Cassidy Parkison of Quilt’s Parkison burns signs representing medical debts that the organization has purchased and paid off. (Photo: Eric Dorman)

The healthcare situation in Tennessee is bleak.

State Ranking 44th overall health results And I have Rural hospitals have the highest closure rate Per person. And since the vast majority of Republicans who run Tennessee Refusing to expand Medicaidthe poorest Tennessees have difficulty accessing care.

a majority Americans’ believe The government should ensure health care for all people, politicians and profiters, exploiting the working class in America in pursuit of power and thick wallets. As a result of this failed system, Tennessee is currently in the top 10 states. Medical debt.

Instead of addressing these real issues, the Tennessee Legislature has passed at least 21 Anti-LGBTQ+ Law Since 2015.

Lawmakers have spent the time and money targeting schools and libraries with “indecent,” “critical racial theories,” and other imaginary bogeyman laws. They made it a felony to be homeless They can also continue to financially squeeze workers’ heads into businesses. (This is of course in addition to multiple ethical and criminal investigations, various scandals, and the continued capture of our representatives.)

In this context, the Queers unite by releasing Tennessee (Quilt) We have decided to launch a “Burning, not a Book” campaign.

“Even the potential threat to healthcare costs can help people avoid the care they need,” said quilt member and co-founder Mina Parkyson. “We have built a punitive healthcare system, and people are forced into impossible situations where they have to gamble in their own health.

Through “Burning”, quilts have collected enough money to buy and discontinue Over $4.8 million in medical debt to some of Tennessee’s poorest residents.

Campaign Tennessee democratic socialist in America, The Quilt was launched in 2023 with the goal of organizing, educating and building communities among the state’s LGBTQ+ people. Organizers said that while quilt centres around “strange issues” with LGBTQ+ people, part of the point is to link those things to the broader struggles of the poor and working classes.

“[QUILT] Another quilt founder Arden Inglehart said: “Class is a large part of the way they are being suppressed.

“Burn Burn, Books Not Books” is the first major organizational effort that Quilt has been undertaken since its establishment. Using Excessive medical debt The platform that uses donations to purchase bundled medical debts at a sudden discount before canceling unpaid items has raised over $26,000.

That may seem unlikely, and even absurd, but the financialization of healthcare in America makes this strange scenario possible.

Roughly speaking, even if you have insurance – care facilities such as hospitals and emergency rooms will bother you to pay your balance until you believe they are no longer available or you are simply not going to pay. When that happens, they usually either sue you or send invoices to the collection. What does the latter actually mean? That means the company is selling your debts in dollars to a collection company for pennies. The institution begins to plague and intimidate you once more, with the goal of getting as much as possible before selling your debt to someone else.

Excessive medical debt destroys this cruel cycle by purchasing secured debts, as does collection agencies. But instead of trying to squeeze money from workers, they cancel invoices that are not marked with strings.

Quilt’s campaign was launched during Pride 2024 and was scheduled to run for four months. The members wanted to raise $10,000. When they exceeded their target within a month, they decided to increase it, eventually surpassing the initial mark by more than 2.5 times.

During the campaign, quilt members will host booths, events, appear as guests on podcasts and radio shows, host benefits concerts, seek donations online, and OP-EDS released Based in Nashville Dawn art A gallery exhibition showing works by LGBTQ+ artists.

This effort was inspired by the work of Lesbians and Gays Support Miners (LGSM) raised tens of thousands of pounds during the 1984-85 British miners strike to support notable union members. Ultimately, they used donations raised by the Quilt to purchase debts from 10 Tennessee counties, spanning all three large divisions of over 3,300 individuals, with an average debt cancellation of $1,459 per person.

Excessive medical debt is a nonpartisan organization, and many different nonprofits, places of worship, community organizations and others use the platform to also reduce medical debts from their neighbors.

Winners of “Burning Not Books” have no way of knowing how many LGBTQ+ people are, as relief has not been applied or asked. In fact, most people will never know the campaign completely until they receive a letter in the mail informing them that their healthcare bill has been cancelled by some of their LGBTQ+ neighbors.

“We continue to recognize the need for a united working class, whether they are queer or not, transgender or cisgender,” said Parkyson in the iconic debt burning celebration hosted by Quilt. “As our government is trying to divide us, the violent rhetoric of the country’s right-wing escalates, so is the attack on unions, workers and families as attacks on queer communities grow.”

“Our greatest fear of oppressors is the united, strong, fearless working class,” she said.