LGBT+ activists have confirmed that at least one gay man in Morocco has died by suicide after being hunted down and publicly outed by a transgender beauty influencer.
Gay men in Morocco have been living in terror for the past fortnight, after beauty influencer Naofal Moussa, also known as Sofia Talouni, instructed her hundreds of thousands of followers to use gay dating apps to identify them.
Moussa, whose verified Instagram account had 627,000 followers before it was deleted, used a series of Instagram Live videos to encourage straight women in Morocco to create fake accounts on Grindr and Planet Romeo.
She instructed them to identify as “bottoms” and said that by doing this, they would be able to identify gay men around them during lockdown – going as far to suggest that women might be able to find out if their family members are gay.
As a result, gay dating apps were flooded with fake accounts and images of gay men’s profiles began circulating online.
Homosexuality is illegal in Morocco and any form of same-sex intimacy – including kissing – is punishable by up to three years in prison.
Following Moussa’s videos, multiple gay men in Morocco told PinkNews that they were living in a state of absolute terror: watching as other gay men were outed on social media, beaten up by their families, kicked out of their homes, disappearing and, in several, unverified, cases, killing themselves as a result of being publicly outed.
Now, tragically, reports of gay men dying by suicide in the Muslim-majority country have been confirmed.
“We were shocked when we were contacted by the LGBT+ group in Morocco,” Schmidt said.
“We took immediate action by sending a security message to all our 41,000 users in Morocco, we blocked all profiles created from the time this person addressed her users and contacted Facebook to have the group page taken offline.”
Images of gay men in Morocco are being shared in closed Facebook groups by women following Moussa’s instructions.
A spokesperson for the social-media giant said it was trying to shut these groups down.
“We don’t allow people to out members of the LGBT+ community. It puts people at risk, so we remove this content as quickly as we can,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
The Samaritans are the UK’s suicide reduction charity and their free helpline number is 116 123.
In the US, The Lifeline offers free, confidential support 24/7 on 1-800-273-8255.
With the economy frozen amid the coronavirus crisis, small businesses across the country are feeling the pinch and LGBTQ-owned companies — some of which have dramatically altered their business models to stay afloat in trying times — are no exception.
Faced with their traditional sources of revenue being cut off amid government-imposed shutdowns aimed at containing COVID-19, LGBTQ business owners who spoke to the Blade said they’ve had to improvise by facilitating different services than they did in their roles prior to the epidemic.
Amy Tiller, a lesbian and co-owner of the Portland, Ore.-based Inspired Results, said her company immediately pivoted from brand management in print and apparel for client businesses to sending supplies of PPE to hospitals in regions hardest hit by the coronavirus.
“We did a couple of large volume orders for hand sanitizer and gloves and things like that, and then people just started you know started referring us to other health care companies,” Tiller said. “It just became this thing in a matter of weeks that we were securing for traditional hospitals and clinics as well as senior living communities, as well as also we do a lot with our local retail grocery stores.”
The clientele base for Inspired Results, Tiller said, was around 70 percent in health care related industries, so pivoting to PPE was a natural shift, and the business that followed “just kind of blossomed.”
“We will quite literally send out millions of pieces of PPE between gloves, sanitizer, face masks and gowns — primarily those four are huge — and kind of with no end in sight,” Tiller said.
Typically, Tiller said a day for Inspired Results consists of sending emails at 3 a.m. to China, where the supply chain starts, to ensure the PPE is available for clients, which she said has built off the company’s mission to supply those in need without price gouging.
“I think that that has really resonated: The combination of speed, agility and access to the supply, combined with the fact that we’re not going to charge you $10 for a gown,” Tiller said. “We just won’t deal with suppliers that are doing that.”
Among her clients across the country, Tiller said, is a large health system in the United States as well as other highly regulated industries in health care, logistics companies and telecom.
The shift, Tiller said, has made her clients take a second look at the company and realize it has more to offer beyond its initial focus on brand management.
