Here’s the full text of Esther Garatie’s statement:
October 13, 2011
My name is Esther Garatie, and I am an Honorably Discharged Veteran of the United States Marine Corps. I was badly injured while serving my active duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom, in California. After seeking council from my Master Gunnery Sgt., it was decided that it would be best for me to separate from the Corps medically. Yesterday, October 12, I went to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Dallas, TX. I went in search of help because I have been suffering from severe depression and anxiety for years following the unexpected end of my service to my country. I prayed for days beforehand, and the whole way there that morning. I asked God to allow whatever was supposed to happen to me that day, whatever his plan was for my life, for it to happen, and for him to be with me every step of the way. I was lost, hopeless, and already in a horrible place mentally, and I felt like this was literally my last hope in life.
I checked in as a new veteran to the area, as I am originally from New Orleans, LA. I was treated wonderfully by the staff as I checked in. I felt surprisingly optimistic about what was about to happen. I was told that I could immediately be seen by a Mental Health professional, that day. Finally, I would be able to get the help I needed. I thought of infinite possibilities and outcomes, and even the possibility of re-enlisting and being able to continue to serve my God and country. I felt hopeful, for the first time in years. That quickly changed.
I waited in the waiting room for my appointment, and filled out all the normal check-in paperwork, which included my current menstrual cycle, as I had also been suffering pain from Endometriosis, a female disease. I included information about my medical discharge injuries, while serving active duty, and that I was suffering from severe depression and possibly PTSD. I heard my name called, “Esther.” I got up and walked toward the voice of the woman, who barely looked at me, and called me “Sir.” I followed her into her office and before I sat down, politely said, “Actually, it’s Ma’am…. My name is Esther.” She sat down and looked at me, and her first question to me was, “Are you a Lesbian?” I honestly stopped for a moment in shock, not knowing what to say. Nowhere on the form, I had just filled out, did it ask me anything about my sexual orientation. I was so confused! I answered honestly, “Yes, I am gay.”
At this point I wasn’t really sure what to think. She then began to ask me about my depression and anxiety, and I became very emotional. This was why I was there, because my depression had gotten so bad that I had had horrible thoughts of suicide previously, and knew that I needed professional psychological help. Her second question to me was, “Have you asked God into your heart? Have you been saved by Jesus Christ?” This is when I realized that I was no longer a United States veteran in her eyes, I was just a homosexual.
The fact is, I was raised in a Non-Denominational church for most of my life, and consider myself to have a very personal relationship with God. I was saved, baptized, twice actually. The first time I was a child and it was my parent’s decision, so I asked to be baptized again when I became a teenager and was able to make that decision for myself, and ask Jesus, again, into my heart.
After I told the Nurse Practitioner this, she began preaching to me about ‘the light’ and ‘the darkness’. She told me I was surrounded by darkness, and depressed because I was living in sin, and the only way to be happy again was to come back to ‘the light.’ She turned off the lights in her office and asked, “What do you see?” Honestly, her computer monitor was illuminating her face, so all I could see was her face and this darkness in her eyes as she looked at me. I didn’t know how to answer. I didn’t even know what was happening. I was almost terrified in that moment, and I am a Marine, someone who doesn’t scare easily. I said, “It’s darker in here…?” She said, “Yes darkness, it’s surrounding you.” She then turned the light back on and said, “Now there is light! The darkness is Satan, and the light is God.”
I have read and studied my Bible my entire life. I was named after Queen Esther, from the Bible. I am very familiar with not only her story, but numerous stories that are preached throughout many different organized religions. At this moment, all I wanted to do was leave, because I realized I had just entered this woman’s own idea of Christianity, or belief system, and was about to receive a sermon of whatever it is she believes to be true. I remembered praying on the way there that day, and talking to God personally, and something inside me told me I needed to stay, no matter how much I wanted to run out that door.
She then asked me if I was a man or a woman. I immediately responded, “I am a woman, obviously! What are you talking about?” She proceeded to tell me that in the beginning, God made man, and breathed life into this man, and that woman was created from man. She then told me several other stories about St. Peter, and the pearly gates of Heaven, and the fiery pits of Hell, where those who live in darkness will be cast and taken by the dark angels when St. Peter tells them “your name isn’t in the book”. This went on for what seemed like forever. I honestly was sometimes partially listening, and partially praying to myself, at this point, “God, give me the strength, just give me strength.”
