Being a gay man with a physical disability all my life I know how it feels to be treated like a second class citizen.  I grew up and went to school in a small town from the mid 60’s through the mid 70’s.  I was verbally and physically attacked from elementary school through High School.  I became totally disabled in 2002.

Now the reason I am writing this.  During the period when I had no insurance, September 2002 – April 2008 I had to go to County facilities for treatment and medications.  Twice during this period of time by medical staff, I was told that I was living off the government and causing working class people to pay higher taxes.  This really hurt because I paid taxes for 33 years, since I was a teenager.  The federal taxes that I paid were put into a fund for retirement or in the case that I became disabled.  By 2006 I quit socializing because of the treatment I was receiving not only by these people but also by people I thought were my friends.

When I moved back to Long Beach in August 2006 I was looking forward to becoming active in my gay community after being gone for 20 years.  But I found myself not wanting to communicate with anyone so I just basically stayed in the house except to go out to eat and go to the coffee house by myself or to go to the store and to the doctors.  I wear headphones and listen to music so that I don’t have to have a conversation with anyone.  I finally decided to try and come out of my shell after two years and to be active in the community and socialize.  But what I have found was that the moment someone asks me what I do for a living and I tell them that I’m disabled, the conversation stops as if I have the plague.  I have had people call me out on my disability wanting me to prove to them that I am disabled and probably not meaning to hurt me.  This has been some of the most hurtful experiences I have had to endure since I was a child.  This has been coming from people who are so mad because they are being treated as a SECOND CLASS CITIZEN for not being allowed to marry, yet they turn right around and treat other people in just the manner that they are screaming about.  If you don’t want to be treated as a second class citizen, don’t treat other people that way.  I am sure that I am not the only disabled person who has been treated in this manner.

If you are disabled and have been or are being treated in this manner, please feel free to tell your story here.  Maybe if people read our stories here, they will think twice about treating someone who is disabled or different than them in this manner again.