“It’s felt really good to be able to be there for them in their time of need and I think that they see us differently as well,” Tiller said. “Like, one you could do so much more than maybe what I thought your capabilities were before because like big organizations are using us for one or two things, right? Now, it’s kind of opened up this world now.”
The change in business model for Inspired Results is just one many for LGBTQ-owned businesses throughout the country, many of which are coordinating with the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce for assistance.
Jonathan Lovitz, senior vice president for the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, said his organization has been coordinating with the U.S. Small Business Administration to ensure they get that help.
“As the business voice of the LGBT community, the NGLCC is uniquely positioned to connect public and private sector resources to our network of affiliate chambers and partner organizations who urgently need the economic relief and emotional connection our community can always be counted on to provide,” Lovitz said.
Prior to enactment of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce sent letters to members of Congress demanding the inclusion of LGBTQ entrepreneurs as well as support for non-profit, micro businesses and independent contractors.
Justin Nelson, president of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, said via email the CARES Act and initial call with SBA were “positive first steps to ensure our community is financially protected during this crisis,” but more is needed.
“Many were left out and more will certainly be needed, especially as many of our business owners faced difficulty in applying for these essential funds,” Nelson said. “This is why NGLCC, in collaboration with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce (USBC), and the Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce (ACE) and over 100 of our collective affiliate chambers will continue advocating for expanded funding for small business relief in upcoming rounds of relief, the inclusion of 501(c)(6) organizations in relief for nonprofit organizations, and the eligibility of— and increased assistance for — diverse small and micro businesses.”
Other businesses are finding other ways to cope during the COVID-19 epidemic, even at the expenses of profit margins if it means keeping workers on payroll.
Nathan Perry, who’s gay and co-owner of the Brooklyn-based Cutting Edge Elite, said his company — a staffing agency for New York residents seeking to moonlight as hospitality workers at events — has shifted to find them work without any profit.
“Recently, with everything that’s happened, obviously, events wiped out completely,” Perry said. “So sales, 100 percent gone, and nobody should be having a party right now, frankly, but it was our mission to our staff, so now it’s just our mission to get them work without any profit.”
Among the staff at Cutting Edge Elite are New York performers in the gig economy, some of which are doing theater work. As a result, Perry said many of these workers don’t qualify for unemployment benefits.
Perry said he created a relief division, priced it at cost to cover their staff wages and employer tax insurance and then moved to “getting them out there to good work.”
“I think from a mental health perspective this is hard on so many levels,” Perry said. “And one of them is just not having work during this tragedy, which leaves you stuck at home watching CNN way too many hours, and our staff are among the most financially vulnerable.”
Lucas Mendieta, who’s gay and also a co-owner of Cutting Edge Elite, said among the new clients for staffers includes the New York Department of Aging. And the tasks have changed as well.
“We’ve had some staff that are helping out in-house with getting meals ready and then other ones … just to get food out to a lot of older people who just aren’t able to leave their homes,” Mendieta said.
Although $350 billion was made available for small businesses under the third installment of the CARES ACT, many companies have yet to see that relief.
Perry said Cutting Edge Elite applied for relief under the Paycheck Protection Program, but as of last week had yet to hear any news.
“We know we can last about eight weeks with zero business and everyone at this level,” Perry said. “We put in for that PPP application, as well as the SBA disaster relief as well as the NYC continuity fund. Haven’t heard a peep from our bank.”
With the money depleted for the Paycheck Protection Program, the Senate after negotiations approved this week on a bipartisan basis an additional $480 billion for the initiative. The measure is now pending before the House, which is expected to approve the measure this week.
LGBTQ businesses are adjusting to new realities under the coronavirus as debate rages on — with passionate advocates on both sides — over when is the right time to reopen the economy.
Medical experts are saying testing in the United States must be ramped up two or threefold before that can happen safely, while many throughout the country agitate over getting back to normal and fume over travel restrictions.
Tiller said Inspired Results last week held an all-hands meeting on when things would go back and concluded “there is no going back.”
