV transmission), domestic violence and sexual assault resources, physical assault, various STDs including HIV/AIDS (men who have sex with men remains one of the highest risk groups), mental health and substance abuse (both of which have been linked to the effects of heterosexism on LGBT people), nutrition and body image, sexual health, transgender medical care, and more.

When I lived in San Francisco, I had no problem telling my primary doctor and any specialists or emergency room staff I encountered about my sex life and identity to the extent it was necessary. Today, in “I-can’t-believe-we’re-an-actual-city-north-of-the-Mason-Dixon-line” Cincinnati, I have no insurance, but if I got sick or ended up in the emergency room, I might wait to tell my doctors about my sexual orientation until I was relatively certain they weren’t going to refuse to treat me based on their “right to conscience.”

I know couples who cannot get domestic partner insurance. I know couples who cannot afford the higher rates and taxes for domestic partner insurance than their married coworkers face. I know older LGBT people who have no children or close family members to care for them should they need additional assistance as they age. I know far too many LGBT people who face a variety of substance abuse and mental health issues brought on by shame campaigns underlying the messages of people like Rick Warren and promoters of ex-gay ministries. I’ve known suicides who couldn’t face a lifetime of being queer. I’ve known people who turned to dangerous street prostitution because they couldn’t find work as queer youth or transgender adults. I’ve mourned the loss of friends to AIDS and hepatitis. I’ve held candles for community members lost to violence.

A true commitment to equality from the Obama administration and the 111th Congress will begin with addressing the barriers to LGBT health by overturning Bush legacy laws, through appropriate funding, and by passing new laws to ensure that all people will have access to quality healthcare regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Further steps will include passing legislation that sends the message to queer citizens of the country that they are valued as citizens and need not live in fear or shame–laws that specifically outlaw bullying and violence based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, laws that recognize and honor our relationships, and laws that promote education and treatment around health issues that affect the community.

We will live. We will be equal.

We won’t die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come.
You are fabulous creatures, each and every one.
And I bless you: More Life.
The Great Work Begins.

-Prior Walter, a character from Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika by Tony Kushner

Filed under: politics, queer rights by Jere Keys