For we are not a nation that says, “don’t ask, don’t tell.” We are a nation that says, “Out of many, we are one.” We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. We are a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal. Those are the ideals that generations have fought for. Those are the ideals that we uphold today. And now, it is my honor to sign this bill into law.
– President Barack Obama, December 22, 2010.

~ By Robin Dorner, Editor in Chief ~
As seen in the 2012 OKC Pride Guide
On Dec. 22, 2010, President Obama signed into law a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT), bringing to an end a discriminatory policy that forced some great American servicemen and servicewomen to serve under a cloud of anxiety and isolation.
DADT stands in stark contrast to the values of unity and equality. However, today, gay and lesbian service members can serve the country they love without hiding who they love; both our military and country are stronger for it.
To commemorate this historic event of 2010, OKC Pride is honoring LGBT service members, reflecting the long journey toward repeal and what it was like to watch President Obama sign the repeal act into law.
“When I first saw that OKC Pride wanted to put military folks as the Grand Marshals of the parade, I was uber excited,” said Captain William Henning of the United States Air Force (USAF). “I’ve never been to a Pride event before; I was always too afraid that I’d get caught. And when it was advertised that I could bring someone with me, I got even more excited to have my boyfriend of almost 3 years march next to me!”
Captain Henning has been in the USAF for nearly six years and is a meteorologist and a flight commander. He is 29 years old and currently stationed at Vance AFB in Enid, OK.
“Before the repeal, I was always worried that I’d get ‘caught’ being myself. You know how nervous I was the very first time I went to a gay bar? Always worried that maybe someone would see me going in, or a civilian would be in there and notice me. After moving to Enid, it was even more so. Being on a small base, in a small town, I knew that if someone caught me being myself, word would spread fast. I made a lot of trips down Route 81 [from Enid] to get to Oklahoma City, and away from my current job/employment in order to avoid being found out.
“When President Obama signed the repeal, I was deployed overseas. Despite the signing, it still would not take affect for 60 days, so still I had to remain hidden; not to mention I was in a country whose views on homosexuality are not very fond. But still, I was really excited, and remember emailing civilian friends back home all about it. But I knew that I still had to remain hidden for just a little bit longer before it was finally over with. During this time, I finished up my deployment and came home to find my boyfriend waiting for me at the airport. At that point, I didn’t care it if it was in affect or not, I still ran into his arms and gave him the biggest hug I could.”
Captain Henning also said he is so happy that he can live his life with his boyfriend without the fear of getting “caught.”

“I don’t have to live in secret, and we don’t have to live in secret together. I can’t help but thank all those who stepped up before DADT, who risked their careers so that folks like me don’t have to worry about it anymore,” he added.
According to the Military Times Poll, in 2011, 59 percent of active-duty respondents said they did not believe they would be affected by the repeal. When service members were asked this year how they were affected after the repeal, 69 percent said they had felt no impact.
Although units where someone disclosed they are gay, lesbian or bisexual after repeal felt more of a change, 59 percent still said the repeal had no noticeable effect.
“It takes a lot of strength to stand up for who you are and what is right,” added Captain Henning. “The AF has three core values: integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. This can easily be paralleled to, ‘Proud. Strong. United,’ [the 2012 OKC Pride theme]. In order to have integrity, you have to have strength to stick up for what’s right, even when no one is looking. The prouder you are of something, the more effort you’d be willing to put in to it.”
Henning concluded by saying, “Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that I’d be a part of a pride event as big as this, especially with the man that I truly love. He’s been more of a trooper during all this DADT stuff than I think I ever was.”
Although the historic bill passed the US Senate with more than 2/3 support of the vote (65-31), US Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), made the following statement to the press on Dec. 18th, 2010:
“I am very disappointed with this vote to repeal DADT. For the past 17 years, DADT has proven to work providing good order and discipline to our nation’s military. To repeal a policy that has been successful to our military’s troop unity and effectiveness is frankly absurd and thoughtless of Congressional Democrats. As the old adage goes, why fix something that isn’t broken? To appease the far left, we will negatively impact up to 60 percent of our combat forces for what is estimated to be less than 2 percent of the military population.”
Perhaps that which “isn’t broken,” is in the eye of the beholder in this case, huh Senator?