“We’ve probably created a new business line within our company out of this,” Tiller said. “What does that mean? How do we keep engaged and keep that momentum, but then also we have to prepare for when we do go back will the marketing be there. Will those traditional spends that we normally see be there?”
Even though she’s a business owner and would stand to gain from restarting the economy, Tiller said she “has a fear” about the economy opening up quickly.
“I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but my fear first and foremost is more people will die right?” Tiller said. “If we do it too soon, it’ll just compromise more of our citizens, No. 1. And as we reopen the country and the economy, doing so in a layered approach — obviously there’s no light switch, it’s not going to go from one way to the other — I would be very much afraid to not follow the data and not follow the science.”
Perry said a number of factors are playing into his views on opening up the economy and the prospects for Cutting Edge Elite, including the possibility of a coronavirus resurgence in the fall — which he said could be devastating.
“If our business does survive this hit, which I’m 90 percent confident we will, a second one — we would have to lay people off immediately,” Perry said. “We’d already be in high debt — even nice cheap debt from the government — we’d already be in a high debt position. So, we can’t have any bumps in the restart or that could be kind of the killing blow.”
A former police officer will receive $90,000 in damages after filing a lawsuit claiming he was denied employment as a sheriff’s deputy in 2012 when his prospective employer learned he has HIV. The case, along with another lawsuit involving two HIV-positive members of the Air Force who claimed they were discharged because of their HIV status, has brought renewed attention to policies surrounding HIV employment discrimination.
A lawsuit filed by Lambda Legal in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said the former officer, Liam Pierce, was up for a job with the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office in New Iberia until he disclosed his status during a pre-employment medical exam. According to the LGBTQ legal advocacy group, Pierce — who had moved to Louisiana in 2005 to assist in the relief effort following Hurricane Katrina — had experience working as a police officer, volunteer firefighter and paramedic.
Scott Schoettes, an attorney for Lambda Legal and the director of its HIV Project, said everything “seemed perfectly on track” for Pierce to land the job.
“He had good interviews and talked to them about an alleged misconduct at a previous job,” Schoettes told NBC News. “They said that wasn’t a problem.”
Schoettes was referring to a job Pierce lost with the Abbeville Police Department in Louisiana for discharging a firearm in front of two inmates held in custody.
Schoettes said everything changed, though, when Pierce informed the medical team evaluating him for employment about his HIV status. He alleged the plaintiff was told by doctors that having HIV “was not a disqualification for the job,” but shortly after his results were sent to the sheriff’s office, Pierce was denied the position. The department cited the incident at Abbeville as a pretense, but Schoettes said Pierce “immediately recognized where this was coming from.”
“This was a result of his HIV status, because he basically had the job until his medical evaluation,” Schoettes said. “He was pretty frustrated and upset.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found in 2018 that Pierce had probable cause to bring legal action regarding his claim, and he settled out of court on Tuesday with the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office. As a condition of the settlement, the department’s staff will undergo education and training regarding HIV, and the office’s hiring guidelines will include a statement that “discrimination on the basis of disability, including HIV status, is prohibited.”
Pierce said in a statement that it “feels good to finally be vindicated” eight years after his case was initially filed. “I hope that my case helps others avoid going through my experience,” he said.
Pierce’s experience is not isolated, according to the EEOC. While employment discrimination based on HIV status has been banned under the Americans With Disabilities Act since 2008, the federal agency reported that 155 people brought claims of workplace discrimination based on their HIV status in 2019. Although that accounts for just 0.6 percent of overall ADA discrimination claims brought to the EEOC, people living with HIV only make up about 0.3 percent of the U.S. population.
Pierce’s case is at least the second involving alleged HIV-related workplace discrimination to make national headlines so far this year. In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit unanimously upheld a preliminary injunction against an Air Force policy discharging active duty service members based solely on their HIV-positive status. According to the court, the U.S. government “cannot reconcile these policies with current medical evidence” regarding HIV transmission.
The case is the first time federal courts have ruled on behalf of servicemembers living with HIV, according to Lambda Legal, which filed the lawsuit. It is now headed back to a lower district court to weigh in. Lambda Legal is also representing service members from other branches of the military in two companion lawsuits.
