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I’m Gay and I Want Medicare for All

By
Meagan Day

I support Medicare for All because it’s for everyone — but it’s especially important for gay and transgender people. It should be a central demand of the movement for our liberation.

ACT-UP New York protesting the pharmaceutical company Gilead for its price gouging of HIV-prevention drug PrEP. ACT-UP NY / Twitter

I’m gay and I want Medicare for All.

The main reason I want Medicare for All is that, like all people, I have a body that requires maintenance. The vast majority of the reasons I go to the doctor have nothing to do with being gay. Sometimes I have a bad cough or want my teeth cleaned. One time I needed an ambulance, and while it’s true that on that occasion I was coming home from a gay DJ night, what happened wasn’t gay-specific: I swerved to avoid an opening car door and was thrown from my bike, which could happen to anyone.

I had health insurance then, but the ordeal still cost me several hundred bucks. These kinds of costs are why people in the United States are afraid to call ambulances or hesitant to seek the routine health care we need.

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