PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELE KARLSBERG
Dr. Imani Woody.
➤ BODIES AND BARRIERS, from p.32
rus than the majority population.
We live with increased risk factors, and we live
with a system of healthcare that includes barriers
to care at every step of the way. LGBT people
are not more biologically inclined to be infected
by COVID-19, but the social and cultural barriers
in our society put us at greater risk. That’s
really what this book is about — LGBTQ people
telling our stories and the barriers to care we
have experienced in our lifetimes.
PAPO: In addition to healthcare workers, you
have said that this book is especially relevant
for policy makers and activists. Tell us about
that.
SHANKER: One of the most insidious things
that has been in the news this year is that during
a public health pandemic, the Trump administration
has sought to remove healthcare
non-discrimination protections. But let’s not
forget, healthcare bias against the queer community
is not a new issue. Healthcare workers
and organizations denying care to queer people
is not a new issue. The Trump administration is
taking our rights backwards, and activists for
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELE KARLSBERG
Laura Jacobs.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELE KARLSBERG
Atticus Ranck.
queer rights and for health equity should all be
speaking loudly to resist this! One effective way
to do so is by sharing unheard stories of LGBTQ
people’s experiences with the healthcare
system. That’s exactly what this book is for.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELE KARLSBERG
Liz Margolies.
PAPO: What do you hope this book helps to
accomplish?
SHANKER: I hope that this book helps to
empower more LGBTQ people to share our stories
of the healthcare experiences that have left
us feeling angry, scared, or dismissed. hope
that healthcare workers will read this book
and learn to provide better care for all their patients.
Ultimately, my hope is that this book is one
of many that centers the healthcare stories of
LGBTQ people and helps to achieve the dream
of health equity.
BODIES AND BARRIERS: QUEER ACTIVISTS
ON HEALTH | Edited by Adrian Shanker | PM
Press | $20; $8.95 e-book| pmpress.org/bodiesandbarriers
“Bodies and Barriers” | Editor Adrian Shaker in
Conversation with Contributors | Bureau of General
Services — Queer Division virtual event |
Sep. 17, &-8:30 p.m. | tinyurl.com/yxect65e
Sharon Papo, LCSW, is the executive director of
The Diversity Center in Santa Cruz County, California.
➤ THE BROTHER YOU CHOOSE, from p.33
to cops.
Eddie talked about being raised
in a house with a coal stove, and
the trauma of seeing how much
better the nearby white kids lived.
About his apolitical teenage exploits,
then seeing, as an army
sergeant stationed abroad, the
damage America was doing in the
world. Though he works now at
Baltimore’s Real News Network,
Eddie is always about organizing:
in the Panthers, inside prison,
and now, around Gilmor Homes,
where Baltimore cops killed Freddie
Gray.
Paul and Eddie outlasted bad
schooling, crap jobs, and 200
kinds of racism, including a phony
murder charge and 44 years in
prison. I respect them for surviving,
but that’s not why I love them.
I love them because, all through
those years, they’ve shared a spirit
that simply makes them laugh
when they’re together. Without
losing one ounce of ease or integrity,
Paul and Eddie just roar with
laughter at some of the shit they
lived through. Why? The minute I
start to look, it disappears.
In the spirit of The Revolution,
I wish this book could change the
world. Obviously, though, the world
needs way more than this book.
Says Ta-Nehisi Coates in the Afterword:
“We endure so many losses.
But here’s what’s important, no
matter the result: If you stand up, in
some profound way, you’re already
achieving something.”
So I tried. I came close. But if
failure is the essence of trying,
then I’m glad I failed.
THE BROTHER YOU CHOOSE :
PAUL COATES AND EDDIE CONWAY
TALK ABOUT LIFE, POLITICS,
AND THE REVOLUTION |
By Susie Day | Haymarket Books
| e-book at $10.19; paperback (180
pages) forthcoming | haymarketbooks.
org/books/1530-the-brotheryou
choose
September 10 - September 23, 2 34 020 | GayCityNews.com
/yxect65e
/GayCityNews.com