She then began giving me names of people who have chosen to go back to ‘the light’ and have become evangelists, and said I should be hopeful because there were churches now that actually accept homosexuals. She continually pointed at her office door, the one all I wanted to do was run out of, and she said, “When you walk out this door, you need to pray and ask God for whatever his purpose is for your life, for him to show you, and bring you to his light.” Ironically, this is something close to what I have prayed for every single day, since I left the military service, and had just prayed for that morning. I had been praying for whatever God’s will was for my life, for him to show me the way and use my life to best service Him and His message. This is the moment when she told me that “…maybe God’s plan for your life is to choose to return to the light, and then you could ‘help’ your friends, who are still in darkness and going to Hell, back to the light. When I started practicing medicine there was actually a diagnosis for homosexuality, but they’ve gotten rid of that now, since Obama.” Immediately, I answered “Do you think I chose to be gay? Why would I choose to have to deal with persecution because of the person I happen to fall in love with and want to spend the rest of my life with? I was born this way, I was born gay.” She, again, asked me whether I was a man or a woman. I answered in the same way I did previously, becoming more and more confused with what was still happening, and she said, “We all have a choice.” I agreed and said, “Yes, God gave us free will, we choose to walk in his footsteps, and be the best person we can be. We choose what values are most important to us, we choose not to cheat, or steal, or hurt one another. We choose to spread the message of love and acceptance, instead of hate and persecution, but we, or at least I did not choose to be gay! God made me this way, and my God does not make mistakes!” She said, “God doesn’t make mistakes, he made you a woman.” I said, “Yes, I know I am a woman, but homosexuality occurs in nature with animals too, are you saying that that is a mistake made by God?!” She ignored me, and gave me a pamphlet to read on anger management while she began typing on her computer.
At this point, the woman then began asking me about my experiences with men, the opposite sex. “How many boyfriends have you had? Did you kiss them? Did you touch them? Did you have sex with them? How did you feel when you were kissing them?” I was completely mortified, and this overwhelming feeling of disgust at the thoughts and things she was asking me just came over me in that moment. I felt so confused and angry, and an indescribable depression, all at once. She kept pointing at the door. Now, more than ever before, as she pointed and continued speaking all this nonsense, all I could think of was how, when I walked out that door, I wanted to and was going to kill myself, without question. The tears began pouring down my face like never before, because I had already felt lost going in there, but not like this! I truly wanted to die at that moment, because she was telling me that I was already going to Hell because of the person I fell in love with…. “Why not go ahead and kill myself now, then?” I thought to myself.
As I sat there crying and trying to hold myself together, so confused, and feeling more lost and suicidal than when I walked in that morning, she stopped typing, looked over at me and asked, “If a homosexual woman is called a Lesbian, what do you call a man who is homosexual?” Completely dumbfounded, I replied, “I don’t know, gay!” I was so incredibly hurt, angry, and confused. She stared at me crying and gave me my diagnosis. “You are definitely depressed,” she said. “The reason you are so upset is because you feel the darkness surrounding you, and you feel guilty about being a homosexual and living in sin. I’m going to prescribe you some anti-depressants, maybe they’ll help, but I’m not saying that you aren’t going to continue to want to kill yourself.” The woman then gave me a magnet with a number to call, a suicide hotline, and said, “Call that number before you do.” Those were the words of a Nurse Practitioner, at a VA Hospital, that I was left with, as I walked out the door, contemplating my inevitable demise.
Hi,Im so sorry you had to be subjected to this kind of hate treatment by someone who takes an oath to help people.You dear lady are a brave,admired creature of beauty and strength,one who I am forever thankful to for protecting our country.Stay strong,stand proud,keep on being the woman our God created you to be.One of dignity,with morals and values and one who is really pretty to boot..hugs
Cecilia Martinez-Carlisle I am so sorry for your pain! Always remember that Jesus came to teach us all acceptance and to love one another. Unfortunately, some chose to pick and chose what the want to believe. They forget that the Christ was about spreading the Good News about salvation. And that includes following his word about love. When someone can accept each other and show compassion, that is when they have accepted Jesus into their heart!a few seconds ago · Like
I am sorry that you had to endure that. I am a veteran and I too have a story that is similar. I have been attempting to find a doctor sympathetic to the fact that I have developed several symptoms that are related to my original discharge diagnosis. I have been rated for depression too. I was referred to the women’s clinic and went through the process of getting my blood drawn and transferring to the doctor in the Dallas VA women’s clinic.I went into the clinic one day about three weeks after a regular appointment with my doctor. I had a bad bladder infection and could not urinate. She had started me on a new medication to treat mild incontinence. I had tried to get through to the clinic by phone to ask to come in on short notice. I could not get them to return my calls so I decided to showup in person to get seen. When I arrived no one was at the front desk so I knocked on the door to the clinic–a nurse ask what I wanted and I explained that I really needed help–I was pretty upset at this point fearing that I would not be able to get help–keep in mind I was really uncomfortable I had not been able to empty my bladder in nearly three days! And I did n ot know it was the medication that was causing my problem. I insisted that I needed to be seen, finally they agreed to see me and the doctor was called and agreed to see me I was told “even though this was not her day to see patients”. The nurse who triaged me first asked “So what can we do for you today Ms. Bennick” I said, “I am in a lot of pain and unabe to urinate”. She took a look at my record and said, “Ms. Bennick you see you have to go for your ultrasound appointment and take your medication–we won’t do anything until you are seen in followup after the tests are run”. The tone of her voice was so condesending and since she was totally ignoring that I was in pain and needed help immediately! This frusturated me. so and I said “I cannot wait-I cannot pee. I need help now!”