Special to the Gayly Pride issue 2012
By Matthew DeCamp
Tulsa Pride Communications Coordinator

OkEq begins 2012 Tulsa Pride this year on Friday, June 1st. The Pride Pool Party at Tulsa’s downtown Holiday Inn City Center pool is from 3-9p.m. Then we kick up the celebration on Saturday June 2nd with the Parade and Street Festival hosted by Pandora Boxx, with performances from Oklahoma’s finest Drag Queens and Kings, musical guests, a wonderful comedian, and special guest DJ’s.

Tulsa Shock will be hosting a special VIP area at Pride that will provide VIP parade viewing and VIP treatment. During the month of May, enjoy many events preceding the Tulsa Pride weekend at local venues promoting Pride Night where patrons can enter to win VIP passes for two. Check out our website (www.tulsapride.org) and click the schedule of Pride Night events; Equality Day at the Zoo, Pride Night with Tulsa Shock, MoreColor Art Show, PFLAG Spaghetti Dinner and more.

Our non-stop entertainment for Tulsa Pride 2012 is unique and offers entertainment for a diverse crowd. Pandora Boxx will be headlining the Street Festival and Parade June 2nd. Ms. Boxx is best known for appearances on Rupaul’s Drag Race and Drag U. Boxx’s humorous and campy style has been recognized in the media as having the potential of being “America’s next drag Superstar”.

Joining Pandora on stage for individual performances will include Big Bad Gina, A “fun and funky Goddess-folk-fusion band from Fayetteville, AR with a soulful, jazzy flair”.
Tulsa’s very own jazzy soul celebrity, Rebecca Ungerman, will be giving us a timeless performance. In August of 2009 her fans voted her Urban Tulsa Weekly Magazine’s Absolute Best Female Vocalist.
Eric Himan will take the stage and rock the Street Festival. Eric’s music has recently been featured on Sirius/XM’s Coffeehouse radio station with his song, “Save The Afternoon” and version of the Simply Red classic, “Holding Back the Years”.

Gary Robert Strickland is a singer/songwriter based in the mid-west. He has appeared with a group and solo at many events including; Tulsa Mayfest, Tulsa Pride, OKC Pride and many more.
Cheril Vendetti will be Tulsa Pride’s very first stand-up comedian. She recently appeared in Ozzy Osbourne’s new variety show, the CW morning show “The Daily Buzz”, and the new TV pilot, “The Bogey Boys.”
Our weekend of Pride will be concluded on June 3rd, 2012 with a “Pride in the Park,” picnic. This picnic will be a throwback to the beginning of Pride in Tulsa, 30 years ago in 1982. Tulsa Pride Director, Patrick French, says, “Bring your own food, ice chests, kids, and of course your pets to enjoy a great day at the park”. This event will purely be a picnic and will not provide any food vendors or refreshments for purchase. Be a part of these exciting events by signing up on our website as a volunteer and receive a free volunteer t-shirt and much more.
The Tulsa Pride Committee 2012 is represented by Pride Director, Patrick French; Business Operations Coordinator, Noah Spiegel; Communication Coordinator, Matthew DeCamp; Marketing Coordinator, Jennifer Van Burkleo; Logisics Coordinator, Angela Sivadon; and Parade Coordinator, Ms George Romero. We invite all LGBT Oklahomans to these events and would like to wholeheartedly thank our Sponsors, Tulsa Pride Volunteers and the Oklahoma LGBT community for supporting us. It would not happen without you. For more information about Tulsa Pride, full list of sponsors or to sign up to volunteer, please visit our website, www.tulsapride.org. Happy Pride everyone!

Unfortunately, it did not appear that much got accomplished legislatively during the fourteenth week of our Session. We voted on a handful of bills on the floor, but mostly our time in the chamber was spent honoring school teams and other outstanding individuals. This was the last week to hear resolutions in the Senate.

