Gay Deaf Man Sues D.C. Jail For Mistreatment

VIDEO: FOX 5 - Deaf man alleges mistreatment at D.C. jail.



WASHINGTON, DC - A former inmate in the District of Columbia correctional system is suing the city for alleged mistreatment. The D.C. man is Deaf, and the lawsuit claims he was unable to effectively communicate during his period of confinement. It also alleges his treatment got worse when he complained.



44-year-old William Pierce is profoundly Deaf. He wound up with a 60-day sentence in the city's correction system after an altercation with his partner resulted in a conviction for simple assault.



At the order of the judge, Pierce actually wound up in the Correctional Treatment Facility to get help. The CTF adjoins the city jail.



Arthur Spitzer, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital, said in an interview: "There was no interpreter there for [Pierce] at intake, or at any of his medical appointments, he had some medical problems or at any of his classes. He was taking an anger management class, and he didn't know what was going on. He didn't know what people were saying. He couldn't participate in the group discussion(s)."

The lawsuit says, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, accommodations for the Deaf must be made so inmates can communicate. Things got worse for William Pierce when he complained, according to his attorney. ... Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/20943928/deaf-man-alleges-mistreatment-at-dc-jail#axzz2KD4UbjPN

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Washington Blade - Gay Deaf man sues city for mistreatment.



WASHINGTON, DC - In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Feb. 1, a former D.C. jail inmate who’s Deaf and gay, accuses the city’s Department of Corrections of engaging in disability-related discrimination by refusing to provide him basic services required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.



William Pierce, 44, who was sentenced to two months in a city jail for an assault conviction, charges in the lawsuit that jail officials repeatedly refused to provide a sign language interpreters as required by law and retaliated against him for complaining about his conditions by placing him in solitary confinement.



Pierce, who has HIV, was given only three of the four HIV medications he had been taking at home and was unable to understand why prison doctors changed his medication regimen because of the lack of a sign language interpreter, the lawsuit says.



It says the emotional distress Pierce suffered due to the alleged discriminatory treatment was heightened when jail guards handcuffed him shortly before his mother arrived for a visit, preventing him from communicating with her in sign language.



“The District of Columbia needs to be held accountable for its outright discrimination and reminded that people with disabilities cannot just be locked away and ignored,” said Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the ACLU of the Nation’s Capital, which filed the lawsuit on Pierce’s behalf in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.



Spitzer said most of the alleged discriminatory actions against Pierce took place at the D.C. Jail’s Correctional Treatment Facility. The CTF is operated by the Corrections Corporation of America, a private company under contract with the city.



“D.C., in turn, needs to hold the Corrections Corporation of America accountable for its continued disregard for the wellbeing of the individuals the city has placed in its care,” Spitzer said in a statement. ... Read more: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/02/06/gay-deaf-man-sues-city-for-mistreatment/

Protesters For Dr. Angela McCaskill At Gallaudet

Protesters Demand Gallaudet Reinstates Dr. Angela McCaskill.



WASHINGTON, D.C. - Question 6 Maryland’s marriage equality initiative took center stage in front of Gallaudet University in D.C. Thursday as dozens of protesters gathered in support of Dr. Angela McCaskill, the university’s chief diversity officer.



Chanting, “You don’t need permission to sign a petition,” members of the faith community held signs and marched near the Gallaudet main gate.



The university placed McCaskill on administrative leave after it found that she signed a petition to put the Question 6 referendum on Maryland’s November ballot. If successful, Question 6 would allow gay and lesbian couples equal rights under Maryland’s civil marriage laws. But the protesters say that the underlying premise of Question 6 equality and fairness is the reason why Dr. McCaskill should be reinstated... Read more http://www.examiner.com/article/protesters-demand-gallaudet-reinstates-dr-angela-mccaskill?cid=rss

Video by ScottKornberg



Gallaudet Protest: Opponents Come Together For Same Cause.