The nurse then stated, “I am caling security you are out of hand and you are threatening me!” At this point I got really scared — I feared she would falsely accuse me of anything at that point. I got out of the room as quickly as possible and found the other nurse and told her that the triage nurse threatened to call security on me just because I said I was in pain and neded help now! I was in tears crying out loud and visibly upset. The doctor did see me. Security was called and I had to file a report with them before I was seen. I went to the patient advocate. The doctor did followup with me a few days after the incident. They had put me on 3 days of antibiotics and I told her I would not take that medication again. I have been back to be seen and there has ben a slight improvement in the way I am treated by the doctor and the staff. I dread my appointments and when I get sick in any way I will do everything I can to avoid going to the doctor at the VA. I know that my condition is caused by my military servide and I have the compensation to prove it–but my body has new symptoms and I also know that my diagnosis is not a complete diagnosis. I have filed another claim to get the record straight it has been over a year in processing and still no response. In the meantime I spend cash to go see a civilian physician so that I can get care for the things the VA refuses to recognize. I have begged the doctor to see me more frequently so that we can deal with all the physical problems one at a time. She has literally stated to me that she will only treat three items with each visit and she will not allow me to schedule followups within less than 3 months. My condiion includes several issues with my female organs and I have had years of mennorhagia that has gone untreated! The VA says they take care of us and that regardless of sexual orientation or race or gender we are all going to be treated the same. This has not been my experience. Please do not give up! Write a letter to the top administrator at the VA facility and take this to the Patient Advocate office!
My previous reply is rife with spelling error and I want to say that I am not a great typist and did not spell check it first. I was also quite emotional when I was typing my reply I realy feel sorry that you and I and so many vets are being treated with so much disrespect. Lets work together to change this!
First I would like to thank you for your service.
It is incomprehensible to me that a veteran of a branch of the US Armed Forces can be treated this way in a Veteran’s medical center. The behavior of the Nurse Practitioner is completely unprofessional. I will do everything in my power to get this link to go viral.
I would begin seriously questioning this nurse’s credentials if she doesn’t even know what year homosexuality was removed from the DSM. I weep for whatever institution gave that woman a nursing degree. Because of Obama indeed! Is there anything the guy doesn’t get blamed for?
I found this on face book. Your story is being shared. The behavior of that NP is despicable! Health care professional are trained not to preach our beliefs (religious or political) to patients. I am shocked that a professional would attack a patient when they are so vulnerable! I hope that this NP has been disciplined and counseled, if not fired!
I love you es! And miss your dearly! I’m so proud of you and can speak personally of the amazing person that you are!! I hope you get justice and also receive the medical treatment that you need!! Love you much!
I’m truly sorry for what you went through. I hope that you can get the help that you need. I don’t know discrimination but I do know depression. I will be praying for you. Later when you’ve gotten help and things are better I would seriously consider reporting her. No one should have to go through something like that.
E, I sincerely believe that your prayers that morning were answered and I am so proud that you were able to use the strength he was giving you to sit through such a horrible experience. I know that he only did this because he knew you are one of his strongest and he had a plan in store…and that plan is playing out-you are setting a loving and strong example for all of us, delivering a message (his message of love) and making even more progress! You were a hero when you walked into that place and you walked out with your new ‘mission’ and as a friend of yours who can testify of your love for others, I have no doubt that you are heroic enough to “save” many lives and reach many people with this testimony! Love and miss you!