Jim Pickett, senior director of prevention, advocacy and gay men’s health at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, said these cases illustrate the stigma to which people living with HIV are still subjected, despite decades of medical advancements. He said the fear that working with an HIV-positive police officer or airman will make their co-workers vulnerable to transmission is “based on pure ignorance and discrimination.”
“It’s not based on science,” he said. “HIV is not easily transmittable.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is “extremely rare” for individuals to contract HIV in the workplace. A guide to occupational HIV exposure posted on its website cautions that risk of transmission “varies by the type of exposure” but says, for instance, that the incidence of spreading HIV by being “splashed with body fluids” is “near zero.” Even among health care workers, arguably the most at-risk group for occupational HIV transmission, there have been only 58 confirmed cases ever in the United States.
It’s even less likely for individuals living with HIV to transmit the virus to another person if they are taking daily medications to suppress the virus. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS, studies show that people who are undetectable, meaning that their viral load is so low it cannot be detected through HIV testing, “cannot transmit HIV sexually.”
But Pickett explained that despite these facts, it has been “very hard” for advocates to change “entrenched” beliefs about HIV dating back to the early days of the crisis, particularly the idea that people living with the virus are “dirty and bad.”
“There’s still this strong segment of society where facts don’t matter,” he said. “We can see this with anti-vaxxers and climate denialists, and we can see this with people right now who are going out and fighting public health authorities and governors to open up the economy because they think the coronavirus is an overblown hoax.”
Experts said these misconceptions about HIV and those affected by the virus will continue to prevent people from speaking out about the routine discrimination they experience. Aisha Davis, director of policy at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, said it’s “really difficult to know exactly how many people” are experiencing targeted bias in their places of employment because these individuals are often “suffering in silence” to avoid bringing “more attention to themselves.”
“When you’re talking about a population of people who already fight stigma on a day-to-day basis, there’s an acceptance of a certain amount of discrimination that they experience,” Davis told NBC News. “The assumption is usually that this is something that everyone experiences. It’s terrible, but it’s the status quo.”
Despite federal protections under the Americans With Disabilities Act regarding workplace discrimination, many states still have decades-old laws on the books criminalizing the transmission of HIV between sexual partners. According to a 2017 report from the legal advocacy group Center for HIV Law and Policy, 36 states had some form of legislation on the books mandating a misdemeanor or a felony charge for exposing another individual to HIV. Davis said these kinds of laws, although seemingly unrelated to workplace discrimination, can erode the faith of people living with HIV that their state and federal governments are on their side, even in areas where they are protected.
“A lot of people don’t think that the policy or the regulation is actually going to protect them, so we need cases like these,” she said of the lawsuits brought by Pierce and the airmen. “We need to see these wins, and we need to amplify these wins, because people need to know that it’s not just a pretty piece of paper or some really nice words. We need to know that it’s something that every person has access to.”
Schoettes said he hopes the two cases send a message to people living with HIV and prospective employers that not only is it illegal to refuse to hire someone based on their HIV status, but it’s also irrational.
“A person living with HIV is capable of doing any job in the world safely,” he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said restaurants across California that have been struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus economic shutdown will soon begin providing millions of subsidized meals to qualifying senior citizens.
He outlined the first-in-the-nation “Restaurants Deliver: Home Meals for Seniors” program but didn’t say when it would start. The state’s official website sign-up said information “will be available soon.” His administration said many of the decisions will be made by local officials.
Here’s some of what’s known:
WHO QUALIFIES?
Those 65 or older or otherwise high-risk because they have the coronavirus; were exposed to the coronavirus as documented by a public health official or medical professional; or have an underlying health condition.
Participants must live alone or with one other eligible adult. They can’t be receiving assistance from other federal nutrition programs and can have income of no more than $74,940 for an individual or $101,460 for two. That is 600% of the federal poverty level.
They must state they are unable to prepare or obtain their own meals.
WHAT WILL BE PROVIDED?
