A plea against legislated discrimination
At the age of almost 65 and a member of the LGBTQ community, I know full well the firsthand impact of being in fear when seeking medical care—a fear whose veracity is routinely verified in the way medical professionals interact with me.
Discrimination against the LGBTQ community during my youth and most of my adult life was routine and socially acceptable.
I was a member of the working poor; I had no health insurance. This, combined with homophobic attitudes of the vast majority of health-care providers that I encountered, meant that I only sought care when absolutely necessary.
This lifelong lack of access to safe and comprehensive care has certainly impacted my health, its legacy noticeable even more so as I move toward the inevitable twilight years.
Disparity in health-care access based on homophobia almost cost me my life. I suffered for some time from severe abdominal pain. I had extended and severe bleeding during my cycle. Eventually, I became ill with the relentless severity of pain, bleeding and fever.
I sought care at a local emergency room in Greenville, S.C., where I lived at the time—a state not known, even today, for acceptance and inclusion of its LGBTQ community. The doctor who saw me was rude, and kept cutting me off when I tried to explain what was going on.
She determined that I had a sexually transmitted disease. When I tried to dispute this diagnosis on the basis that 1. I’m a lesbian, 2. I wasn’t sexually active, and 3. she hadn’t done any tests, she cut me off, telling me that she was the doctor.
I was sent home with antibiotics that were so strong I had to take anti-nausea medicine to keep them down. A week later, my condition so worsened with unrelenting fever and pain that I sought the emergency room once again. In triage, my vitals were discovered to be in the danger zone.
This time, though, I got lucky. The head of emergency services for the hospital system happened to be there that night. And for whatever reason, he came in to see me. With what I felt was nothing left to lose because I truly thought I was going to die, I told him the story of my previous visit to this ER.
He ordered tests and expedited their administration. Turned out that I had Deeply Infiltrative Endometriosis. My bowel and bladder were barely functional, having been severely affected by the invasion of the endometriosis. Both ovaries had extremely large endometrial cysts. My condition necessitated a hysterectomy. This too, almost cost me my life, as I developed a severe post-operative infection.
No one should be refused or mistreated in seeking health care, especially when using religion and moral objections as the justification. The refusal of medical care is an immoral act that goes against the Hippocratic oath; it also violates Christian tenets of caring for one another.
According to the Bible, Jesus, even as he knew his betrayal was at hand, gave the Great Commandment at the Last Supper, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).
No exceptions were made based on sexual orientation, gender identity, country of origin, citizenship, etc. Love one another is the message.
I have often heard Christians claim they love the sinner but hate the sin. It is incomprehensible that love can be qualified by hate as a means to justify the hatred. The worth and value of any human life cannot be judged based on the religious beliefs of some.
Senate Bill 289—the Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, which would allow health-care workers, hospitals and insurance providers to decline to provide services that violate their conscience— creates a slippery slope to being the basis to enact further discrimination against Arkansans based on their religion or lack thereof, ethnic/racial identity, marital status, citizenship, etc.
As co-founder of the Center for Artistic Revolution and its former executive director for over a decade, I have seen the impact of fear, bullying and discrimination on the LGBTQ community in Arkansas, especially in LGBTQ youth, via its Diverse Youth for Social Change program initiated to serve this community.
No child should grow up afraid of peers, family, churches, and medical providers. But sadly, far too many Arkansas youth do just that, because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
No one’s life should be at risk because of legislated discrimination. The government of Arkansas is meant to serve all Arkansans, not just those who pray a certain way.