Ms. Garatie, please accept my sincere gratitude for your sacrifice and service to the country we share as our home. Between this Nurse Practitioner’s gross betrayal of her patient’s need for safety and security, and her gross ANTI-UNDERSTANDING of homosexuality (and even gender identity!) she has zero business in a psychiatric clinic. I had a saying during my own years working in clinic: “If you can’t maintain a truly high standard of both quality work and quality care, get the hell out of the medical business. Go screw up somebody’s hamburger. It won’t kill or cripple them.” You have already sacrificed so much, and yet here you are again putting your neck on the line, to expose a problem that is *absolutely* not just your problem. I hope that you can see that even with the damage you’ve sustained and the struggle you’re enduring, your character, your intelligence, and your strength are a wealth beyond measure. You WILL find a better care provider, and when you do, you will do GREAT.
that nurse should have been fired on the spot
File a complaint with the Texas Board of Nursing:
https://www.bon.texas.gov/about/complaint.html
If you haven’t done so, contact the VA directly and file a complaint. I’d suggest contacting your local Representative and Congressman, but I doubt Sen. Cornyn or Hutcinson will send you anything but a form letter.
Sometimes one of the most straightforward reasons for not committing suicide is the prospect of how much your getting out of bed each morning pisses off people who will be annoyed simply by your continuing to do so, and who thus desperately deserve exactly that annoyance.
Keep strong and don’t let close-minded, incompetent bigots like the woman that ‘treated’ you bring you down. I cannot imagine what you’re living through, but you’re living through it. The woman spoke of darkness surrounding you… I think she’s about as dark as any force you’ll find in this world. And your story is out and spreading. Someone mentioned they found it on facebook, it’s being shared on Google Plus now (and in quite the viral fashion.) God only knows why you had to endure that woman’s brand of ‘therapy’, but if nothing else has come of it, hundreds, if not thousands, if not millions will know what she’s done and also know that there’s a whole world of people out here who do care, will listen, can understand, and won’t judge you for something completely out of your control. To say that being gay is a choice is as asinine as saying being straight is a choice. Keep strong.
Dear Esther (That was my much loved grandmother’s name) I want to lay out some background about myself so you can understand where I am coming from. i am a middle aged gay man who is a die hard Dove and pagan/spiritualist; I thank you from the bottom of my heart for standing up for our country as a Marine, a most honorable calling.
This “nurse” is an abomination to healers and anyone with one whit of humanity! I find it incredible that you found the strength to survive her violent assault on your person. You faced down a lost being with a shrivelled dark soul! As some have stated here it appears your next learning path was put before you in that room. That VA facility MUST be investigated and either re-trained/re-staffed or removed from the VA system and replaced. Here in Northern California we have an excellent VA hospital in Yountville(Napa Valley) and we have some marginal ones in the Sacramento area. One of my uncles goes to one in Mt. Vernon, MO for general stuff but they send him to another one in northern Arkansas which he feels is very good. I don’t know if travelling out of your area is possible for you. As you can see your story is touching all kinds of people, you have a platform that you can use to better circumstances for yourself and your fellow veterans. This woman must be fired and her liscense to practice revoked. The wording she used felt to me as if she didn’t convert you as a follower and therefore she felt you should die. Not provable in court but to me, from your statement she pushed you closer to self-murder and should be charged with attempted murder. Maybe slightly overstated but only slightly. You SURVIVED! You ate stronger, smarter, more light of spirit and more human than this woman. We can’t let worms like her to win. Remember, the best revenge is living well! Love and strength being sent your way. Semper Fi! Job well done
Dearest Ms Garatie,
First of all, thank you for your service to our country! Secondly, I want you to know that I am so very glad that you did not allow that horrible creature’s vile attack to do you in, because you are an amazing human being and deserve respect and support instead of what you received at the Dallas VA. I have signed the petition to have her fired from the VA system and I am certain many others will do so as well.
You have my support and respect, as well as healing vibes and all the strength I can spare. Please be well and thank you also for bringing this horrible person’s actions to light so that she can be dealt with and, hopefully, will not harm anyone else.
I go to this hospital, too. The staff is the least professional I have ever dealt with. The ignore you, roll their eyes, yell your issues out in the open – I even had one hassle me for a tip.
This woman deserves better than this. We all deserve better than this.
You’re loved! This is awful. I hope everything has turned out okay!
This nurse needs cultural sensitivity training at the very least.
Dear Esther,
Your loved. Your loved because of your service, your loved because your brave, your loved because of the care in your heart and for so many other reasons. Your birth is a blessing. Please believe it, and if you can’t know that others can for you.
I am not anyone special, just an Army wife and mother. I was a surrogate mother twice for two wonderful fathers. They have great faith in a higher power. I love them for it. I can’t say I have that faith. I am more a science girl but I have an open mind I could be wrong about anything, everything. I am no one special, but it is my job to do what is in me to do. Your job to do what is in you to do, the broken has to heal and then you can get back to doing what is in you to do, to serve, to be brave, and to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. So I am begging you. Fight for my children. I don’t know what faith they will have, I have no idea if my son will want us to keep calling him Jane when he grows up. No matter what they are though, they need people to fight for them. You have done it before, I hope you can keep doing it.