An “unlimited number of meals,” Newsom said: three a day, seven days a week. Restaurants will be reimbursed up to $66 per day: $16 for breakfast, $17 for lunch and $27 for dinner, and an additional $5 for “incidental expenses.”
But no junk food. The state will set nutritional guidelines, but leave it to local jurisdictions to decide which restaurants qualify. Although it’s not clear how the guidelines will be enforced, Newsom said there will be an emphasis on locally produced produce, independent restaurants and a “diversity of options” and meals.
State guidance is that breakfast be low in sodium and with 100% fruit juices. Lunch and dinner must also must be low salt and include a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable on each dish.
WHO PAYS?
The federal government will reimburse 75% of the cost and location governments will pick up the rest. The state will then reimburse three-quarters of the local cost. Newsom said local governments will benefit from the the sales taxes collected on the meals.
Newsom provided no estimate of an overall cost for the program but said he thought “millions” of the state’s 5.7 million people 65 and older could qualify. If just one million sign up and get all $66 per day the cost would be about $2 billion per month.
Newsom said the program will continue as long as the virus crisis persists.
HOW CAN YOU SIGN UP?
Stay tuned. The state’s website says “as the local programs get established in the next few days, more information will be provided.” Newsom said seniors can call their local 2-1-1 information network call centers if they have one, or go to the state website. The state also plans an outreach program.
Officials say participants can apply with a phone call and provide “self-certification” on the eligibility requirements listed above, similar to the way they can assert that they are eligible for other disaster programs.
The UK’s first-ever openly HIV positive mayor, Philip Normal, has been elected in Lambeth, South London.
He has pledged to support LGBT+ rights and de-stigmatise living with HIV.
Philip Normal, 38, is an artist who has a shop in Brixton Village Market and has represented Lambeth’s Oval ward since the May 2018 local government elections.
Normal, who lives in Kennington, was elected the Labour mayor at Lambeth’s first-ever virtual annual general meeting on April 22.
“I am incredibly honoured to become your mayor today,” he said in his acceptance speech.
“I look forward to working with you all, and with the diverse communities I am so very proud to be a part of here in Lambeth.
“I’ll be honest, this is not entirely how I envisaged it happening but I’m grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to make this evening possible.
“As mayor, I welcome the challenge to create new and exciting ways to bring the community together, support our local organisations, the arts, our young people, and raise money for my chosen charity.”
Philip Normal went on to talk about how he would be raising money for the Albert Kennedy Trust, which helps young LGBT+ people with housing issues, life skills, emergency accommodation and specialist support.
Normal has been campaigning for LGBT+ rights for more than two decades, ever since he came out.
He studied fashion at the University of Westminster before moving to Lambeth eight years ago.
“I was diagnosed HIV positive in 2005,” he said.
“I’ve been on medication for 10 years and thanks to the incredible work the NHS does in the field of sexual health, like many others with the condition, I can live a long and healthy life.
“That said it isn’t something any of us should feel pride in as it highlights the shame and stigma that has been associated with HIV for far too long. Being open about your status is an individual choice and nobody should feel obliged to reveal their status.
“But I hope that by choosing to do so I can show that there is no limit to what people living with HIV can achieve, and that we have to smash the stigma around HIV once and for all.
“Further, in this time of great anxiety for our communities and tragedy for too many, the story of HIV treatment reminds us there is always hope thanks to medical science.
“Once we were desperate and dying but now, with effective treatment for HIV, undetectable is untransmittable.”
The Trump administration is moving to scrap an Obama-era policy that protected LGBTQ patients from discrimination, alarming health experts who warn that the regulatory rollback could harm vulnerable people during a pandemic.
The health department is close to finalizing its long-developing rewrite of Obamacare’s Section 1557 provision, which barred health care discrimination based on sex and gender identity. The administration’s final rule on Thursday was circulated at the Justice Department, a step toward publicly releasing the regulation in the coming days, said two people with knowledge of the pending rule.
