Jordan
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Last month, I attended a family symposium with Garden State Equality, which was set up as a counter to the NOM hatefest in Trenton. It was at the afterparty (free pizza from some restaurant, paid for by GSE), I met Marsha Shapiro, she and her partner, Louise Walpin, had gotten a civil union in New Jersey, and were considered to be married under Jewish law. They were having trouble getting health benefits for their special needs children. We had a nice brief conversation about this intersectionality of oppressions. Yesterday, in Harrisburg, I also met with people who have had similar troubles, and this got me thinking...
One of the benefits of marriage is transferability of healthcare benefits. Well, if Marsha and Louise were in France, Germany, UK, Canada, or any other country with universal healthcare; they would not even have to worry about healthcare for their children, whether or not the country had gender neutral marriage (of course, this does not mean that there aren't hardships in countries with UHC but not GNM for other-than-straight couples). My point is, in terms of transferability, it would be one less issue for other-than-straight couples, and it would strike a blow
This is why I am calling on organizations who support marriage equality to support HR 676, which would bring true single payer to the United States. Unfortunately, this bill has been languishing, due to the Democrats resting on their laurels with Obamacare (and without a stinkin' public option). These two issues, LGBTIQ rights and healthcare, are linked.
Think that all advocacy organizations consider the whole picture on LGBTIQ issues, think again? Take the case of the HRC; they are in bed with Merck, who...
This just proves that some groups which supposedly promote LGBTIQ rights fall below the mark, and that the two fronts must be united.....through patented AIDS medication make sure HIV + folks in Brazil and Thailand (and even the good old USA), cannot afford Efavirenz.
To see an earlier diary I did on transgendered people and healthcare, click here.
-Jordan Gwendolyn
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