LGBTQ women veterans face difficulty receiving quality health care in VA facilities due to the lack of proper resources and lack of accommodation for their unique needs, resulting in mistreatment and discrimination from staff and patients alike.
“When you think about who is most likely to be using VA care because they have no other options, it’s folks with lower socioeconomic earnings,” Church said. “You’re looking at minority veterans. You’re looking at veterans that live in the margins.”
Church said when she founded Minority Veterans, it started as five people in their living room. It’s now grown to more than 3,000 members around the world. “In our communities, people have just stopped going to the VA because trust has been broken,” Church said. “A lot of people that have already been harmed in the military are then harassed when they go to seek care at the VA. People just stop going.”
Church said shortly after they got married in 2020, they’ve been able to use their wife’s secondary insurance except when it comes to their service-related surgeries. In total, Church has undergone 11 surgeries on their sternum and spine, the insertion of breast implants and is currently in the midst of removing those implants after one ruptured.
“It’s wild how bad it is honestly,” Church said. “Women and LGBTQ people and racial and ethnic minorities are some of the most likely people to be sexually assaulted in the military, then to have to go to VA and get catcalled and harassed and have to defend their existence in a space that’s supposed to be there for them. … I feel like I have to put on armor just to walk into the VA. The last time I went, I felt myself getting small because it’s just the way it makes you feel.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Veterans see historic expansion of benefits for toxic exposure as new law nears anniversaryThe Biden administration is racing to sign up as many people as possible ahead of the anniversary of the law, which is the largest expansion of veterans assistance in decades.
Read more »
Padres, Dodgers put their faith in veterans Rich Hill, Lance LynnAfter a pair of games that featured big eighth innings and huge comeback wins, the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will go back at it in a nationally televised game on Sunday night.
Read more »
Veterans see historic expansion of benefits for toxic exposure as new law nears anniversaryHundreds of thousands of veterans have received additional benefits in the past year after President Joe Biden signed legislation expanding coverage for conditions connected to burn pits that were used to destroy trash and potentially toxic materials.
Read more »
Veterans see historic expansion of benefits for toxic exposure as new law nears anniversaryNicole Leger always thought of the burn pits at military bases in Afghanistan as more like campfires than health hazards. Ordered to dispose of sensitive documents, she would toss the paperwork into the flames while catching up with fellow soldiers, moments of quiet bonding that provided a respite from her riskier work as a hastily trained medic for the U.S. Army.
Read more »
Benefits for veterans expand as new law anniversary nearsNicole Leger always thought of the burn pits at military bases in Afghanistan as more like campfires than health hazards. Ordered to dispose of sensitive documents, she would toss the paperwork into the flames while catching up with fellow soldiers, moments of quiet bonding that provided a respite from her riskier work as a hastily trained medic for the U.S. Army.
Read more »
Two US military veterans killed in drone attack in UkraineTwo U.S. military veterans were killed late last month while fighting in Ukraine, marking the latest of a growing number of Americans who have fought against Russian soldiers and died in the embattled country. Lance Lawrence, a former U.S. Marine, and Andrew Webber, a former Army officer, both died on July 29 during an operation...
Read more »