Philadelphia Gay News Jan. 30 - Feb. 5, 2009
Equality Advocates names new director By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer After a nearly six-month search, LGBT legal organization Equality Advocates Pennsylvania has chosen its new leader. The organization announced today that Lynn Zeitlin, a local corporate and real-estate lawyer, will take over as executive director of the organization effective Feb. 9.
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
Vol. 33 No. 5
Ten years later: Robert Drake By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer On Jan. 31, 1999, Robert Drake lounged on the porch of his newly purchased apartment in Sligo, Ireland, sipping a hot port and preparing to turn in for the night. Ten years later, such moments of leisure are rare for Drake, as he’s still grappling with the physical, mental and emotional scars of the violent attack that occurred that night, which left him confined to a wheelchair and suffering from a traumatic brain injury. On that January night, two men, whom Drake recognized from a neighborhood bar he’d visited earlier in the night, approached Drake and, after he invited them inside, proceeded to beat him almost to death. The pair alleged that they attacked Drake because he made a pass at them; although Drake doesn’t remember anything about the incident, those close to him have denied that he would have made such advances. Drake’s then-partner found him the following day, and he spent several months in a coma on life support in an Ireland hospital. Friends, family and the local LGBT and ally communities rallied to raise enough money to transport Drake back to Philadelphia, where he spent months in hospitals and rehab centers: He said he has no recollection of the ordeal before the time he spent in Moss Rehab, where he finally started to become
slurred speech, which he said he probably will always have to deal with. “When they kept me alive via a breathing tube, it bruised my larynx,” he said. “But, the breathing-control awareness is something I learned and I drew on heavily in re-teaching myself how to speak.” Drake, 46, worked for years as an editor and a literary agent, representing gay writers, and penned such works as 1998’s “The Gay Canon: Great Books Every Gay Man Should Read” and the 1995 fiction novel “The Man: A Hero for our Time,” which tells the story of a gay man who goes on the hunt for a violent antigay attacker. In 1997, Drake won a Lambda Literary Award for co-editing a selection from DRAKE NOW the series “His: Brilliant New Fiction by Gay Writers,” which was accompanied by aware of his surroundings. “Hers: Brilliant New Fiction by Lesbian The brain injury impaired his memory and Writers.” motor skills, and it took months, and even Drake said he’s anxious to continue his years in some cases, to re-learn everyday writing career but that he now struggles with tasks. typing on a keyboard and has to use the “hunt“It happened slowly in stages, like and-peck” typing method, in which he uses everything really,” he said. “All of this — one or two fingers to select one key at a time. speech, self-toileting, even eating — is taught “My main problem is and has been typing,” in rehab by occupational therapists, who work he said. “I forgot how to type. I still have to re-familiarize you with the ‘tools for daily ideas, but executing them has become so living.’” laborious.” Drake, who used to be a baritone singer Drake said that while those, like him, who before the assault and who minored in are struggling to recover from a traumatic brain performance-voice in college, still suffers from a “moderate speech dysarthria,” or See DRAKE, Page 12
ACLU sues State Dept. over HIV case EQUALITY ADVOCATES INCOMING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LYNN ZEITLIN Zeitlin, who served on the Equality Advocates board several years ago, currently works in the real-estate department at Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. Equality Advocates’ previous executive director, Stacey Sobel, who took over from founding executive director Andrew Park in 2001, stepped down in August for personal reasons, and interim executive director Pam Leland has headed the group since then. “The board has a unique opportunity to expand on the success of our two previous executive directors,” said Doug Metcalfe, board spokesperson. “Lynn’s commitment to our mission of direct legal services, policy reform and education, her leadership style, her extensive professional experience and her knowledge of Pennsylvania’s political, donor See ADVOCATES, Page 13
By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit late last month against the Department of State and one of its contracting companies for their treatment of an HIV-positive employee. The ACLU is arguing that the department and the contractor, security company Triple Canopy, violated the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act when they terminated the man, who is going by the name John Doe because of his HIV status. Triple Canopy filed a motion to dismiss the case Jan. 9 and argued that it rescinded Doe’s employment offer because of a State Department policy. Neither the State Department nor Triple Canopy could be reached for comment. In October 2005, Triple Canopy offered Doe, a 20-year Special Forces veteran, a position providing security at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti. The day before he was to graduate from the training program the
following month, however, a Triple Canopy director told him he was not eligible for the position because the contract between the company and the State Department stipulates that overseas workers cannot be HIVpositive. Triple Canopy’s legal motion argues that the State Department’s “Worldwide Personal Protective Services Contract,” which it is required to utilize to determine eligible security contractors, stipulates that all personnel have a “valid negative HIV result” and also sets out “suggested physical standards,” one of which is that employees must be “free from communicable disease.” Rose Saxe, an attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT and HIV/AIDS divisions, said Doe was diagnosed with HIV in 2000 and had the disease under control. “His doctors said he could deploy; he was healthy and absolutely fine,” Saxe said. “We’re trying now to figure out the reasoning behind this policy in the contract.” Shortly after his termination with Triple
Canopy, Doe filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which investigated the situation and issued a Right to Sue letter, stating that there was “reasonable cause” to believe the State Department and Triple Canopy acted illegally in denying Doe employment. Saxe explained that the ACLU is arguing that Doe’s rights were violated according to both the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA because the first law bans discrimination against those with physical or mental disabilities in federal agencies, while the latter prohibits such discrimination in private companies; HIV/AIDS is included as a potential disability under both laws. Saxe said that despite increased education about the disease, many employers, including the federal government, continue to exhibit a lack of understanding about HIV. “It is bad enough that people with HIV continue to face discrimination because of See ACLU, Page 2