Closeted Therapy

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Headed to the doctor? Be sure to check your rights!

I didn't really think about what is it like to be told you are not equal, to fully suffer from oppression until a few years ago when I saw a segment of the movie If these walls could talk 2.

I'll set the scene for you. The story begins in the early 1960's when two elderly women, who own a home together and have created a life together, are going about their daily routine. One of these things is to fill the bird feeder with bird food. As one of the women is doing this, she is spooked by a bird flying out of the bird house and falls off her ladder. She is rushed to the hospital and this is where it all changes. The healthy partner is now considered "just a friend" and is not permitted to be a part of any decisions and is shunned by all hospital staff.

The next scene shifts to the partner waking up in the waiting room and being just a little disoriented. She finally makes her way to the nurses counter and has to this time fight for some answers. The nurse working at the time decides to give in and obliges the gal with the information that her partner has died. Alone.

I want you to remember, this was just a movie. Made up scenes that told a story of lesbians, two women that loved and cared for each other, jilted by the system!

These stories aren't just made for Hollywood, these are true real life situations that people go through all the time such as The Case of Sharon Kowalski and Karen Thompson.

Consider the story of a local Seattle couple that were married and lesbians: Charlene Strong and Kate Fleming. Again, they were a couple just going about their daily routine. Kate working at her in home office in the basement of their Madison Park home. During a 2006 freak rain storm, Kate is trapped in the flooding basement. Charlene, who is now blocked out of the basement, does everything she can to get in or tear at the walls to save her partner from drowning. Without any luck, the fire department finally shows up and is able to cut through the floor and rescue Kate. Unfortunately it's a pretty grim situation. They were unable to restart Kate's breathing, and they rushed her to a local hospital.

Charlene followed the ambulance to the hospital and rushed inside to be by the side of her domestic partner, whom she had been with for over 9 years and had had a commitment ceremony to solidify it.

It was at this point she was stopped by a social worker and told that the State of Washington didn't recognize same-sex partnerships and that she would have to wait in the waiting room. As her partner lay dying in the emergency room, Charlene was helpless. She finally contacted some out of state family members of Kate's and was able to gain access to her partner. This was all done just in time for her to say I love you and to remove the ring of commitment from Kate's finger. Kate died shortly after this.

Through this tragic event Charlene didn't just fall over and die. She starred in an award winning documentary, For My Wife, and after years of work she stood by Governor Gregoire's side as she signed into law the domestic partnership bill.

Yet the story keeps repeating around the county, such as the news about the elderly gay couple Herald and Clay, who were cruelly separated and denied access to each other at the end of their lives after decades together.

These tragic stories are so real for so many gays and lesbians and straight couples alike. We don't want special rights, we want equal rights. To learn more about what gays and lesbians have to go through just to have equal medical rights, go here.

Image: If these walls could talk: http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l100udESAt1qzyieho1_400.jpg

Image: Charlene Strong testifying: http://ndn2.newsweek.com/media/8/071220_CharleneStrong_xtrwide-horizontal.jpg

The phone rings, the party on the other end gives all the details and within hours a jet is roaring it's way across the country. Sounds like the beginning of a great movie, huh? But this is not a pleasure trip or some sort of a vacation, it's a plane full of lawyers and public relations experts deployed like a SWAT team.

What's the urgent problem you ask? It's any hint or sign of that Wal-mart employees are talking to each other about unionizing at Wal-Mart stores.

How do you think the worlds biggest retailer does it? How can they afford to sell their goods for so little in yet stay on top and make so much money? Maybe they buy in bulk and then they turn around and sell products to the consumer at lower prices. Maybe it's because they don't make a ton of profit and they are just good to the people. These could, I guess all be real scenarios, but I doubt it!

What is really going on at Wal-Mart? How come they are so profitable? Maybe we should take a closer look at that great big store that has such great prices. Then maybe we should ask the employees!

Worker's at Wal-mart are forced into unpaid overtime and some long term employees who are more costly are pushed out and low wage, temporary, younger workers are brought in and given these positions. They are offered horrible benefits that they can't afford and we as tax payers are left to pay for those costs. Some employees say they work in anti-worker environments. Read more about employee benefits and working conditions from Dana Razaie a Wal-Mart employee.

How is this possible and why doesn't somebody do something about it?

One solid way of making all of this go away would be to unionize and get better treatment...right? Collectively come together and be many voices instead of one. Seems simple enough! Hold on, remember the jet in my opening paragraph? That jet is one of Wal-Marts union busting jets. They have a "union hotline" for all managers, if any talk of unions comes up. Wal-Mart has not only been successful at becoming the largest retailer in the world, (according to Wikinvest Wal-Mart made $408 billion dollars in FY2010) but they have also perfected the Art of Union-Busting.

After years of research from the Washington-based pressure group Human Rights Watch, some information is now available. It's even worse than some of us may have thought. There are security cameras and a "manager's toolbox", a manual which openly describes itself as a guide on "how to remain free in the event union organizers choose your store as their next target".

So, I ask you again. How do they do it? Well, it is very clear that it is done on the backs of their employees.

It's possible that people could give a darn about this story. They would probably say, if you don't like your job, quit! Which seems reasonable.

The problem isn't that these people should just quit, it's that Wal-Mart is taking advantage of their own corrupt system and that is what is wrong here.

I ask you to remember these employees the next time you save a couple of bucks while shopping at Wal-Mart. Think twice about where you shop and stop supporting these unfair practices. Nobody deserves it!




Wal-Mart photo from City-Data.com
Wal-Mart smiley face from www.blogacause.com