Deaf LGBT Filipinos Sees Rise In HIV Cases

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Deaf LGBT Filipinos Sees Rise In HIV Cases

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: [CC] - Deaf Rainbow's petition asks the government to provide the program called "Deaf-Friendly HIV" services in prevent booming of HIV cases in Philippines.



MANILA, Philippines - Today, 16 new HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) cases are recorded in the Philippines. It is likely to continue increasing in the coming years.



Most of the new HIV cases are among men who have sex with men and transgenders, and due to inaquate HIV services in the country, we fear that more and more Filipino gays, bisexuals, other men who have sex with men, and transgender people will be vulnerable to the epidemic.



TLF Share collaborated with Pinoy Deaf Rainbow to produce Bekitaktakan 3, The Deaf Edition, where Deaf and Hearing Impaired transgenders advocate tackles issues around gender identity, HIV, and the need for Deaf-Friendly HIV services.

To support Pinoy Deaf Rainbow's petition for Deaf-Friendly HIV services, please sign this Change.org petition by Bibo Lee Perey of Pinoy Deaf Rainbow - https://www.change.org/p/sec-enrique-ona-department-of-health-provide-deaf-friendly-hiv-services.



Translate Filipino to English:



I am Bibo Lee Perey, and I am writing this petition on behalf of the Pinoy Deaf Rainbow, an organization of Deaf LGBTs in the Philippines.



The current HIV epidemic heightens the vulnerabilities of Deaf gays, bisexuals, other men who have sex with men, and trans people. Our exclusion has many layers: we are stigmatized and discrimination because of our disability, our sexual orientation, and our gender identity.



Some of our friends have already been infected by HIV, and yet there are no deaf-friendly HIV services in the country that could help us protect ourselves from HIV and access testing and treatment, care, and support.



We have already sent a request for deaf-friendly HIV services to the Department of Health on June 2013, but we did not receive any response.



Through this online petition, we hope to reiterate our appeal for deaf-friendly HIV services. We hope to remind Secretary Ona of Article 25 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which encourages Member-States to:



• Provide persons with disabilities with the same range, quality and standard of free or affordable health care and programs as provided to other persons, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health and population-based public health programs;



• Provide those health services needed by persons with disabilities specifically because of their disabilities, including early identification and intervention as appropriate, and services designed to minimize and prevent further disabilities, including among children and older persons;



• Require health professionals to provide care of the same quality to persons with disabilities as to others, including on the basis of free and informed consent by, inter alia, raising awareness of the human rights, dignity, autonomy and needs of persons with disabilities through training and the promulgation of ethical standards for public and private health care



We need to have access to HIV testing. One concrete step that DOH can immediately do is to include in the guidelines for HIV testing the possibility of deaf client signing a waiver form to allow a Sign Language interpreter, with the client indicating informed consent for the presence of the interpreter during voluntary HIV testing and counselling and the interpreter bound to maintain confidentiality.



We are willing to work with the Department of Health to improve our access to health services. We need access to HIV services now! Please sign this Change.org petition by Bibo Lee Perey of Pinoy Deaf Rainbow - https://www.change.org/p/sec-enrique-ona-department-of-health-provide-deaf-friendly-hiv-services.



Director: Jedd Rommel

Talent: Disney Aguila

Writers: Jonas Bagas, Angelo Esperanzate, Disney Aguila, Bibo Perey, MJ Cenidoza

Production team: TLF Share staff with Ms. Pat Bringas and Santi Obcena



This video was produced by TLF Share for Dangal Pilipinas with the support of the ISEAN-Hivos Programme in the Philippines.

Deaf Gay Man Sues D.C. Jail For Mistreatment

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Deaf Gay Man Sues D.C. Jail For Mistreatment

VIDEO: Deaf gay 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



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/