We are now to the point where there is a lot of “hurry up and wait” as legislative leaders work out the details of the budget, and it will only get worse the closer we get to Sine Die (the last day of the legislative session). No word yet on how close they are to an agreement. The General Conference Committee on Appropriations will have its first meeting on Monday, so we are definitely getting nearer to this important goal.

I was so pleased by a poll released this week by the Oklahoma Advocacy Project. The poll shows that Oklahomans are finally coming to the realization that you can’t get something for nothing. The poll shows Oklahomans’ strong opposition to reducing and eliminating the state income tax, especially if it means less funding for education, transportation, and public safety—which, of course, is exactly what the proposed cuts will mean. If the cuts are implemented, then our sales and property taxes will have to be raised to make up for the lost revenues. Again, the personal-income tax provides nearly one-third of our annual state budget.

These findings represent a significant departure from last year’s polls, which indicated broader initial support for the tax cuts. Hopefully, our legislative leaders are taking note of this change in public opinion. The message is clear: Oklahoma citizens are doing their homework. The poll found that forty-two percent of Oklahomans opposed decreasing the state income tax and paying for it by eliminating popular tax credits like the child tax credit and the sales-tax-relief credit. When asked if having a tax cut was worth a decrease in school funding, a resounding eighty-one percent of you said no. Furthermore, seventy percent of the people affirmed that they believe getting rid of the state income tax will lead to higher sales and property taxes. In addition, two-thirds said they were against the income-tax phase-out if it meant higher property and sales taxes.

This is a common-sense issue, and I am happy to see that so many people are realizing the detrimental effects that a major income-tax reduction (and eventual elimination) would cause. I think those legislators supporting and pushing these income-tax-cut and -elimination proposals would be well-advised to reconsider this issue. November is right around the corner, and voters will be inclined to remember who votes for and against the bills take funding away from schools, roads, human services, and public safety.

The Oklahoma Advocacy Project is a nonprofit organization that advocates for working Oklahomans. The organization supports reasonable policies that create economic prosperity for all Oklahomans and protect core government services. An income-tax cut at this time would do neither of those things. We will soon see what legislative leaders decide to do on this issue, as a bill should be presented for a vote sometime next week.

Finally, I want to thank the wonderful group of Dove Science Academy seniors who helped my colleagues and me this past week by paging for the Senate: Curren Leblanc, Ruby Ulloa, and Travers Mullen. Curren is the son of Donald Leblanc, Ruby is the daughter of Onotre Ulloa, and Travers is the son of Lisa Mullen. It was such a privilege getting to know these bright students, and I wish them the very best in their future endeavors.

If you have any questions or comments, I can be reached by email at mcaffrey@oksenate.gov or by phone at (405) 521-5610. You can also write me: Senator Al McAffrey, State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 533, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105.

~ Pictured above, – (left) Lance with Chris Kattan on the set of “Just Crazy Enough.” Kattan played both twins in the movie.
Lance with the rest of the, “Just Crazy Enough” cast, (l-r) Eleanor Threatt, Jonathan Beck Reed, Desmond Mason, Judith Midyett, Josh Norman, Nikhil Bhoplay and Don Taylor. ~

Lance McDaniel is the Executive Director of the deadCENTER Film Festival, Oklahoma’s largest film festival, and an independent filmmaker who has worked on 13 feature films. This past summer, Lance co-wrote and directed the family comedy, Just Crazy Enough, starring Chris Kattan, and produced a documentary about the first female Governor of Oklahoma, First & Female. Lance’s feature length documentary, Widowbago, won Best Oklahoma film in 2007. And, his short, The Gymnast, won a Best Actress award at the Los Angeles International Film Festival. Lance is also a DGA 1st AD, working on four features for Oscar winning producer Gray Frederickson, the Chickasaw Nation’s first feature film, Pearl, and the Brooks Douglass story Heaven’s Rain. Lance served as on-set dresser and props for Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me. In Los Angeles, Lance worked as Producers Assistant for Oscar winner Al Ruddy on Million Dollar Baby and Cloud 9.
Lance has a Masters in Film from Oklahoma City University and an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, where he currently serves as Event Chair for his 20 year reunion.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I grew up in Alva, went to college at Stanford University and worked as an internet consultant in San Francisco, London, & New York before quitting my job and moving to Los Angeles to make movies. I retuned back home to Oklahoma 7 years ago to make independent films and be closer to my family.

