What the Health?!
Pridefest Edition

via Rob DuRay of New Era Colorado
If we at New Era Colorado learned anything from our weekend in Denver at Pridefest, it was clear that We the People want to see two things:

1. Parades, and…
2. Healthcare Reform.

We became keenly aware of the benefits of dressing up like a doctor. Check out our pics here (Sign up to become a friend and get the full show). Or click here, here, here, here or…. here, to get a feel for what was going down.

New Era got its pride on in support of our Generation H campaign—our way of creating soothing relief for a pain-in-the-ass healthcare system. Along with other groups from around the country, we’re taking a hands-on approach to engaging, educating and empowering fellow young Americans to reform a failed-for-as-long-as-anyone-can-remember, worst-in-the-first-world yet somehow-most-expensive health care system.

As fake doctors, but ones with actual concerns, we recommend Congress stop dicking around (ahem) and (finally) create a system that gives us the care we need without breaking our bank.

The kicker? We got to dress up as sexy doctors and nurses to spread the word. This made for quite the weekend. (My personal counts: 3 ass-grabs, 1 kiss, 20+ aggressive pick-up moves. It did wonders for my self-esteem). Of course, the downside to all this fun was how many people signed up. You read that right, I am concerned because so many people were interested. Don’t get me wrong—as an organizer, I love all support for New Era Colorado. But people were quite literally flocking to the table to see how they can help change the healthcare system. Thousands of festival go-ers, people who were otherwise there to get drunk and check out attractive members of the same sex, took the time to focus on healthcare reform.

We heard comments from people across the spectrum. Some of the remarks were GLBT [Gay Lesbian Bi- Transgender] centered. After all, this is a group that until recently wasn’t guaranteed insurance even if their partner had full coverage. Most, though, focused on the bigger picture of America’s current healthcare climate. Why does insurance cost us so much? Why do we have to file for bankruptcy because of a simple yet necessary procedure? How are we going to give our children and loved ones the care they need? Why are we denied coverage altogether if we have been treated for something un-fun as a child?

Now is the time for healthcare reform.

New Era rarely sees this much interest and engagement over one issue—especially with much of the feedback in agreement. I do not remember hearing one person say they wanted to keep the system we have.

PRIDEfest is great for so many reasons. It gives a public forum for an underrepresented demographic. It dispels many of the big myths about the GLBT community and maybe creates some smaller, friendlier ones about glitter and boxer briefs. For New Era Colorado, it reinforces how important our Generation H campaign is. The public wants healthcare reform and they want it now. Flexing our fake doctor skills has never been more important.

Interested? Want to learn more? Can’t wait to become a Fake Doctor for Real Reform? Please get in touch to learn more or find ways you can help:

[email protected] or 720-565-9317, or  www.Neweracolorado.org

A few photos to give you a taste (a hundred more on above Facebook Page):

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