The White House on Friday morning also updated a regulatory dashboard to indicate that the rule was under review. Advocates fear that it would allow hospitals and health workers to more easily discriminate against patients based on their gender or sexual orientation.
Read the full article. As I’ve previously reported, this change has been long coming. Apparently the Trump administration figures they can finally push it through relatively unnoticed during the relentless pandemic news. They may be right.
We are very excited to announce that this Sunday, April 26, The Spahr Center is partnering with CenterLink and GLAAD to present “Together in Pride: You Are Not Alone,” a star studded livestream event to bring the LGBTQ community together and honor our frontline healthcare workers during COVID-19.
We’ll also raise important funds for CenterLink and our partners at over 250 local community centers in the U.S. and around the world! A portion of the money raised will go directly to The Spahr Center. Here’s how to watch on Sunday, April 26 and 8pm ET / 5pm PT:Signup to watchhere and you’ll get a reminder email to tune in when the program goes live!Tune in on our Facebook page hereFollow @GLAAD on Twitter and Facebook to watch liveRSVP to the Facebook event here and invite your friends!
The livestream will share stories of LGBTQ front-line doctors and essential workers. Hosted by Lilly Singh and Billy Eichner. Featuring performances by Ke$ha and Melissa Etheridge. Messages of pride and support will be sent to LGBTQ youth from special guests including Pete & Chasten Buttigieg, Billy Porter, Rosie O’Donnell, Matt Bomer, Adam Lambert, Bebe Rexha, Dan Levy, Mj Rodriguez, Wilson Cruz, Kathy Griffin, Gigi Gorgeous, Nats Getty, Michelle Visage, Javier Muñoz, Sean Hayes, Sharon Stone, and Tatiana Maslany. More names will be announced soon! LGBTQ community centers, including The Spahr Center, serve as safe spaces for nearly 40,000 LGBTQ people each week and 2 million people each year. During the pandemic, LGBTQ community centers are still providing critical services such as medical care, mental health counseling, virtual support groups, filling prescriptions, providing hot meals and check-in phone calls for older adults, serving as shelters for homeless youth, distributing nonperishable food items and hygiene products, case management, HIV testing, and hosting virtual engagement activities to decrease social isolation. Given the current financial crisis and loss of revenue, LGBT community centers could be forced to shrink our services, meaning tens of thousands of LGBTQ people could go without care. We hope you will tune in to support The Spahr Center and our partner LGBTQ+ community centers. Stay safe and stay healthy. Sincerely,Dana Van Gorder
PS: Don’t forget to sign up for the livestream: here
A UCSF doctor did some math to estimate the number of lives the San Francisco Bay Area may have saved by jurisdictions acting quickly and residents following strict shelter-in-place orders.
Dr. George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology and the head of the division of infectious disease and global epidemiology, believes some 34,000 to 44,000 lives have been saved partially through the region’s early action, such as San Francisco Mayor London Breed issuing a state of emergency on February 28.
Rutherford pointed out that Breed’s declaration nudged people to start staying home nearly three weeks before the shelter-in-place order was issued, dramatically limiting people’s movement.
How did Rutherford get to these numbers? First, he looked at the worst-case scenario forecasts for deaths in the United States if no precautions were taken.
A top disease modeler at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention forecast that the U.S. could see as many as 1.7 million deaths. The C.D.C. didn’t release the number to the general public, but the New York Times obtained screenshots from a presentation done on a phone conference and verified the data with scientists on the call. What’s more, a model from the Imperial College of London forecast 2.2 million Americans could die as a result of the coronavirus pandemic if people went on with their daily lives as disease spread.
Rutherford figured the six Bay Area counties that issued shelter-in-place orders on March 16 — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara — make up about 2% of the U.S. population, considering these counties have about 6.6 million residents compared to the 328.2 million U.S. population.
Two percent of 1.7 million is 34,000 and of 2.2 million is 44,000; these numbers provide a very rough estimate of the number of deaths that could have occurred if no precautions were taken, according to the C.D.C. and Imperial College in London. In reality, Rutherford said, “We’ve had 200 deaths so far. That’s the delta. That’s the difference. That’s a lot.”
