Growing up as a queer person in a conservative state, I thought I knew how it felt to be ostracized & abused.
But NOTHING prepared me for how awful society would treat me after COVID left me chronically ill & disabled.
Living with a highly politicized disease is a nightmare
🧵
But NOTHING prepared me for how awful society would treat me after COVID left me chronically ill & disabled.
Living with a highly politicized disease is a nightmare
🧵
The healthcare system has completely abandoned us. Doctors have no answers, and research is heavily underfunded. Instead of treatments, we are offered neglect and gaslighting.
There is zero sense of urgency, and very little in the way of curiosity.
There is zero sense of urgency, and very little in the way of curiosity.
The media understands: COVID is bad for business. Any attempt to share our stories in mainstream publications is crushed under the weight of capitalist interest.
We are not to be mentioned. Because if people knew the truth, they wouldn’t be so cavalier with their own health.
We are not to be mentioned. Because if people knew the truth, they wouldn’t be so cavalier with their own health.
When we advocate for more funding and research, we are met with onslaughts of right-wing zealots and troll farms.
They hope to bully us into submission, because we dare to speak out and demand better for the millions who are sick and languishing.
They hope to bully us into submission, because we dare to speak out and demand better for the millions who are sick and languishing.
And it’s not just conservatives. Democrats claim “victory” over COVID, as if it were some bygone era. A notch on their belt to remind voters of their unflinching courage and leadership.
They ignore the millions disabled by the pandemic, and the harms it continues to cause.
They ignore the millions disabled by the pandemic, and the harms it continues to cause.
Society writ large can’t be bothered to take even the smallest precautions to keep us safe.
We are forced to beg healthcare providers and loved ones to do something as simple as wear a mask—hoping to ensure another infection doesn't worsen our condition.
We are forced to beg healthcare providers and loved ones to do something as simple as wear a mask—hoping to ensure another infection doesn't worsen our condition.
Long Covid has left me largely bed-bound, and suffering horribly for two years. There are millions like me.
Everyone would sooner let us rot than lift a finger to do what’s right: provide dignity, respect, and TREATMENT to those who have been left disabled by a pandemic.
Everyone would sooner let us rot than lift a finger to do what’s right: provide dignity, respect, and TREATMENT to those who have been left disabled by a pandemic.
That is to say nothing of the millions before us with ME/CFS and other complex chronic conditions who have been tossed aside by medicine for decades.
We have tremendous work to do in creating a more equitable world.
We have tremendous work to do in creating a more equitable world.
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