Renee Baker, Ph.D.EE, LPC

Edge Publications Story By Renee Baker, May 16, 2008

Chastity Bono is a real person, a real person with depth and soul and she knows how connect with her audience without even trying. She felt honored to be the first keynote speaker at the inaugural GLBT Summit meeting, held at Rice University in Houston this past Monday.

This is the first time the Texas Diversity Council (TDC) has embraced a GLBT summit meeting, and is doing so to celebrate an even broader aspect of diversity. TDC joins the Dallas and Houston Steering Committees of the Human Rights Campaign and the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Affiliate Chapter of Out & Equal in hosting the summit meeting. Ron Ausemeus, Council Chair for the Out and Equal Chapter, says the summit was designed “to focus on GLBT workplace topics.”

About 200 guests attended the GLBT summit and anxiously awaited Bono to speak, though on what topic was only speculation during the Texas-style fajita luncheon. Jamey Seely, honorary chair for the summit as well as VP and General Counsel of Direct Energy, welcomed everyone to the summit and introduced Bono. Bono is the daughter of Cher and the late Sonny Bono and frequently appeared on the Emmy nominated Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour during the early 1970s.

Bono, whose career has been in performance, music, writing and advocacy, felt perhaps there were expectations that she would speak on corporate diversity issues. She opened up her talk saying “I wish I could regale my experiences in corporate America to you. Unfortunately, I have no experience.” The luncheon crowd responded with laughter, obviously knowing her national celebrity status did not take her into a life of a typical corporate employee.
After sharing a few of her life achievements, such as her prominent position as GLAAD’s entertainment and media advisor and her campaign support for former President Bill Clinton, she jokes “I feel like I’m reading my resume.” With that, she said she would share her coming out story and take questions from the audience, which she says she enjoys the most.

“Coming out is a process…and mine was a big process,” Bono said. “I felt different. It was when I was 13 years old that I figured out I was gay.” She said she figured it out while watching a film called Personal Best. “When I saw that love scene between two women, it clicked,” she said to a chuckling audience.

Bono, born in 1969, did not come out publicly until she was 25 years old and writing for The Advocate. This was after denying rumors she was gay, as spread by the supermarket tabloid Star magazine in 1990. She said, “No one was out then, and that was one of the most terrifying things that happened to me.” She joked, “Even Elton John was still bisexual then.” She added more seriously, “I was so scared and so spooked that at that time I was not able to do it.” In regard to Star outing her, she feels strongly that outing is wrong and should be a personal decision. But she didn’t mind adding slyly, “with the exception of perhaps Republicans.”

She said she went back into the closet for her career as a musician. “I was putting out my record then. I’m sure none of you have heard it. It sold to friends and family.”

After her partner died of cancer, she realized how much they could have done if they had not been in the closet. She did not want any more regrets and “needed to get on with life” and come out.

When she came out formally in The Advocate in 1995, the response she got back was “absolutely tremendous”. “All sorts of organizations came forth” she said. “HRC was actually in the process of introducing ENDA then.”
While on the topic of ENDA, she was asked her opinion of how the HRC handled the dropping of gender expression from the ENDA bill. “It’s horrible. I really disagree with HRC on that. I am just really disappointed. We are one community and have to start behaving as one community.” She continues, “The people that hate us, hate us. The people that support us, support us. I don’t think there are many politicians who would say, ’If you took out trans, you would have had me’. Trans people start off as gay and lesbian and are a big part of the family.”
Bono came out to her parents when she was a teenager, but waited until she was just barely an adult. “I thought I had to be 18 when I told them,” she said, explaining it was as if there was some rule about it.

She told her father first, as she “had a better relationship with…dad at the time”. “I left gay books around, and eventually he took the hint,” she said. Her Republican father, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, was said to have told her, “I want you to know that you can tell me anything” which was his way of saying he knew. Bono told her mom last, which she said was a mistake “as it made it worse for her.”
Bono added, “Those years were great and ignorant. ” It was a time when many celebrities came out, such as “K.D.”, “Melissa” and the Indigo Girls. “It was a celebratory time to be gay.”

Bono also addressed a number of other questions from summit participants. On the future of our youth, she commented “The changes we have seen are cultural changes. It’s gonna get better and better. [Being gay] is just not a big deal to [our kids] today.” She added, “Everyone has a gay, lesbian, bi or transgendered friend or family member, but may not know it. Americans are really a lot farther along than are representatives are.”

