Phyllis Lyon and the late Del Martin worked hard to make sure we don't have to stay quiet – so why is it that the Lyon-Martin clinic is being so tight-lipped about how it got into these problems?
I find it odd – odd that so many LGBT folks who would boycott Target for giving money to a political candidate who doesn't support the "gay agenda" are supporting and pouring money into Lyon-Martin. Have they looked at Lyon-Martin's financial records for accountability? Have they demanded to know where their money is going? Have they asked to see how each and every dime is spent (like they did when finding out about Target's donations) before running off to support a drag benefit or call a hotline? Lyon-Martin is relying on the same disenfranchised, marginalized communities that they purport to serve to now bail them out of this situation they got themselves into by mismanaging their funds and failing to bill the people and insurance companies that are in fact able to pay.
It's funny a little bit, isn't it? That we, the LGBT and sex-positive community, can rally with the best of them yet sometimes we rally without ever asking questions to give us the whole picture. We can pick apart any single campaign donation or lengthy Republican reform and yet we don't often apply that same critique to the things happening right here in our own community. Very odd.
Is Lyon-Martin Health Services a vital resource? No question.
Is it a service so very necessary to many of our underserved and under-paid community doing important work? Absolutely.
Do we have to put up with a poorly run organization because of it? Here is where I beg to differ.
Since the Lyon-Martin financial crisis erupted last month, many LGBT folks and allies alike have stepped up to offer support in both small and large financial ways. The initial goal, as Lyon-Martin claims, is to eliminate $250,000 of its debt. Has anyone asked Lyon-Martin if this debt figure is accurate? How it got into this debt in the first place? Have staff managed their grants appropriately and paid all organizations they are in partnership with? (On this last point, there are many community members remaining tight-lipped and silent about their work with Lyon-Martin for fear of professional retaliation. However, many of them are quietly and privately dissenting about the thousands of unpaid dollars owed from Lyon-Martin). Those in the closer financial circle of Lyon-Martin estimate their debt is closer to $800,000, though I haven't seen any true reports. No one seems to be asking for them, instead they are just blindly pouring dollars in, hoping to keep Lyon-Martin open another day.
Also, one major point Lyon-Martin has been trying to force home (threaten?) is that this is the only place, other than the black market, where folks can receive hormone treatment. However, here is a list of other fantastic resources (see below). It would surely be a shame if Lyon-Martin was using scare tactics to make us believe that they were indeed this only resource when in fact it should be more of a community effort anyway, shouldn't it? There are many other hard-working, well-run, reputable organizations in this city that treat trans people with respect and provide low to no-cost hormones. Why is Lyon-Martin feeding us falsities in order to extort our hard-earned money to pay off debt that their poor management accumulated?
Tom Waddell Clinic
Castro-Mission Health Center
Dimensions Clinic (for youth)
St. James Infirmary (for sex workers)
Tri-City Health/TransVision (for Alameda County)
SF General
Larkin Street
St. Mary's (possibly limited to people living with HIV)
Are we scrutinizing Lyon-Martin the way we have San Francisco Pride? Not by all LGBT-media reports I can find. No one is asking any questions about the dollars in debt or, more importantly, how they got into debt in the first place. Do we, as LGBT marginalized folks, just take debt for granted? We're gay so being in the red is okay? I expect and want more from an organization. Especially one that is so vital to me and to my community.
But before I spend my money, I want to know where it's going to go and how the money I've spent with Lyon-Martin has been so mismanaged? I want answers.
Just my $.02. I am all for saving Lyon-Martin, if it's the right thing to do. If the leadership comes clean about how and why Lyon-Martin is in this spot to begin with and what they will do to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Until then, I hear there is a new organization spinning off of the recently defunct New Leaf: Services for Our Community. They sent me an e-mail with a business plan about their organization and where my funds would go. So, that's where I'm putting my hard-earned $50 for now.
Michelle Skoor is an as of yet un-billed client of Lyon-Martin. Currently, she is a graduate student working toward her master's in education. She has three years of fulltime work as paid staff for LGBTQ nonprofits, was a former Stop AIDS Project board member and is a queer seeking answers.