I hear what you are saying, but I think you missed my point. I am not arguing that we should abandon our push for full equality now and focus on health care, I’m arguing that the LGBT community should be able to balance several issues. Health care is on the minds of congress members right now. We must join the conversation or shut up when we are upset with the results of the bill. There are 5 bills on the table right now and we must make sure LGBT citizens are represented in the final bill. If you are unhappy with the contents of the legislation then now is the time to offer concrete solutions because a bill is on the way. One thing is clear, without addressing the issues I brought up, the LGBT community is paying a far higher cost for health care than our heterosexual friends and family. That is a civil rights injustice that must be resolved.

It’s not so much that I oppose health care reform so much as I think President Obama and the Democratic Congress do not know what they are doing. I’d like a nice reform bill to pass, but they haven’t sufficiently addressed people’s legitimate concerns.

All GLBT persons will be impacted by this legislation in the form of the resulting higher deficit. Seniors among GLBTs will be at risk of reduced coverage and other doomsday scenarios should our health care system disastrously collapse under the weight of increased coverage without 1) the money to pay for it or 2) an increase in the number of doctors and hospitals to continue to provide adequate coverage for more people. I do not accept for a moment the proposition that the opponents of the progressives’ health care reform are spreading lies and fearmongering. President Obama’s speech addressed some of the weaknesses of the current health care reform bills, but not all of them.

I see no compelling reason to link the struggle for health care reform and the struggle for civil rights. They are separate political issues. It would be far more productive to argue (as some have) that now is the time to demand full GLBT rights regardless of the political climate that considers other issues as being more urgent. Unfortunately those of us who are politically aware or active have to prioritize. But saying that progressive GLBTs should support health care reform is implcitily saying we should prioritize health care reform over gay rights. Which, however much that may actually be true, isn’t something GLBTs should be admitting.