WASHINGTON, D.C. - Opponents of Maryland ballot Question Six came together at Gallaudet University to fight for the job of Angela McCaskill. An employee of 23 years at Gallaudet, McCaskill was placed on administrative leave by the university for signing a referendum petition circulated by opponents of gay marriage. Sources http://cnsmaryland.org/2012/10/25/gallaudet-protest-opponents-come-together-for-same-cause/

Video by WTOPradio



As seen on articles:

Angela McCaskill Placed On Administrative Leave From Gallaudet

Gallaudet University Put Dr. Angela McCaskill for Opposing Gay

Gallaudet Official's Lawyer Speaks About Petition

Dr. Angela McCaskill - Press Conference

Intersectionality, Identity & Angela McCaskill

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Gay Marriage Opponents Have No Plans To Pull Ad Featuring Gallaudet Official

Gay Marriage Opponents Have No Plans To Pull Ad Featuring Gallaudet Official

WASHINGTON (WJZ) - Gay Marriage Opponents Have No Plans To Pull Ad Featuring Gallaudet Official.

Anti-gay campaigners using Deaf woman’s story against her will.

A suspended diversity officer at a Maryland university for the Deaf has asked anti-same-sex marriage campaigners in the state to stop using her story but they have refused.



A Deaf woman who was suspended from being a university diversity officer after signing a petition against same-sex marriage has asked opponents in her home state of Maryland to stop using her story in campaign ads, saying they misrepresent what she believes.



Gallaudet University Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion Dr. Angela McCaskill was suspended from her role at the university, which specializes in educating Deaf students, after a co-worker noticed she had signed the petition.



‘I have placed Dr. Angela McCaskill on paid administrative leave effective immediately,’ Gallaudet University President T. Alan Hurwitz said in a statement earlier this month.



‘Dr. McCaskill has participated in a legislative initiative that some feel is inappropriate for an individual serving as [the university's] Chief Diversity Officer.’



However McCaskill held a press conference on Friday asking for the group to stop using her image and story in the commercials - which she says misrepresents what she believes in.

‘No one has the right to decide what my signature meant,’ McCaskill told a press conference via sign language.



Gallaudet University has called for the group to stop using its copyrighted material in the campaign but the Maryland Marriage Alliance told CBS Baltimore it has no plans to change the commercial.



‘We understand exactly where we are within our rights and within the legal use of that ad. That’s not a question for us,’ Maryland Marriage Alliance spokesman Derek McCoy said... Read more http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/anti-gay-campaigners-using-deaf-woman%E2%80%99s-story-against-her-will201012



As seen on articles:

Angela McCaskill Placed On Administrative Leave From Gallaudet

Gallaudet University Put Dr. Angela McCaskill for Opposing Gay

Gallaudet Official's Lawyer Speaks About Petition

Dr. Angela McCaskill - Press Conference

Intersectionality, Identity & Angela McCaskill

ABC7 Exclusively Interview With Dr. Angela McCaskill

Dr. Angela McCaskill - Press Conference

Video clips of Dr. Angela McCaskill - Press Conference.



ANNAPOLIS, MD. - Dr. Angela McCaskill speaks out on bullying by Gallaudet University president. So far, the best argument for protecting marriage may be sitting in the President's office of Gallaudet University. There, voters got a unique view of the real-life persecution that awaits anyone who opposes Maryland's same-sex marriage. Last week, when Gallaudet's Dr. Angela McCaskill was outed for signing a Petition in favor of a public vote on marriage, she was exiled from the University she called home for 23 years. Now, instead of sitting in her office helping students, she's meeting with attorneys, trying to come to grips with President T. Alan Hurwitz's decision to banish her from campus. Calling McCaskill's actions "inappropriate," Hurwitz is putting a face on the intolerance that FRC and other marriage advocates have warned about for years.



By all reports, his ruthlessness is already taking its toll. According to her pastor, Rev. Dr. Lee Washington, Dr. McCaskill and her family have been the targets of threats and intimidation ever since the story broke. "As her church family, we stand firmly by her side and welcome all persons of good faith regardless of their ideological views to denounce these actions of cowardice and bullying." Even the The Washington Post warns that Gallaudet's overreaction could seriously "undermine" the effort to redefine marriage. "The surest way to repel voters--and to vitiate the marriage movement's broader goals and values--would be to say, or even seem to say, 'Agree with us or else.'"