Please report that horrible women who abused you in such a horrid manner. She is wrong. Think of how many others she might have harmed and might in the future. Your needed. Please update when you can.
Thinking of you.
Your experience is unacceptable. I am so sorry that you were hurt in such a way. You are needed, your story needs to be heard and your voice is important.
I wish I could just give you a hug. I’m so sorry this had to happen to you, but please remember you are loved, by many many people. I hope you feel that you aren’t in this alone, because there are millions of people who will stand up with you and fight.
I’ve had nothing but terrible experiences with the Dallas VA. Their staff are generally lazy and treat vets with sarcasm and disdain. I get better service from the semi-literate Juggalo who makes my sandwiches at Subway.
I want to say thank you for your service. I’m disabled, Pagan, and suffer depression as well as other mental and physical issues. I have never served in the military, but I have been a victim of similar verbal violence from those who are supposed to help. People like this do not deserve the honor of treating valuable and loved service men and woman like yourself. She is vile, and bigoted. She will get her due. I personally believe criminal charges should apply here because her verbal assault caused great harm and nearly cost you your life. You prayed for a purpose. I believe you have one. To save the lives of those who come after you into this disgrace of a nurses ‘care’. You were strong enough to survive it, and hopefully your story will save the live of someone else. I believe you have another purpose as well. To be a happy, fulfilled, smart, strong, beautiful woman. You have smart, strong, and beautiful mastered, as well as grace. I believe God, and Christ, have a beautiful place reserved for you in heaven. It is ready and waiting for when you go peacefully and painlessly decades from now holding the hand of the woman you love, after a lifetime of blissful memories. May your God, and my Goddess and God bless you with all that wonderful things you deserve.
Esther, make her sorry you *didn’t* die.
Esther,
I am so sorry you had to experience such horrible treatment – especially at a place where you ought to feel the safest. Both your strength and relationship with God are nothing but admirably, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If there IS a hell, I don’t think you out of all people could be going there.
Although I’m not a veteran and can’t possibly imagine what emotional trauma you have suffered as a result of your injury and subsequent discharge, I too struggle with what my psychologist has referred to as “disabling” depression and can at least sympathize with that. I just want to let you know that we’re all in this together and God would never have put us in a world where there isn’t room for us – it’s just taking him a little time to make the space for such a good heart as yours. I wish you all the best in life and in faith.
Dear Esther:
You say that you prayed beforehand and, “asked God to allow whatever was supposed to happen to me that day, whatever his plan was for my life, for it to happen, and for him to be with me every step of the way.” I believe this is God’s plan for you: To make this world a better place for the next veteran so that they will not have to be treated so badly by this person who has no business being in the health care field.
I am sorry you had to endure that terrible and grossly unprofessional behavior. But bear in mind that this can’t have been the first time Ms. Pandithurai forced her religion on others instead of using medically approved and professional methods.
God works in unknowable ways. And God’s mission for each of us is sometimes hard. But by being treated badly at the hands of Ms. Pandithurai you have been given a gift to use this moment to make the world a better place for the next patient to walk into that clinic.
My prayers are with you, and I know you will emerge from this a stronger woman with serenity and peace of mind.
Esther. I’m so sorry. You have a future, and everyone who reads your story will ensure you have justice.
PLEASE don’t let that willfully ignorant, morally blind, small bitter creature defeat you. We need every voice. Just because you are unable to serve in uniform does not mean that there aren’t still battles to be fought. Remember that you are on the side of justice. That creature who calls herself a healer is a destroyer and has built for herself a dark and terrible (and terribly small) world and she seeks to draw others into it.
I am not certain, but I believe you have good facts for a civil law suit. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress is a cause of action in civil torts cases and you could name both the nurse and the VA as defendants. I would highly suggest setting up an appointment (initial consulations are free) with two or three reputable attorneys and asking whether you could pursue money damages in this case. I would think so! Let justice be served.
Esther, my dear sister, the nurse you visited is out of her mind. She is not firmly wedded to reality. You need help, but not from ignorant people who believe that you are evil because you are the way God made you.
I believe that since God made us the way we are, we deserve the dignity afforded any of God’s creations. In my own particular belief system, the one who sinned here was the nurse: in fact, she has committed enormous violence against an innocent person. As a Jew, I don’t believe there is a hell–but if there does happen to be one just for Christians, she will be headed there. Not you.
Please take a lesson from Esther. She “came out” as a member of a hated minority so that her own people might be saved from violence.
Esther, I lift you up in my prayers. You know you were made perfect in the sight of God and that nurse is more in need of psychiatric counseling that you ever were. She should be immediately removed from public contact. God Bless you Esther.
