Thank You, Nurse Ezra, For Standing Up for LGBTQIA+ Healthcare Rights

This is part of Thank You Notes, a series of letters offering gratitude to the people and things that inspire us most. Like many others, Allure has spent the pandemic looking inward. What we found was deep gratitude for the medical professionals that cared for our communities and our country during a profoundly difficult time. Then we wrote. 

Dear Nurse Ezra,

When the pandemic started, I went into family-first mode. I abandoned my roommate and my apartment to stay with my parents to ensure we would face the looming public health crisis together. I stopped checking in with work acquaintances and loosely held friends. My once large social circle suddenly seemed irrelevant now that my sole focus had become ensuring that my parents and brother were healthy, safe, and together. 

At the time I didn’t realize it, but I was so privileged. I was able to prioritize the safety of my own family during a massive global emergency. My job easily transitioned to remote work, so essentially all I needed to do was “tough it out.” Health-care workers like you, Ezra, weren’t granted those same benefits. 

As a trans male working at a hospital in the South, you were navigating a difficult world before March 2020 rolled around. Gender identity politics are a sensitive issue within many industries, and, unfortunately, you discovered the depths of homophobia and transphobia that exist among healthcare providers first-hand. In an effort to chip away at these unfair transgressions, you took it upon yourself to be the unofficial caregiver for many LGBTQIA+ patients who came through the doors of your hospital, selflessly advocating for them when many others would not.

Then, the pandemic rolled in like an unexpected tidal wave. At the time, you were also working toward your Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a goal that you would soon give up temporarily to care for your patients during this large-scale crisis. While putting school aside felt like a necessity at the time, I can’t say I know many people who would’ve walked away from their studies in order to dedicate themselves to a job that put them at daily risk of contracting a deadly virus. 

After months of caring for the sick in a COVID unit, you experienced the dreaded role reversal. In August 2020, you were diagnosed with COVID, but you avoided going to the hospital, fearing if you went in, you might not make it back out. That same trepidation was shared by the entire nation, but because you knew firsthand how overworked the hospital workers were, you were especially reluctant to add to their burden. You only headed into the emergency room once you knew your condition had become serious. 

COVID took its toll on you. You spent a year out of work doing pool therapy, still on oxygen, trying to work to recover your lungs, and your asthma has gone from very, very mild to severe. 

Despite everything, you’re now back at work, treating patients every day. The constant selflessness you demonstrate is a shining example to us all. In a world inundated with digital narcissism and a news cycle that only emphasizes worst-case scenarios, your compassion and goodwill — even toward those who often don’t extend the same to you — is a bright light. It’s crystal clear that you didn’t make these sacrifices to gain gratitude or praise. Instead, you were simply doing your job. And for that, I thank you.

XOXO, 

Julie