The reservation site Open Table is one indicator offering additional proof that people in the Bay Area were staying home earlier than those in other parts of the country. Rutherford said reservations dropped dramatically in San Francisco after February 28 while in Los Angeles and New York, the data shows people continuing to go out.
Advocacy groups on Thursday filed a class action lawsuit that demands U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all transgender people who are in their custody because they are more susceptible to the coronavirus.
The Transgender Law Center and the Rapid Defense Network, along with Ballard Spahr LLP, a Philadelphia-based law firm, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit names as plaintiffs 13 trans women who are in ICE detention centers in Virginia, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and California. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and U.S. Attorney General William Barr are named as defendants.
The lawsuit states trans people “in civil immigration detention — many of whom came to this country seeking safety from violence and persecution in their home countries because of their gender identities — are among the most vulnerable during the current pandemic.” It also says ICE “has not provided and cannot implement sufficient measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in its facilities.”
One of the plaintiffs — a trans woman from Mexico who is in ICE custody at the Florence Correctional Center in Florence, Ariz., — says two of her fellow detainees who live in her pod have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Another plaintiff — a trans woman from El Salvador at the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, La., who has been in ICE custody for nearly a year — says nurses do not wear personal protective equipment and personnel at the facility have not provided her with information about the coronavirus. A trans Jamaican woman with HIV who is in ICE custody at the Nevada Southern Detention Center outside of Las Vegas says “staff … including medical staff, do not always wear gloves and masks.”
A trans Honduran woman who is in ICE custody at the Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Va., says it is “impossible for her to practice social distancing” because more than three dozen people live in her dormitory. Another trans Honduran woman who is detained at the Aurora Contract Detention Center in Aurora, Colo., claims she learned about “a confirmed case of COVID-19” at the facility while watching the news.
“Transgender people in civil immigration detention, as a group, are at a greater risk of contracting the virus that causes COVID-19 than the general population and, if they do become infected, are more likely to become seriously ill or die,” reads the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, among other things, notes trans people are more likely to have underlying medical conditions and have higher rates of HIV than other groups. The lawsuit also notes ICE detention centers “are plagued by chronic and well-documented failures to provide proper medical care to transgender people in civil immigration detention — problems that have been exacerbated by the pandemic and pose another enhanced risk of infection, disease and death for transgender people in civil immigration detention.”
Roxsana Hernández, a trans Honduran woman with HIV who was briefly detained at the Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, N.M., died on May 25, 2018, while she was in ICE custody. Johana “Joa” Medina León, a trans Salvadoran woman with HIV, passed away at a hospital in El Paso, Texas, on June 1, 2019, three days after ICE released her from the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral, N.M.
The families of both trans women have filed wrongful death lawsuits against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security that oversees it.
“ICE’s failures to provide adequate medical care during the pandemic — building upon its inability to do so even in the best of times — put transgender people in civil immigration detention at further risk of serious illness or death should they become infected with the coronavirus,” reads the lawsuit filed by the Transgender Law Center and the Rapid Defense Network.
“Because ICE cannot provide adequate medical care to them, transgender people in civil immigration detention should be released immediately to safer environments,” it adds.
ICE on its website says there are 287 detainees with confirmed coronavirus cases. These include one at the Caroline Detention Facility, two at the Winn Correctional Center and 10 at the Florence Detention Center.
The Transgender Law Center is among the dozens of advocacy groups that demanded the release of all trans ICE detainees in a letter they sent to Wolf and Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence on Jan. 21. More than 40 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have made the same request.
ICE in previous interviews and statements to the Washington Blade has defended its treatment of trans detainees.
A 2015 memorandum then-ICE Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Thomas Homan signed requires personnel to allow trans detainees to identify themselves based on their gender identity on data forms. The directive, among other things, also contains guidelines for a “respectful, safe and secure environment” for trans detainees and requires detention facilities to provide them with access to hormone therapy and other trans-specific health care.