2. How did your career in film begin?

After completing a film program at NYU, OCU’s Fritz Keirsch got me an interview with Gray Frederickson, who hired me to be his assistant on Cloud 9, a beach volleyball comedy filming in Malibu. The other producer on the film, Al Ruddy, then hired me to be his assistant on Million Dollar Baby, and both he and the film won the Oscar. After that, Gray asked me to move back to Oklahoma and help produce a series of low budget horror films. I’ve been here ever since.

3. How would you best describe your style?

I typically dress in suit and tie if I am speaking for work or fundraising. Otherwise, I am very casual and tend to dress to amuse myself.

4. What prompted you to begin writing?

I knew I wanted to write my own film scripts from the beginning. Both feature films I have directed were based on scripts I co-wrote with my producing partner, Sean Lynch. I have also been writing a weekly column on independent film for the Friday Paper for the past two years.

5. What is the most embarrassing thing in your career?

I do not embarrass very easily. But, I have certainly worked on some films that were embarrassing.

6. If you could work with one other writer or director, who would it be?

Gus Van Sant’s “My Own Private Idaho” is the film that made me want to make my own films. His career is filled with huge risks like “Elephant” and wild successes like “Good Will Hunting” and “Milk.” I would love to work with him at some point.

7. Any hobbies?

I go to church at St. Luke’s United Methodist, read a lot of fiction, watch a lot of movies, go to live concerts and see as many OKC Thunder games as possible.

8. Goals for the future both personally and professionally.

My goal is to grow deadCENTER into a huge local event that draws national attention to Oklahoma City as a creative destination. And, I’d like to continue writing and directing really fun feature films.

9. How has being the Executive Director of the deadCenter Film Festival added your already fabulous career?

Working at deadCENTER has been awesome. I volunteered for 5 years before being hired. So, I knew it would allow me to meet great filmmakers and watch lots of movies. But, the best part about being Executive Director is that I get to go around the state teaching high school kids about the different film opportunities for them here in Oklahoma. And, I now sit on the board for several creative organizations.

10. What is the most exciting part of your career?

The most exciting part of my career is getting to create something from nothing. I just finished a feature film, Just Crazy Enough, which took me two months to write, three years to raise money, one month to film and a year to finish editing and adding music. And, now that it is done, I get to start the whole process over again.

11. What keeps you motivated and passionate about what you do?

I am motivated by being around other people that are constantly working to improve their own life and the lives of those around them. Oklahoma City is filled with great artists, musicians, athletes and business people that leverage their success to improve the city and help those that need it most.

12. Tell us about where you grew up and about your parents.

I grew up in Alva, Oklahoma. My parents met working in the local Methodist Church and then had three boys, of which I am the youngest.

13. Final thoughts.

I am excited that the Gayly is back in action. And, I am really looking forward to Pride this year.

~ Susan E. Penney, Westside Investment Management ~

Oklahoma City, OK – Local financial advisor Susan E. Penney, of Westside Investment Management, announced in she has become a member of the Financial Services Institute (FSI) in Washington, D.C., effective April 30th. FSI advocates for Main Street Americans’ access to unbiased, affordable financial advice, delivered by a growing network of over 35,000 independent financial advisor members.

“I am proud to become a member of the FSI, an organization that works hard every day, to protect my clients’ access to quality financial advice,” said Susan. “FSI helps educate elected officials and regulators on what Americans need from financial advisors and how the industry works with clients to secure their financial futures. They also help ensure that I can continue to offer my clients and potential clients the advice they need.”

