I just got a head’s up from Mark Dingbaum at Change.org announcing the news.
It seems that the VA Hospital in Dallas is doing the right thing. Nurse Nanci Pandathurai has been suspended from seeing patients. To be clear, she is still going to work while the investigation concludes. Her duties will now be more aligned with secretarial / administrative assistant work until her case is concluded.
If you’re not familiar with the story, try to read this without breaking your computer.
Mark had some very nice words for us:
Thank you so much for covering Esther’s story — I attribute your reporting to basically helping her double the number of signers on the petition. Truly remarkable.
Just wanted to make sure you saw that the Dallas VA has pulled Nurse Pandithurai from seeing patients while the the investigation continues. This is the newest update I’ve received from Dallas VA, but it’s a good sign that they’re taking this investigation seriously.
Here are some source articles:
CHANGE.ORG: http://news.change.org/stories/after-alleged-homophobic-rant-to-lesbian-marine-vet-dallas-va-nurse-prevented-from-seeing-patients
DALLAS VOICE: http://www.dallasvoice.com/va-nurse-administrative-duty-pending-investigation-lesbian-marine-veterans-allegations-1094505.html
ADVOCATE: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/11/16/After_Antigay_Charges_VA_Nurse_Removed_from_Patients/
Keep in mind, that every signature on the petition generates several e-mails to government officials. It really has been a vehicle for change, and I’m sure this is welcome news for Esther Garatie.
I’d like to redirect some of the praise in Mark’s message straight over to the internet atheists that hopped aboard the cause. This one more case where a coordinated ‘raging Lorax’ (who speaks for those who can’t) actually did a great deal of good.
I’ll keep you updated as the story develops, but please feel free to add your name to the petition if you haven’t already.
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JoeBuddha
November 18, 2011 at 1:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Cue persecuted Christian firestorm in 3…2…1…
larianlequella
November 18, 2011 at 2:04 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Signed!
And I am reminded of these two comics in response to post 1:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3I6eIowAe7I/TD4p8ijT2kI/AAAAAAAAAxs/frIqlpLkCZM/s1600/Quit+Squirming+Cartoon.jpg
http://bligbi.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/anti-christian-bigotry.gif
Hercules Grytpype-Thynne
November 18, 2011 at 11:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow, that’s one mean-looking Lorax. Are you sure that isn’t really a picture of some creature from the Klingon homeworld?
F
November 20, 2011 at 1:35 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Fantastic!
Now, what about the soldier who needed help when this all started? Was she able to see someone less religious and more professional and caring in a reasonable amount of time? I really hope so.
veggie dating
December 6, 2011 at 2:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hey thats wonderful I found a lot of useful pages on your website, very helpful. Nice blog as always.
Dylan Caillier
January 27, 2012 at 6:35 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Very cool but I can’t say the same about the comments