On legalizing gay marriage, Bono said, “I’ve always thought we should not call it marriage.” She believes that domestic partnership would be an acceptable compromise. “Marriage causes religious folks to freak out.” Her comments came one day before California became the second state to declare that same-sex couples have a right to marry, going beyond domestic partnerships, which the California Supreme court rejected as being similar to the idea of separate but equal.

Bono was asked too, where we should go from here as a gay community and how we should build allies. “Well, as far as allies, PFLAG is my favorite organization for that. There is nothing scarier than a pissed-off PFLAG mom.” The lunch crowd laughed. “When we get there, it will be the end of censoring”, she said, and then said it will be a time that we can all talk like straight people, without fear. “The best way to gain allies is to let them know us. You have to normalize what it is to be gay.” She said that most people are more accepting than we think. “I’ve come out to many strangers on airplanes. I have yet to have someone ask to be moved to a different seat.”

Bono left the audience wanting more, and received a standing ovation. She warmly greeted summit guests both before and after her talk. As one woman said to her, “You have really touched my heart. Would you be open to a hug?” “Of course”, said Bono, who could only close her eyes and smile during the embrace.

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Silence was broken at 7:00 p.m. in Reverchon Park in Dallas last Friday, April 25, coinciding with the National Day of Silence. The Breaking of the Silence event began as both straight and LGBT students ended their days in school quietly protesting harassment and violence against LGBT youth. Nearly 150 were in attendance including support from over 20 local community organizations. Among the attendees was Dr. Steve Mittelstet, President of Richland College in Dallas. The event was organized by the Dallas Chapter of the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Youth First Texas.

The Day of Silence this year was in honor and remembrance of Lawrence King, a 15 year-old boy shot in school on February 12 because of his gender expression and sexuality. The guest speaker for the event was Rochelle Evans, a transgendered youth from Fort Worth, who received the Lawrence and Garner Courage Award for standing up to the Fort Worth ISD for her right to present as female. Rochelle received a standing ovation after reading her poem about King entitled Shout.

“The poem by Rochelle was amazing,” said Beau Heyen of GLSEN. “In fact, the youth brought so much to the event. However, I feel the true power came in the mere fact that teens and adults, students and community members came together as one voice. To truly create change we have to continue this one voice.”

Heyen also spoke to a standing ovation, when he announced that Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert proclaimed April 25, 2008 to be Day of Silence Day in Dallas. The idea for the proclamation came from Heyen, a key organizer in the Breaking of Silence activities, who initiated contact with the Mayor’s office and helped draft the proclamation.

About 15 youth shared their Day of Silence school experiences at the open mic event. Casey Torrey, 17, of Richland Collegiate High School, who quit his job due to harassment for “not being a straight boy,” felt the event was needed. “The Day of Silence is an extremely important when it comes to awareness of hate crimes, more specifically GLBTQ hate crimes,” Torrey said.

Torrey was completely silent until he left school. “A lot of people questioned why I was silent, and when they did so I showed them an index card explaining my vow of silence.” He said most people respected his vow, though one individual sarcastically commented, “Oh! You’re doing that thing for the gay club.” He added, “Other than that, teachers were very enthusiastic about the vow of silence.”

Joshua Sabik, 17, of Allen High School also stayed silent that day from the moment he woke up, until he got home from school. Sabik said, “I went so far as to order my coffee and lunch via post-it note!” Sabik, who has supportive parents, added “The Day of Silence is important not only in that we demonstrate to others the silence faced by many, but that we also reflect on what we can do as individuals to end the silence. However difficult it was for me to be quiet for one day, it will never match the silence kept by others who are harassed and bullied at school.”

Judith Dumont, Director of Administration for Youth First Texas, who helped organize the Breaking of Silence Event, said we often forget what it was like to be a youth ourselves. “Many people, gay or straight or trans, simply forget to hold the experiences of GLBTQ youth at the pulse of their everyday experiences. While certain people might not discriminate against this lifestyle, they might forget what it means to walk through the halls of school and hear homophobic remarks…to be called ’faggot’ or ’dyke’ or hear ’that’s so gay.’”

Dumont perhaps clarified the severity of how difficult it is to be a GLBT youth by her comment, “We must remember that every 5 hours a GLBTQ teen successfully commits suicide. One youth is too many to lose, let alone 5 youth a day…this is epidemic.”