“We are very pleased to have Susan E. Penney as a new member,” said FSI President & CEO Dale E. Brown. “Our advocacy is only as effective as our engaged members. And conscientious advisors like Susan E. Penney help bring real-life experience to our efforts. We plan to work closely with Susan E. Penney as we advocate for independent financial advisors and the hard-working clients they serve.”

About the Financial Services Institute (FSI): FSI is an advocacy organization for independent financial services firms and independent financial advisors. Established in January 2004, we have well over 100 broker-dealer members and over 35,000 financial advisor members. Our member firms have upwards of 180,000 financial advisors affiliated with them. Our mission is to create a more responsible regulatory environment for independent broker- dealers and their affiliated independent financial advisors through effective advocacy, education and public awareness. And our strategy includes involvement in FINRA governance, constructive engagement in the regulatory process and effective influence on the legislative process. For more information, please visit www.financialservices.org.

(The Financial Consultants of Westside Investment Management are also Registered Representatives with, and Securities are offered through, LPL Financial Member FINRA/SIPC)

~ by Vick Silkenpen ~

This Filthy World
Even though John Waters is mostly revered (can one use that word in the same sentence with John?) for his offbeat film creations (like “Pink Flamingos”), who would have thought he can also pull off a one-man stand-up performance. With the direction of Jeff Garlin, Waters steps out on the stage of the Harry De Jur Playhouse in New York and proceeds to treat us to a rapid fire review of his childhood, films, opinions, censorship, wit, art, camp, trash, and vulgarity juxtaposed with vivid verbal images. The immaculately groomed and refined Waters stands and delivers never failing to use self-deprecation and never waiting to see if the audience picked up on the last reference before trotting out new ones in a manner that defies traditional comedic timing. The result is hilarity. As Waters states, “To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about.” This is one to watch with friends over to make a party of it.

The Last Mountain
Most of us are not that familiar with the practice of Mountain Top Removal or what affects it has environmentally or how our health is involved. Many of us became somewhat familiar with something being very wrong when we followed the deaths of numerous miners in a Massey Energy operation and we all have watched “Big Coal” maneuver opinion with “clean coal” ads and money. But the epicenter of this struggle to balance America’s energy needs with environmental harm is best encapsulated by the drama in Coal River Valley, West Virginia as locals wage a battle to save their precious remaining mountain from devastation. Bill Haney’s film educates us to the oft ignored practices of Big Coal as we follow Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. joining with a small group of dedicated Appalachians to expose Big Coal’s greedy shredding of their landscape into moonscape while poisoning water and leaving devastated communities behind. The necessity of direct action civil disobedience and the belief that America was founded on the democratic principle that no individual or corporation owns the air and water and it is our duty to protect them drives this documentary to some enlightening and eloquent moments.

An Education
Actress Carey Mulligan is red hot property now, but backing up to the film that initially demonstrated her super talents and landed so many award nominations is worth it. In a recreation of 1961 London, Mulligan plays a rather innocent teen that becomes entangled romantically with a worldlier and perhaps sinister man (Peter Sarsgaard). She seems very bright for a 16 year old girl but even though she has plans to enter Oxford, obvious trouble looms as Sarsgaard increasingly steers her and even her parents. Mulligan is so heartbreakingly convincing you have no problem knowing there are big roles ahead.

If we’re making changes in life, we experience stress. That’s part of the process. In fact it’s a turning point. Once we meet stress, we charge ahead or retreat. We pass through the “danger zone” as the champion or we fall back.

The beauty of stress is that it signals that change is at hand. The poison of stress is that it signals that change is at hand. So often we take a stress signal as a red alert and run. But that’s because we don’t know the process. We also mistake the stress and pain of change as dangers.

One would think that as much as we live in stress, we would know stress. We should recognize its smell from 100 paces; know its favorite carrion, whine and swan song. But alas that’s not so.

