Forum Post: Gay Veteran Horror Story and OWS Attitudes on Gays
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 18, 2011, 11:16 a.m. EST by arcticranger
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I am a software developer in New York City, I'm gay and I support my disabled Vietnam vet partner of 30 years. Tom was blinded in one eye not in the war but by a 22yo Chinese intern at the VA Hospital on 23rd street in Manhattan. It was supposed to be a minor procedure but instead she cut his optic nerve.
They discharged him that day, still in excruciating pain. When his sight never returned they kept stating it would take time. I myself lost my job at C & R Consulting in NYC for leaving the office to help him.
Finally we got a 2nd opinion at a major eye hospital and learned that Tom was indeed blind in one eye.
The VA's response was to switch Tom's doctors and claim that the eye had failed AFTER the operation (not true). In order to get any benefits (since he could no longer work) he had to sign forms stating the operation had been a success.
We survived, barely. My question here is not about the VA, which is such a filthy meat-grinder it should shame every politician to his knees, it's about how people on OWS feel about gay people in general. I want to see who you people are before I have any involvement. I'm not the 1% but I make a good living and see some hope for social justice here.
And yes VA reform is my personal pet peeve.
Homosexuals, bisexuals, transgendered, all are more than welcome to join our cause. Any homophobia or slurs will be dealt with swiftly. You are safe among us.
Although there are trolls here in the fora, who race-bait and utter homophobic slurs, the people here who support OWS here are about the 99%. That 99% absolutely includes the gay community. The administrator of this site is herself a transgendered person.
OWS supports Equality!
I used to drive disabled vets to the VA in a wheel chair bus
I don't recall any complaints on the service
Yes, as I understand it the VA plays hardball like most officers in the military. And of course Agent Organge is still a problem in Vietnam. It seems that Gulf War Illness has never been fully recognized and there are many soldiers that will need help with illness due to depleted uranium use. Iraq is supposed to be a total mess with cancer from 20 years of Bombing.
I don't seek any VA benefits and am healthy, but it is amazing all the resistance that the VA provides. Of course, there are military guys out there that give informal talks to vets to help them get 100% disabilities. You can meet guys that work out everyday, go to work, look fine, are strong and confident, but they have 100% disability. Funny is all.
I heard they finally closed the big army hospital Walter Reed. Makes me wonder if that wasn't just politics. Political cover-up for the poor treatment and controlled access to VA medicine. Why didnt' they remodel Walter Reed. VA Benefits are bounced in the worst Politics you can image. I hear most vets avoid VA hostpitals. But I hear the hospital in the Phillippines (Manila) is great for some guys.
I don't think I am a very trusting type person. And I'm not sure who you will meet in this forum, but they seem nice. I notice you have to search or find popular postings if you don't get comments on your blog/article/ideas.
OWS is about equality and anyone who doesn't support the L B G T community cannot truly understand what we are about!
P.S. In the 'old days' Veterans did not have the right to sue for medical malpractice but now you do-please seek legal counsel and yes, VA hospitals vary from one city to the next and my husband has experienced this between a few cities and states-Shinsheki needs to know from more Vets that they know there can be significant and dangerous differences (ie: in San Francisco Bay Area VA access to laser lithotripsy is available for treatment of kidney stones but Nevada would have to send the patient to San Francisco Bay Area if Veteran and Dr. demands it.)
I'm sorry about your partner's misfortune. After serving our country he deserves nothing but the best.
I have known many vets who have dealt with the VA, and the vast majority of them have encountered positive experiences. But any large institution is bound to screw up sometimes.
I know the VA is a prime target of the Right, they hate it because it is not a privately owned and run institution. I believe it is the one example of what the right likes to call socialized (or government-run) health care. That's what they erroneously call "Obamacare" as well, but the right is mostly an erroneous ideology in the first place. So if Republicons hate the VA, there is probably a lot of goodness to it.
I believe OWS' stand on gays is the same as the Democratic Party, equal rights for all. If I hear otherwise, I'm out of here.
Vegetarians and homos all seem to think the rest of us give a shit about what goes in their mouths.