U.S. District Court Judge Jesus Bernal of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Monday ordered ICE to “identify and track all ICE detainees with risk factors” and said it “should consider the willingness of detainees with risk factors to be released.” The ruling notes ICE as of April 4 will consider for release detainees who are over 60, detainees “of any age having chronic illnesses which would make them immune-compromised” and those who are pregnant or have given birth within the last two weeks.
ICE on Thursday told the Blade in a statement the agency “is reviewing cases of individuals in detention deemed to be at higher risk for severe illness as a result of COVID-19.”
“Utilizing CDC guidance along with the advice of medical professionals, ICE may place individuals in a number of alternatives to detention options,” said ICE. “Decisions to release individuals in ICE custody occur every day on a case-by-case basis.”
Statistics indicate ICE as of April 10 has released 693 detainees during the pandemic.
Immigration Equality last week said ICE released four of its gay clients with HIV who had been detained at the Winn Correctional Center; the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, La.; and La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Ariz. Trans Queer Pueblo, a Phoenix-based group that advocates on behalf of undocumented LGBTQ immigrants, says five LGBTQ asylum seekers who had been at La Palma Correctional Facility and the Eloy Detention Center, which is also in Arizona, left ICE custody on March 23.
ICE on March 4 released Yariel Valdés González, a Blade contributor who won asylum based on persecution he suffered in his native Cuba because he is a journalist. Valdés had been in ICE custody in Louisiana and Mississippi for nearly a year before his release.
ICE less than two weeks after Valdés’ release suspended in-person visitation at all of its detention facilities as part of its response to the pandemic. Media reports nevertheless indicate more than 30,000 people remain in ICE custody.
A Chinese lesbian couple’s landmark court battle over the custody of their two children has stirred debate over LGBTQ rights and put a spotlight on a legal vacuum created by the absence of a same-sex marriage law.
Shanghai resident Zhang Peiyi split up with her partner last year. The partner has since broken off communication and taken their two toddlers away to an unknown location.
So Zhang has turned to the courts, filing a case in the eastern province of Zhejiang this month, to fight for custody of one of the children, the one she gave birth to, and visitation rights to the other.
A court has accepted the case but hearings have yet to begin.
“Even if I can find them, I won’t be able to see them,” Zhang told Reuters. “I thought who else can help me? I could only find a lawyer.”
The case is the first of its kind in China and has attracted media attention. It is likely to be complicated by the fact that Zhang and her partner are women and not legally married, at least not in China, where marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman.
More LGBTQ couples are choosing to have families but many find themselves pushing up against the limits of the law if the relationship ends, said Yang Yi, a program officer at LGBT Rights Advocacy China.
“There are more than 100 assistive reproductive companies that target gay couples,” said Yang.
Yang said there have been custody battles between same-sex couples before but they were settled out of court.
‘Rights and interests’
Zhang and her former partner had their children with the help of reproductive technology in the United States. Zhang’s partner provided the eggs for the embryos and then each of them carried a separate embryo to full term.
While they were there, they also got married. However, that is not recognized in China, nor is there an existing law for Zhang’s claim over the children.
Traditionally in custody disputes, the law recognizes the birth parent. While Zhang can claim that she gave birth to one child, her partner can claim that she is the parent by blood.
The court will have to decide whether Zhang can claim custodial rights or is it only her partner who provided the egg and therefore has the genetic connection.
Another question is whether an LGBTQ parent can claim custodial rights over a child who they raised but may not have any biological relationship to, as is the case with Zhang’s other child, whom her partner carried to term.
The case has stirred public interest with social media posts attracting more than 380 million views this week.
“I can’t say whether I support gay people … but I support this opportunity to give them their legitimate rights and interests,” said one social media user.
For Zhang, the key is the legalization of same-sex marriage.
“The focal point is how can you determine who is a child’s mother. But if you consider that there are two mothers, then it will return to the issue of same-sex marriage,” she said.
Zhang supports a campaign for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Though the prospect of the legislation looks slim, she said she won’t give up.
“You may feel like it wouldn’t happen very quickly, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do anything,” Zhang said.