I’m so sorry you had to put up with this small-minded hate monger. You’re damned strong for walking out of there and staying alive. Make this woman AND the VA pay. Both with their time and money. People who bravely serve don’t deserve to be treated like this–NO one deserves to, but especially you guys. Words cannot express my anger and dismay toward the ghoul posing as a Nurse that you had the unfortunate occasion of meeting.
But as others have said, perhaps this IS your prayer being answered. The “nurse” was the catalyst that will place the terrible practices of this VA offices (and others) into the light for all to see, and thanks to you, we all have seen it.
Hang in there. We’re rooting for you! 🙂
Stay strong, Esther! You are good, and you are a patriot, and we need you in this world!
Oh, Dear Esther,
I know it is impossible to feel what you felt, but I do know the feeling of being attacked, and it is horrible. I empathize. I wish that I could do something to make things right for you! You deserve so much more. I don’t have the faith in God that you do, but I hope that you will find comfort in that. I am, like you, a lesbian, and have suffered similar attacks from people who are cruel and closed-minded. I also suffered from severe depression and know the feeling of complete hopelessness and helplessness and self-hatred that made me contemplate ending my life. I am sooo glad that I did not. That I was able to find a mental health profession who wanted to help, rather than harm me (and they, unfortunately, are hard to come by) and that I stuck around long enough to see that life has joy 🙂
A quote that I love, from Jimmy Buffett (of all people!) is from a song called He Went To Paris: “Some of it’s magic, some of it tragic, but I had a good life all the way.”
And I believe you can too!!!
Much Love,
Megan
Esther, Hang in there. The world is filled with disrespectful opinionated individuals. Obviously by the response by people on this, the majority of us full on behind you and beside on search for meaning in life. I lived in Belfast for quite some time where the bloody catholics are still killing protestants and the protestants are still killing the catholics. Came home here to USA with some PTSD and depression issues. Religion is so bizarre. Please keep pluggin and hang in there until you find the help you are looking for. Don’t let this opinionated, prejudicial and disrespectul nurse get under your skin. Please know that she is an ill individual to have behaved like this to you. I’ve also signed petition to reprimand and remove her from this position so she cannot do this another of your collegues. Esther, I am proud that you released this to us so we can help you address it so it doesn’t happen to another of our respected servicemen and women. This is yet another service to our country, even when you are not feeling up to it. Esther, I have utmost gratitude for your service to protecting our freedom. Thank you for putting your life on the line to protect us here at home. Please keep pluggin till you get the help that you are looking for, life is still worth the effort. We need you, you know. With love and gratitude, Dr. Deb Wilson
I am so incredibly horrified you had to experience such callous disregard for you whole entire being. God made ALL of us the big the small, all nationalities all creeds, homosexual & hetero. I was raised that God lliked variety that’s why we have so many animals, trees, flowers & people. For someone to lecture another human being while they are crying out in such terrible pain is just evil in my opinion. I pray that you receive Gods healing for all the trauma you experienced serving our country, and thank you for protecting the freedoms of everyone
irst and foremost thank you for serving our country. Thank you for all that you have done to protect our right and way of life. As a vet you deserve much better than the treatment you received. I am not religious in any way but I wont tell others what is right or wrong about their Religious views, I have no room to talk. I’m sorry that you were judged. Epically by someone who was preaching to you about and all forgiving and loving god, one who teaches that only he can judge you. There are so many things wrong with how you were treated and I want to throw my hat in with the rest in saying that you have support. You have my support and undying gratitude as a vet and as a wronged individual and as a fellow lesbian. I hope that you have found the help and guidance you need.
All my support and gratitude
Jess
Esther- Please do not let that ignorant “nurse “be the last person you ask for help from. I have suffered from depression for years and I can tell you that it does get better than when you are at your darkest. Things can brighten, and as you know it has nothing to do with your sexuality. It is more likely to be from people who make you feel like that and the hatred and bigotry that you endure. Not everyone is like that and while we might not be as loud, we still have love.
Esther I am so sorry that you were subjected to that and am so happy that you know through your own experience that you have chosen Christ as your saviour therefore you are saved. Only God will decide our fate and whether or not we lived in sin. This women has no right to judge or preach to you. I believe that the enemy (devil) was working through her and trying to attack you. I too suffer from depression and anxiety and know first had what it feels like to be attacked by the enemy. I am not gay and cannot presume to know what you go through but God loves you. Lean on him. My favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11. He has plans for you and they will prosper you. Stay strong and I will be praying for you.
This breaks my heart that you were treated this way. Don’t give up.