It’s like we met at the Halloween Ball, and we didn’t want to remove the mask for fear of what’s underneath. While truth or facts are still hidden, we can pretend the status quo is pretty, even when it’s killing us.

We’ve all met a dream date whose appeal was gone with the wind at the moment he or she opened their mouth. Maybe the same fear of what might come next keeps us from knowing enough about stress to sink its battleship. But a little insight is the key to winning the upper hand.

If you dare to look, here’s a peek at stress: When stress is not describing a state of mind or emotions, it describes tension, pressure, force or emphasis on materials as metals, plastics, geological formations, music and speech. It measures how much push or pull can be placed on an object. It’s commonly used in dialogue about the elastic nature of this or that. And stress can relate to durability, impact, and sustainability –breaking, shattering and exploding. That’s beginning to sound like some friends’ behavior. That’s my point.

The mind and emotions have both fixed or hardwired parts and an ability to be flexible or reinventing.

The drama of stress is the play between what we expect or desire and reality as we see it. It’s the struggle of personal habits and new choices. It can be the war between our patience and the time it takes to grow a new habit while old habits fall away. And it can be others’ actions or beliefs coming to battle our willingness to understand. These are growth processes that take time as they redevelop a brain cell (habit/new way of meeting).

Of course there’s more. But you know that.

So making choices about ‘Coming Out’ and processing through stress is largely weathering the zone between old reality and new reality. Coming Out can be stressful, but that will pass.

I consider a temporary condition a better option compared to a chronic malaise.

Remember, there are supports, education and planning that soften or eliminate stress. So I suggest, push ahead, wisely and in the right time and manner. Even if the danger zone is not a mirage, it’s only temporary.

Editor’s Note: Steven Michael Hall facilitates the Coming Out Workshop with Shelley McGoffin each Tuesday at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa. Contact Oklahomans for Equality at 918 743 4297 for details about the program or visit www.okeq.org.

PULLED PORK SANDWICH (cooking time: 10-12 hours)
> One 5-7 pound Pork Butt Roast. Also called Picnic Roast, Boston Butt, Pork Butt. It needs to have a nice layer of fat on the bottom, and plenty of marbling.
> Disposable Aluminum Roasting pan. You’ll need one that is deep with high sides.
*2 Yellow Medium Onions, thick sliced *5 Cloves of fresh Garlic, smashed
*2 32oz containers of ready made Beef Broth *1/2 C. Coarse Ground Black Pepper
*1/2 C. Dried Thyme *1/2 C. Dried Rosemary *Kosher Salt
In your disposable roasting pan, place the Pork Shoulder fat side up. Coat with a thin layer of the Kosher Salt. Pour enough of the beef broth along the side of the roast, so that it comes almost half-way up the side. Scatter sliced onions, and other ingredients all over the roast.
Wrap tightly with aluminum foil, and place in a standard oven at 300 degrees, allowing it to cook over night. Check your roast after 10 hours; It should literally fall apart with a fork.
When finished, shred with fork, and leave in its own juices. Serve with sandwich rolls, mayo, BBQ sauce, or any preferred condiment. Leave out and keep warm with plenty of napkins!
BOV Cocktail
*1- 2 Gal Glass Beverage Jar with spigot.
*2 1.75 Lt Vodka
*1 Fresh small Pineapple. Top and bottom trimmed, sliced with rind on.
*1 whole orange sliced
*1 whole lemon sliced
*1 whole lime slices
*fresh mint.
Add fruit and mint to your jarred container. Pour vodka on top, and let rest for one day. Pour 2 ounces of BOV over chipped ice. Add cranberry juice, and top with lemon/lime soda.
HAPPY PRIDE everyone! You’re perfect and wonderful the way you are. Much Love!
Chef Scotty

Addiction can come in many forms. While we many times think of addiction as self-medication through abusing a substance, that is really only the tip of the addiction iceberg. Let me illustrate through my life story.

I began to unravel the thread of my addictive experiences when I wrote an autobiography* about addictions. Moving through four addictions in my life up to the age of 56, I was a busy boy.

