Is there/should there be a gay/lesbian nurses association?

CHATSDALE · Jul 19, 2004

i agree with dixiedi...we do not need more division we need to work together ...i personally dislike labels like nationality-american unless you were born and raised in another country and then became an american citizenthen you shoulld just be an american....i also dislike labels like woman doctor or male nurseetc

leslie :-D · Jul 19, 2004

i don't think we need a gay/lesbian NURSE's association, per se, but do believe that gays should have an association of their own. for those of us who do not feel that it makes a difference what their sexuality is, i maintain that we represent the minority.

there are blatant isolation and discriminatory (i'm talking personal discrimination) issues that indeed still exist and just because some of us don't care, too many people still do. that's the harsh reality.

if there ever was a gay association, i would find it helpful to have all invited and not be exclusive to just gay people. let them have parties, barbeques, something informal but with invitations to the public in which any disparities would be bridged into a more accepting existence for straights and gays together.

do i need to take off my rose tinted glasses? :rolleyes:

leslie

Dixiedi · Jul 19, 2004

when it comes to the right to marry, raise a family, and live without discrimination, yes, gay people are "special". or so says the supreme court. sexuality is much more then what goes on between the sheets. :wink2:

that's just my point, g/l are not special. they should not be treated differently. i agree 100% with gay marriage, any family group deserves the benefits offered the family in this country.

i just don't believe pushing "it" into the faces of those who disagree will help, nor do i believe a special nursing association will improve the care of homosexual pts or the treatment of homosexual nurses in the workplace.

don't get me wrong or come back with something i said long ago. i personally believe homosexuality is wrong. however, it is not my place in this world to judge other people. a family is a family. and that is the important issue. after all, with divorce as high as it is, they aren't likely to be married all that long anyway! hehehe (hey, just threw that last part in there, crude joke.)

Headhurt, ADN · Jul 19, 2004

Is it necessary to have such an organization?

Are gay nurses being discriminated against? The last I knew, nursing was one of the few professions where homosexuality was not given a second thought. Isn't it sort of...understood...that there are a lot of gay people in the nursing field? (Don't flame me, blame the stereotype.)

What does being gay have anything to do with your nursing practice??

If there is a club for gay nurses, shouldn't there be a club for heterosexual married nurses?

Or what about "Single Promiscuous Nurses Who Only Sleep With Doctors"? Maybe even "Nurses With Breast Augmentation"?

Ofcourse, you need the "Male Nurses who Like to Wear Womens Panties and Eat Jello Club".

Why not add "Nurses with Great Big Hairy Moles on Their Butts Society"?

Its not enough for people to just know they are unique and be happy and comfortable with that...they have to belong to some sort of club where everyone else has to constantly reaffirm it.

Now if you excuse me, I have to go or I will be late for my "Nurses Who Have One Boob That is Bigger Than the Other Association". :rolleyes:

RN34TX · Jul 19, 2004

Im tired of having peoples sexuality stuffed down my throat!!! ...

I hope that you were also referring to the millions of straight nurses who love to broadcast their personal lives at nurses stations across the U.S.

I'm gay, but I too am tired of peoples sexuality being stuffed down my throat.

But every place I've ever worked it never seems to be quite as "inappropriate" to discuss those things at work unless the person is gay. Then people start getting offended and the meetings from administration begin.

The only reason I would want an organization is if it were able to help me gain "domestic partner" (or whatever the fancy term is these days) benefits.

I don't care about the "We're here, we're queer" stuff. I'm just trying to make a living just like you.

Every employer I've had preaches about being non-discriminatory yet none have ever provided health coverage for my partner.

My partner is a 36 year old healthy man with no medical history outside of acid reflux disease and I can't get him insured while he goes to RN school. My current employer stated in a newsletter that it would be too much of a financial struggle to cover people's domestic partners for benefits.

On the other hand, my straight co-workers can pop out one baby right after another and there always seems to be plenty of money in the budget for that.

RN34TX · Jul 19, 2004

Is it necessary to have such an organization?
If there is a club for gay nurses, shouldn't there be a club for heterosexual married nurses?
Or what about "Single Promiscuous Nurses Who Only Sleep With Doctors"? Maybe even "Nurses With Breast Augmentation"?
Ofcourse, you need the "Male Nurses who Like to Wear Womens Panties and Eat Jello Club".
Why not add "Nurses with Great Big Hairy Moles on Their Butts Society"?
Now if you excuse me, I have to go or I will be late for my "Nurses Who Have One Boob That is Bigger Than the Other Association".

Yes there should be clubs like that. Then maybe those nurses could talk about those things at their meetings instead of at the workplace.

I wouldn't qualify for any of them but I'd be happy to help start them so they would have people outside of the workplace to discuss their issues.

Sometimes I think that people don't have any friends outside of work and that's why we all end up hearing about our co-workers personal crap because they have no one else to talk to about it.

ktwlpn, LPN · Jul 19, 2004

:angryfire Thousands of people were legally enslaved and beaten, looked upon as inferior and ignorant, people were killed just because of their color:

let me remind you that people have been beaten and killed and enslaved for many other reasons-including sexual orientation and religion.African Americans don't corner the market on suffering -but you can start educating yourself by reading about the Holocaust) ....Why is an organization for gay and lesbian nursing professionals so repugnant to some of you when these organizations exist for every other race,creed,nationality and what have you...I believe that if you are comfortable with your own sexual prefernces and appetites then others sex-lives shouldn't bother you.....One's name tag need not announce any personal info at all for a patient to protest being cared for by a "queer" or an "inser racial epithet here"....It HAPPENS and we have talked about it at length on this very board....In this damn country if you aren't middle of the road whitebread you get prejudice at every turn.It does not have to be a cross burning on your lawn,either...