Unfortunately, that's always been the underlying, totalitarian message of the homosexual movement. The only difference here is that Maryland voters have been warned: public dissent will not be tolerated. Not surprisingly, liberals are racing to cover up Gallaudet's mess, insisting that they believe in free speech as much as the next guy. Tell that to the wedding cake bakers, the T-shirt makers, the bed and breakfast owners, the military chaplains, the high school teachers, the restaurant owners, the photographers, the churches, the Massachusetts parents, and others who were fired, sued, harassed, fined, and suspended. Like Angela, their biggest crime was having an opinion contrary to the radical Left--something one former FRCer knows a lot about.



When Teresa Wagner left Family Research Council, she had plenty of offers to join university faculties and teach law. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Wagner joined the staff as a part-time associate director of its legal writing program. She also applied to be a full-time teacher at the law school, but her application was mysterious denied. It wasn't for lack of experience, since Teresa was the most qualified candidate. Nor was it for lack of legal expertise, since the person offered the position "had never practiced law, had no legal publications, and had no prior successful teaching experience." It was because of her work in the pro-family movement. As seen on article Lawsuit Pits Political Activism Against Campus Diversity.



Teresa will try to prove as much in federal court, where her appeal kicks off today. Although people have sued for discrimination in hiring decisions, experts say Teresa's case is the first of its kind. Unlike other plaintiffs, she has evidence. Like Angela McCaskill, Teresa Wagner belongs at the University. Until then, both women are giving students a serious education in political bias. For more on Dr. Angela McCaskill's case, If you haven't signed FRC's petition, join the more than 50,000 who have called for her reinstatement. go to http://bit.ly/PAyirq



As seen on articles:

Angela McCaskill Placed On Administrative Leave From Gallaudet

Gallaudet University Put Dr. Angela McCaskill for Opposing Gay

Gallaudet Official's Lawyer Speaks About Petition

Intersectionality, Identity & Angela McCaskill



Video by frcblog

Gallaudet University Put Dr. Angela McCaskill for Opposing Gay

ANNAPOLIS MD. - Gallaudet University Put Dr. Angela McCaskill for Opposing Gay - Question 6 Doesn't.



Dr. Angela McCaskill has worked on the campus of an American college for the Deaf and hard of hearing for over 20 years. If the marketplace of ideas and freedom of expression is not prized in that environment, how can we ever expect it to survive elsewhere if same-sex marriage activists prevail?



Gallaudet University is catching a fair bit of criticism after the federally-chartered college placed Dr. Angela McCaskill, its chief diversity officer, on paid leave. The decision was made after it came to officials’ attention that the administrator reportedly supported a controversial referendum that challenges Maryland’s same-sex marriage law.



Now, in an unlikely fit of agreement, both conservatives who agree with McCaskill’s stance and gay rights groups who oppose her views are coming to the academic’s defense... Read more: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/furor-erupts-after-govt-chartered-college-puts-administrator-on-paid-leave-for-opposing-gay-marriage/



As seen on articles:

Angela McCaskill Placed On Administrative Leave From Gallaudet

Gallaudet Official's Lawyer Speaks About Petition

Dr. Angela McCaskill - Press Conference

Intersectionality, Identity & Angela McCaskill





Video by MMANoOn6

HIV in the Deaf Community of South Africa

SOWETO, SOUTH AFRICA (CNN) - Video with english subtitles: John Meletse is deaf activist. That is just part of his story. Filming this video for the organisation human rights watch. John Meletse is opening up about being deaf, gay, and HIV positive. John Meletse discusses his personal experiences and struggles, and his desire to help others. He's is inspiring the community to communicate openly about sex, but is finding new ways to communicate with text messaging and social media in which a role model for the Deaf community. Videos source by: http://www.cnn.com