Esther – thank you so much for your service. I am outraged and saddened about the treatment you received in your time of need. This “nurse” should be fired immediately. I truly hope you are able to find a caring, supportive practitioner who will help you to feel better. You are in my thoughts.
Hi Esther, I hope you read this.
As you are well aware, our world is full of people who are terrified of everything that is different from them. They hate foreigners, people of other religions, different races and, of course, a different sexual orientation. I feel sorry for that nurse. She is doing the opposite of what her job should be, and she is hurting others and herself on a daily basis.
I think ‘God’ did take you where you needed to go that day, and gave you the experience that would lead you to enlightenment. Because I am willing to bet that, in the wake of what happened, you’ve experienced an outpouring of support and love, from friends, family and strangers alike. Am I right?
So, that sad, sour, angry woman has made it very clear to all who care to look just what kind of person she is, just what kind of life she wants to live, and, when she does, in fact, meet her maker, she will have some serious questions to answer.
Walk in love, live in love, and love will find you. Be well. Many of us care how you are.
I have to say, as a nurse, she is a disgrace to our profession. I hope your experience with her does not tarnish your opinion of nurses, we are not all like that. I am married to the best woman I have ever known, we were married in a church. There are churches out there that accept and love us as we are. So who’s right? Her church of intolerance or the ones that accept us, with no desire to change us? I hope you find the answers you seek, and are not clouded by the distorted view of one ignorant person who feel they know all life’s secrets. In the end, she’ll find the real truth, God is loving and DOES NOT make mistakes. People chose to be ignorant and self absorbed, not gay. I fought for years, married a man, hated myself and eventually him. became secretly suicidal, the worse kind. My denial caused mr greated stress and pain than the acceptance of who I really was created to be. Thank God I eventually did accept myself.
Gods plan for you, bring this lady down. I pray you receive the help you need and you find the strength to protect the rest who may one day walk in that office and she will be gone!
wow! i’ve read a LOT of hateful comments from those that have signed the petition. it’s a shame that so many can be judge, jury & convict this nurse clearly based on what ONE person said the nurse said. it’s JUST HEARSAY!! i believe it would be a real shame if this nurse, after ALL her years in service was fired based on what ONE angry, disturbed, troubled (whatever ya want to call her) has said about her. how would YOU feel if this was happen to you. BASED ON SHE SAID/SHE SAID! all you folk that wants to the nurse fired – keep one thing in mind – we DO reap what we sow & if you sow such vindictive evilness toward this person (that you do NOT even know nor have you sat on the jury & listen before you judged) you WILL reap distruction in your life as well. it’s amazing all the HATE coming from those gay supporters against this nurse. she’s NOT the hater, the gay supporters ARE!! open your eyes! IF the nurse said anything to her about accepting Christ – that’s wonderful – she KNOWS the importance of live for Him & NOT living in SIN. therefore, she would have been, as a nurse, taking care of, not only the persons physical issues/diagnosis but was concerned of her mental AND spiritual condition. she most likely didn’t get her drugs she wanted to make her feel better & feels she has to cause problems for the nurse. it WILL come back to bite her in the butt & it will come back to ALL of you that are so horribly against this nurse – the nurse that you DO NOT KNOW ALL THE FACTS. may this happen to you as well & you are put thru what this nurse is being put thru!!!!!!
No one has asked one important question.. Were there any witnesses to this? Obviously not, so these quotes are at the very best hearsay and out of context. None of you know what went on and none of you have heard the nurse’s side. She is in fact a 70 yr old lady who is shorter than 5ft tall and has been nursing for some 40 odd yrs. So for this marine to say she was “terrified” sounds ridiculous. Not to mention she was free to leave at anytime and let someon know what was going on. The nurse is now having to hire 2 lawyers beause the VA has condemned her ,with no evidence, jut to keep her job. Before you ruin a poor ladies life by stripping her of her nursing license and job with ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE maybe you should think about it. Like how did a nurse have time to sit with someone for 3HRS!! Have any of you had 3hrs with your doctor even at a non VA hospital?! None of this adds up to a concrete case.
Who really cares how old she is, or how long she has managed to hold down a job she obviously has no business in? The point of the story is that she is a bigot and a homophobic person trying to “SAVE” people the entirely wrong way. She had a life-threatening medical issue, and this “nurse” could have killed her! How dare she hand her a magnet with a suicide hotline on it?! However, if what you say is true and she is facing consequences for her despicable behavior, then that is just one of the things we can be thankful for this Holiday season! We can make this world a better place by enforcing consequences for these illegal practices, such as an employee of the government trying to push her religious beliefs onto a patient, while on the job, in a government building. Esther is a Marine, a hero, and deserves to be treated with respect, especially at the “Veterans” hospital! I will do whatever it takes to makes sure this never happens to any of our country’s heroes ever again, starting with a letter to the VA !
