Guest post by Jose Sepulveda, Co-Chair, New York Eye & Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai LGBT Employee Resource Group
When Apple CEO Tim Cook came out, he said “We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick.” Coming out was not going to change his life. It was not going to change my life much either, but somewhere, there was a young teen who was able to see a little more hope. These small bricks, small steps forward, help the unseen.
It is humbling to write on behalf of an institution like Mount Sinai Health System. Mount Sinai is deeply committed to LGBT Issues and LGBT Health. June is LGBT Pride Month, and this year’s has now become one of the most significant Pride months in United States history. The Supreme Court has ruled that LGBT people have the same fundamental right to marry as everyone else in the country. This decision is deeply emotional for many LGBT people, including myself, and has tremendous psychological impact on the lives of many across the country. It is not lost on me that I am lucky. New York recognizes gay and lesbian marriage. But for many across the country, this was not the case until this week.
Members of the Mount Sinai Health System in the 2015 New York City Pride March
As we marched in the New York City Pride March on Sunday, June 28, one of the biggest gatherings in the country, our hope was that current and future LGBT needing healthcare will see Mount Sinai Health System as safe: a place where they will not be judged for something they cannot change; a place where they, too can find a little hope. LGBT Pride was not born of a need to celebrate being gay, but from our right to exist without persecution. I marched on Sunday for me and for those who cannot march. Thank you Mount Sinai Health System and our Office for Diversity and Inclusion for giving us visibility, for enabling us as employees and health care providers to be fully ourselves and for leading us in creating a future that promises all of us equitable access to quality healthcare. This is my brick.