I read an article today based around the story of two lesbian moms, Krista and Jami, and their struggle to find a doctor to care for their young daughter. An important issue was brought to light when their six day old child, Bay, was refused care by her doctor based on the fact that she is being raised by a lesbian couple. Although it is not legal to turn patients away for their sexual orientation, it is allowed if the patient’s personal beliefs and morals conflict with those of an individual’s religion (MyFOXDetroit.com Staff). This was the case for Dr. Vesna Roi who claims that she turned the couple away for this exact reason. This leaves many people who do not conform to sexual or gender binaries out of luck and without protection from this kind of discrimination. This singular incident that Krista, Jami and their child faced highlights a much larger problem in the LGBTQ community. Their basic rights to things such as healthcare and safety are not protected the way that those of straight, cisgender people are. Religious rights such as the one that protected Dr. Roi’s choice to deny this couple of her services are absurd and unjust. While I do believe that it is important to protect people’s religious beliefs and rights for things such as veiling in Muslim religions, for example, I feel as though there should be a line drawn when these religious beliefs become discriminatory towards other minorities. It is known that the Christian bible states that homosexuality is a sin but this should not be used as a crutch to strip people of their rights. In cases such as this, religion should not be protected over the basic human rights of anybody. Regardless of Dr. Roi having an unspecified religion, it is clear that through her resignation from caring for this couple’s child that her religion perpetuates ideas of compulsory heterosexuality. While religion should be protected, these discriminatory ideals should not be, especially when it comes to healthcare and other basic human rights.
The issue does not just stop at healthcare and this article is just a gateway to uncovering other ways in which gay and transgender people are oppressed in our society. There is actually a legal defence called “gay panic defence” or “trans panic defence” which protects perpetrators of violence, including murder, against LGBTQ people. The defence claims that straight and cisgender people are capable of harming a gay, transgender or intersex person in a state of panic or “insanity” and therefor the crime may be completely justified. This kind of inherent binary thinking is used as an excuse to oppress LQTBQ people further in our society. The first state to ban this defence was California, who abolished it in September of 2014 (Malloy). The fact that it took so long to ban such an outrageous defence with absolutely no scientific backing is truly indicative of the injustice LGBTQ people face. It also is reflective of smaller injustices such as the one that Krista and Jami faced which are still very much alive today. These things not only cause harm but they just end up perpetuating more injustice and violence towards people who deserve the same rights as everybody else.
Similar to the way that LGBTQ people remain unprotected by the law, people of colour are also targeted with oppression that blatantly ignores their basic legal and human rights. Relating back to the Mike Brown case from last August, and many other cases where black people have been murdered by white cops with no consequence, both of these minorities remain unprotected by the law simply because they are not white, straight and cisgender. Because we live in such a white supremacist society, white people can get away with the murder and oppression of people of colour the same way they do with gay and trans people. And although Krista and Jami’s case can be seen as very small and not quite as harmful in comparison to the Mike Brown case, its still so important to make sure that we fix even the smallest injustices or else the cycle will never end. It was not too long ago that anti-miscegenation laws were being upheld in the United States to instate racial segregation, the same way that there are still laws today banning gay marriage amongst other injustices. The connections I am making between Krista and Jami’s case and Mike Brown’s case show how homophobia and racism are structural rather than individual and how these are just specific instances that represent the many injustices that are happening every day because of the oppressive nature of our society. These cases are just are just small glimpses into the bigger picture which is that our social construct in blatantly built to favour a specific type of person and anybody else who doesn’t fall into this strict category of what is “ideal” will face oppression and have their rights stripped.
– EMW
MyFOXDetroit.com Staff. “Doctor Refuses Treatment of Same-sex Couple’s Baby.” – Fox 2 News Headlines. N.p., 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.
Malloy, Parker Marie. “California Becomes First State to Ban Gay, Trans ‘Panic’ Defences.”
Advocate.com. N.p., 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
125enjme said:
I thought that the way you turned your blog into an analysis of the article rather than just an opinionated response was very efficient and successful. You first gave a clear and unbiased summarization of the article’s content, giving the reader an overall idea of what it is about without being swayed by your personal opinion. You then appropriately state your position of the argument and give clear examples of your decision. At first when I read your comparison of the situation to that of Mike Brown, I thought it was quite irrelevant to be sidling an issue of racial discrimination to one of homophobia. However, you gave a perfect explanation of why you made that reference and how the two cases are related. I think the way you analyzed that “homophobia and racism are structural rather than individual” made for a very well-thought out argument. Overall, it is obvious that you put a lot of thought and effort into your blog entry.
~MMG
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125enjme said:
The connection you made between this article and “trans/gay panic defense” was a hard, but an important truth to read about. Oppression against the LGBTQ community is such a prominent problem in society still to this day, and is important to bring up. Relating the oppression of the LGBTQ community and the black community helped me reflect on my white / cisgender privilege in the “white supremacist society” you mentioned. It would have been interesting to read about your opinion on how to help these issues prevalent in our society to enforce equal rights. Overall I enjoyed reading your essay and about the extremely important points you have wrote about.
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125enjme said:
Having read this article myself, I think you did a great job relating the oppression that Jami and Krista experienced to societal issues on a bigger scale. I thought it was really interesting to read about the connections you made between racism and homophobia, because even thought that comparison does not initially come to mind, your Mike Brown example perfectly sums up your thought process. I also thought it was interesting how you touched on religious rights, and what counts as being respectful as opposed to using religion to oppress others, such as Jami and Krista. You made a great point when you mentioned that religion should never be more of a priority than the rights of others. Overall, I think you made some really great points, my only critique would be that I would have liked to read more about Jami and Krista’s personal story. Great job!
– ECW
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125enjme said:
I enjoyed your interpretation of the article featuring Baby Bay. Bringing religion to the matter, do you think religion should be used as a defence mechanism against not wanting to participate in something? As you stated the Christian bible constitutes homosexuality as a sin, but it also says not to judge everyone but instead to treat everyone with love. With that being said, do you think religion extends far enough in this case? Clearly the Doctor used religion claiming she didn’t want to commit a sin but by doing this she also goes against how the bible instructs individuals to treat others. I think if society allows people to use religion as a defence mechanism, their reasons why it “goes against their religion” should be outlined, because now, religion (a solemn component of life) is being thrown around as an excuse. As well, I thought your connection was very intriguing. Have the anti-miscegenation laws been introduced in Canada? Do you think our nation will go against societal norms and binary thinking, and implement these laws? It’s been a pleasure reading your thoughts on this article.
– JEC
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