Dumont would like to see the Breaking of Silence become an annual event and thanked Bank of America for a grant of $5000 to the Youth First Texas Gay Straight Alliance fund, making the event possible.

A similar metro area event called the Night of Noise was held at Bruce Concert Hall at the University of North Texas in Denton for those unable to travel to Dallas. Earlier in the day, about 20 students participated in a peaceful demonstration near the Student Union. Nora Lewis, activities coordinator for the Gay and Lesbian Association of Denton, said “Students held signs that said ’Break the Silence’ and wore black bandanas to cover their mouths.” She said that straight allies were there to speak on behalf of those remaining silent.

For more information on the National Day of Silence, see http://www.dayofsilence.org.

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In June of 2008, “Maria Johnson” found herself on unpaid medical leave of absence, HIV positive, and six months pregnant.With no income, she could not afford to pay the costly health insurance premiums that would cover medical care and the prescription HIV medications that would protect both her and her unborn child.

So the 28-year-old Johnson turned to the Resource Center of Dallas for help, said Bret Camp, RCD’s associate executive director of health and medical services.

Thanks to their Ryan White Insurance Assistance Program, Camp said, Johnson was able to keep her private health insurance, which provided her with the anti-viral medication needed to protect her baby boy, who has tested HIV negative since his birth last September.

But many unemployed or underemployed HIV-positive workers don’t find help because they are unaware of RCD’s Insurance Assistance Program, Camp said.

The IAP, which is funded through the Ryan White Planning Council of Dallas, provides financial assistance by paying health insurance premiums and prescription medication co-payments, he explained. Medication costs for HIV treatment remain high, and state-of-the-art medicines can cost as much as $1,400 per month.

“It is not unusual,” Camp said, “to see co-payments as high as $300 a month.”

Camp said there are 15,000 people in Dallas County living with HIV, yet only 9,000 of them are utilizing services at the various health agencies in the county. This leaves 6,000 that are in either in private care or not seeking health services at any location.

He said more people need to be aware of the program because so many are losing their private health insurance and falling into public health care systems, which cost Dallas County millions of dollars each year. And the cost for the insurance premiums is much less than the costs accrued when clients are enrolled in overcrowded public healthcare systems.

Although the Resource Center’s mission is to provide support to the North Texas LGBT community, anyone who is HIV positive may apply for the IAP program, Camp said. According to Client Services Manager Bethany Kramer, RCD currently serves 2,311 clients, with approximately 40 percent identifying as straight.

The IAP does limit participation to those who earn no more than three times the federal poverty level after medical expenses are backed out. And assistance is also limited to a maximum of $750 per month.

About 400 individuals are currently enrolled in the IAP, though Camp believes this number would be higher if the program were fully utilized.

Craig Hess, insurance assistance coordinator at RCD, said for those recently laid off, the timing of getting enrolled in the IAP is critical.

Laid-off employees are generally allowed to continue their health insurance through the 1985 COBRA Act, Hess noted, but they must pay for the insurance premiums themselves — and they must enroll in the first few months.

The problem is, Hess said, the COBRA payments are often untenable. And if premiums are not paid before insurance coverage runs out, the client’s HIV status will be earmarked as a “preexisting condition” when they reapply for insurance in the future.

Discrimination against those with HIV is yet another concern. Hess said that a number of Resource Center clients report being laid off because employers deemed their health care costs as unacceptable, and insurance companies may discriminate as well.

“Insurance companies can’t cancel your coverage for having HIV, but they can raise your rates,” Hess noted.

He recommended that anyone who suspects they may have been discriminated against because they are HIV-positive contact the Legal Hospice of Texas.

The Ryan White Insurance Assistance Program is available through the Resource Center for those living in the seven-county area including Dallas, Ellis, Henderson, Navarro, Grayson, Fannin and Cooke counties.

For more information, contact Craig Hess through the Resource Center Web site at www.rcdallas.org.  For those in the Greater Tarrant County area, the IAP is available through the AIDS Outreach Center at www.aoc.org.

Renee Baker is a licensed massage therapist and transgender diversity consultant and may be reached on her Web site, www.renee-baker.com.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 8, 2009.

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http://www.dallasvoice.com/under-utilized-program-can-help-hiv-positive-maintain-insurance-1019318.html