No the point of the story is that there is no proof what so ever of what took place other than this veterans account of it. 3hrs! Every nurse I talk to about this story stops at “3hrs” and have questions about the validity of this story. I will venture a guess that you have never met this doctor, so how dare you call her a “bigot” and homophobe. Are you ok with having the nurse’s life’s work taken away without hearing her side? The marine does deserve respect same as the nurse does who has been treating veterans!! Give her the decency and respect enough to be charged with something of concrete fact rather than just this blog.
ok, i’ve read it over and over and I wonder where the 3 hours came from? it’s not in the article. It is correct that this was not witnessed, that is the purpose of confidentiality, especially in an area as sensitive as mental health. Who is to say that she is lying? Who is to say that this nurse (and I am a nurse, so I do understand the profession, there are some pretty nasty ones) is not the one trying to cover her ass? I am gay. I am a nurse. I believe in God and have a relationship with Him that I value highly. I have experienced hate, what people do to each other. This person is disturbed because of things she saw protecting your ass!! How do you know what she reports DID NOT happen? And where did 3 hours come from? How do you prove it, Is that basis for dismissal? What about the patient the doctor fondles inappropriately? Or any patient who is discriminated against for any reason other than being gay, do they need proof? And if they are guarenteed confidentiality, WOULD ther be a lot of witnesses? A confidential session would be between the professional and the patient, otherwise it would not be confidential. So are you saying that we, as nurses, doctors, etc can do anything behind closed doors and expect to get away with it? That’s a mighty big can of worms you’re opening there.
https://www.change.org/petitions/dallas-va-medical-center-fire-homophobic-nurse-for-harassing-lesbian-marine-veteran
That’s is where the 3 hr comment comes from. If it is untrue, then Esther please ask your friend to edit the petition.
Before you misunderstand, I agree if this happened by all means the nurse should go and I will happily send my condolences to Esther. I understand Esther is a veteran who fought to protect all our rights and freedoms as Americans and I am defending what she fought for. Innocent until proven guilty being a part of those freedoms. There are plenty of ways to prove she was there for 3 hrs so let’s start there. Perhaps other patients have had similar experiences with this nurse, ask them to step forward. But as of yet there is only an emotionally charged story. To have someone lose their job because public opinion was persuaded and without the burden of proof is a horrible precedent to set and a can of worms you don’t won’t to open.
You ask some of scores of questions that would emerge in any genuine investigation. Gay people, as an often vilified minority, know full well the pain of being fired, not promoted, and especially not hired due to “public opinion” about our perceived qualities. Anyone my age has experienced and witnessed actions (this goes for heterosexuals as well as homosexuals) of this sort that are sickening. No one should ever lose their job, not even suffer a suspension with pay, due to “public opinion” but if after a process of full investigation, with ample opportunities for the accused to defend or dispute the findings or various actions, then enlightened “public opinion” may in fact jive with a decision to terminate and remove a PA’s right to practice in Texas (When I see it, I’ll believe it). Public opinion must not be the catalyst, but rather our duty to the truth and duty to deliver the best possible medical care to every patient. BTW: A nurse’s union, is a good start, to promote the fairness you seek for the accused. And human rights organizations are a good start to the justice enlightened people should promote, every time we become aware of social injustice.
I am not a lesbian and I am offended at what this woman did to you. Honey, I hope you were able to find someone who truly cared about you the person and wanted to help you and not preach their opinions and beliefs on you. This is a disgrace and I am embarrassed for this woman and she should not be allowed to work with people in any way shape or form but especially the medical field. I personally wanna thank you for serving our country and want you to stand proud knowing you are and always will be a Marine and God is with you through all of this!!
That nurse should no longer be employed by the U.S. government. It’s that simple. Maybe she should get a job at Rev Fred Phelp’s Westboro Baptist church in Topeka, KS; they’d LOVE her kind of hate.
Ok, i’m sure i’m missing a lot of comments that i just don’t have time to read right now. But i’m confused; WHO CARES if she was there 3 hours or 30 minutes? The point is the vitriolic tirade this HONORABLY DISCHARGED MILITARY VETERAN was subjected to! I’m just disgusted right now by what that nurse said to her; if even half of it is true (i take everything in life with a grain of salt, i’m not at all saying i doubt Esther’s word or honesty), that nurse needs to be fired so she has time to reread the Bible she claims to love, because MY Bible speaks strongly to me about loving and accepting others, ALL OTHERS, and about how we as Christians should NOT judge others…