At age 14, my anger engendered by my father’s isolation from me was demonstrated through excessive exercise. The weight training became an emotional outlet for my rage and I came close to damaging my heart before a doctor helped put a stop to that obsessive behavior. But all was not better, because addiction is always a searching for something outside of us to fix a pain within.

A few years later, I joined a religious cult. Suddenly, I experienced the seductive jolt of believing that I was among a select few chosen by God. That “divine” election gave me a feeling of self esteem. It gave me a temporary fix of self value. But, after awhile, no matter the amount of prayer or study, that black hole within me was still not filled. Because that “religious” experience, a repetitive attempt to ease my pain, was not a true spiritual journey.

When the cult failed me, I then discovered alcohol. Intoxicated, I felt comfortable in a group, rather than feeling like an outsider. The alcohol dulled my pain and relaxed my mind from the nagging small voice that had been coaxing me to really understand why I was experiencing the stress of low self value. After some years, nearing death due to excessive drinking – I chose life with pain and the drinking ceased. But the addictive behavior did not.

I soon became addicted to food; cookies, ice cream and all the temporary pleasure junk food can bring. After a few years in this new effort to dull the psychological pain, my doctor informed me that I was now diabetic and my blood pressure was out of control. Again, out of desperation, I chose life and changed my diet and lost weight.

I share these stories with you to say that the addictive marathon that I ran for much of my life was a flight from the truth of my same sex orientation. It was an attempt to escape the deeper reasons for my feeling isolated and different. Once I faced the truth of my being, I gave myself the freedom to cease running away from who I am and to finally begin to live.

*Dr. Grupe’s autobiography is titled, “Building Sand Castles – A Baby Boomer’s Journey through Addictions”

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced that it has reached two settlements today resolving claims that health care providers refused to serve people with HIV in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The first complaint was filed by a man with HIV who went to the Mercy Medical Group Midtown Clinic in Sacramento, Calif. After meeting with the patient and examining him, a podiatrist at the clinic informed the patient of his treatment options. Although surgery was one of the treatment options, the podiatrist incorrectly told the patient that he could not perform the surgery because of a risk that he would contract HIV from the patient during surgery. The United States determined that the podiatrist’s actions violated the ADA by denying the patient the full and equal enjoyment of the services offered at the clinic on the basis of his disability.

The second complaint was filed by a man with HIV who went to the Knoxville Chiropractic Clinic North in Knoxville, Tenn., for chiropractic treatment following an automobile accident. After examining him, the doctor determined that the patient required 24 subsequent appointments to treat his injuries. On his third visit to the clinic, however, the receptionist informed him that the doctor would not see him because they could not treat people “like him.” The United States determined that Knoxville Chiropractic Centers had a blanket policy of refusing treatment to persons with HIV in violation of the ADA.

“It is critical that people with disabilities, including HIV, not be denied equal access to goods and services, especially to health care services. The Civil Rights Division takes discrimination based on unfounded fears and stereotypes about HIV very seriously,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We applaud Mercy Medical Group and CHW Medical Foundation, as well as Knoxville Chiropractic Centers, for working cooperatively with the Justice Department to resolve these matters quickly and fairly.”

The settlement agreements require the entities to develop and implement a non-discrimination policy and to train staff on the requirements of the ADA. In addition, Mercy Medical Group and CHW Medical Foundation are required to pay $60,000 to the complainant and $25,000 as a civil penalty, and Knoxville Chiropractic Centers is required to pay $10,000 as a civil penalty.

The ADA requires public accommodations, like doctors’ offices, medical clinics, hospitals and other health care providers, to provide individuals with disabilities, including people with HIV, equal access to goods, services, privileges, accommodations, facilities, advantages and accommodations.

The Department of Justice provides a webpage specifically dedicated to information about the ADA and HIV at www.ada.gov/aids. Those interested in finding out more about these settlements or the obligations of public accommodations under the ADA may call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TDD), or access its ADA website at www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be filed by email to ada.complaint@usdoj.gov.