Emergency [ih-mur-juhn-see]: A sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action; a state, especially of need for help or relief, created by some unexpected event.
An emergency is 30 million Americans without healthcare.
An emergency is the more than 1 million people in the United States living with HIV. And many are dying of AIDS right here because of a lack of resources and the scant availability to some populations of preventative and life-saving drugs.
The CDC has reported that young men of color of all sexual orientations have the highest incidence of new HIV cases. And among LGBTQ people, trans women appear to be most at risk, with a much higher rate of new cases. In Philadelphia, the rate of new cases remains higher than the national average.
An emergency is that hate crimes across the country have increased by 17 percent since President Donald Trump took office.
An emergency is that in nomination after nomination, President Trump is putting forward anti-LGBTQ federal judges. Many of these nominees are downright hostile to LGBTQ rights believing in conversion therapy and against anti-discrimination laws and legislation. If something isn’t done to stop these judges from being confirmed for lifetime appointments by the U.S. Senate, our rights and the rule of law itself are severely threatened.
An emergency is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth in general are three times more likely to attempt suicide than other teenagers. The rate is highest among transgender adolescents — six times that of their heterosexual peers, according to a report published in “JAMA Pediatrics.”
An emergency is when in 30 states including Pennsylvania, LGBTQ people remain at risk of being fired, evicted or denied services because of their gender-identity or orientation status. Nationwide, transgender people can be banned from military service.
An emergency is having a president who unequivocally believes that erecting a $15-billion concrete monument to white supremacy, exclusion and hate is an emergency. Not an emergency, but sad, is that Trump believes in his border wall despite the fact that 6 in 10 Americans disagree with him; as do numerous members of Congress.
The only real emergency at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. is that our leader is wasting time and failing to address real emergencies, especially many that directly affect the lives of members of the LGBTQ community.
It has been quite obvious for some time that President Trump has a limited vocabulary and doesn’t seem to know many words.
Clearly, emergency is one word he does know, just not its definition.