1BlessedRN · Jul 19, 2004

Being gay is not a "preference". I just am gay not through choice but because I just am.
If you think that being gay has no connection with professional life then what about facing discrimination at work? What about not getting equal benefits through work? What about suffering the loss of a partner and needing time off? All of these issues are relevant to the workplace, and next time a heterosecual coworker has to take time off because of a sick child or spouse, or is able to get benefits for their partner, then you will understand how personal life will always blur into the professional one.

As a minority, I have been faced with a lot of discrimnation/prejudice issues, due to the color of my skin, I don't go around wanting people to feel sorry for me, I am a excellent nurse and that is what counts, I have to put in my two cents because you are coming down pretty hard on the previous posts that's why I feel this thread shoud be closed because GAY/LESBIAN is a CONTROVERSY it was a choice by you to live this lifestyle so live with it, you knew the consequences before you came out of the closet... come on this is AMERICA!!!! it appears you all want everyone to feel sorry for you because of your preference well whoopty do who cares if you are gay, do your job as a trained nurse, if you want an organization (which I feel you shouldn't have one) support what you believe in and stop wasting your energy trying to get others to believe in what you believe in --it will not happen this is the land of IN GOD WE TRUST stop arguing and face the facts. :rolleyes:

rainbows4me · Jul 19, 2004

And this association would be something like the heterosexual nurses association, right?
Tell me, why do gay folk need to set themselves apart from the rest of us? Are gay folk special?

Take a look at the world today... there's nothing I'd like more than for my same-sex relationship to not be so "special". I'd like to not be set apart from the "rest of you". I'd like to marry my partner, not pay thousands of dollars each year in federal taxes on my family's healthcare insurance benefits, not have to spend hundreds of dollars with my attorney to be sure that if anything happens to myself or my partner that we won't be screwed by the government...

Last time I checked, there were a whole bunch of straight people trying their hardest to set themselves apart from the GLBT community.

rainbows4me · Jul 20, 2004

As a minority, I have been faced with a lot of discrimnation/prejudice issues, due to the color of my skin, I don't go around wanting people to feel sorry for me, I am a excellent nurse and that is what counts, I have to put in my two cents because you are coming down pretty hard on the previous posts that's why I feel this thread shoud be closed because GAY/LESBIAN is a CONTROVERSY it was a choice by you to live this lifestyle so live with it, you knew the consequences before you came out of the closet... come on this is AMERICA!!!! it appears you all want everyone to feel sorry for you because of your preference well whoopty do who cares if you are gay, do your job as a trained nurse, if you want an organization (which I feel you shouldn't have one) support what you believe in and stop wasting your energy trying to get others to believe in what you believe in --it will not happen this is the land of IN GOD WE TRUST stop arguing and face the facts.

actually I think the song goes.... "land of the free and the home of the brave"

and if I'm not mistaken, I think the God part about the founding of this country related to FREEDOM of religion! Amazing concept.

RN34TX · Jul 20, 2004

I feel this thread shoud be closed because GAY/LESBIAN is a CONTROVERSY it was a choice by you to live this lifestyle so live with it, you knew the consequences before you came out of the closet... come on this is AMERICA!!!! ......it will not happen this is the land of IN GOD WE TRUST stop arguing and face the facts.

This is America? No, sounds more like backwoods Southern talk.

It's ok, I love it down here but I always tell people that if you are gay and you want to live down here, you'll have to learn to tolerate a lot of that kind of talk.

I can't believe that in this day and age that people still refer to it as a "lifestyle." Like becoming a vegetarian or a nudist.

And why shut this thread down?

It's a lot more interesting talking about controversial things than some of the other boring topics brought up here.

Obviously you are interested in it or you wouldn't be here reading and commenting on it.

ktwlpn, LPN · Jul 20, 2004

As a minority, I have been faced with a lot of discrimnation/prejudice issues, due to the color of my skin, I don't go around wanting people to feel sorry for me, I am a excellent nurse and that is what counts, I have to put in my two cents because you are coming down pretty hard on the previous posts that's why I feel this thread shoud be closed because GAY/LESBIAN is a CONTROVERSY it was a choice by you to live this lifestyle so live with it, you knew the consequences before you came out of the closet... come on this is AMERICA!!!! it appears you all want everyone to feel sorry for you because of your preference well whoopty do who cares if you are gay, do your job as a trained nurse, if you want an organization (which I feel you shouldn't have one) support what you believe in and stop wasting your energy trying to get others to believe in what you believe in --it will not happen this is the land of IN GOD WE TRUST stop arguing and face the facts.

:rotfl: Well-THAT just takes the cake.......All I can say is at least the poster has the courage to speak her beliefs even if they are based on ignorance.Sexual preference is a choice just about like your God-given hair color is,hon.....You can lie and lie and cover it up all you want to but genetics won't lie....It's not a choice-it's what you ARE....