From Toothache to Supreme Court: Protecting People with HIV

April 16, 2008

Ten years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court
answered "yes" to the question: Are people
with HIV protected from discrimination by the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? In so
doing, they sent a message to health care
providers, employers, schools, and landlords
across the country: you cannot discriminate
against people with HIV.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The case, Bragdon v. Abbott
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001vUkbQVIJXw5oOMBr-fa0RpgxqYKL2kngxedFn1tgsN5wI2GlNql3zKWrSVVeFbYeiKryoTddcDZ4nO3kk9_W2uP7KFpqvAM0nM8FqgyrVr4VqQnNilVPEkjT3RzL2meEQRUzsUYrbVM=),
originated in
a dentist's office in Bangor, Maine, when
Sidney Abbott tried to get a cavity filled by
Dr.
Randon Bragdon. He refused because of her
positive HIV status, and GLAD - then with
only two full-time staff attorneys - took on the
case that would end in victory at the U.S.
Supreme Court.

This month, GLAD marks the 10th
anniversary of Bragdon v. Abbott with:



* A case history
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001vUkbQVIJXw5oOMBr-fa0RpgxqYKL2kngxedFn1tgsN5wI2GlNql3zKWrSVVeFbYeiKryoTddcDZ4nO3kk9_W2uP7KFpqvAM0nM8FqgyrVr4VqQnNilVPEkjT3RzL2meEQRUzsUYrbVM=)
including archival
news coverage, case documents,
photographs, the "counsel card" GLAD
attorney Ben Klein received on the day he
argued before the Supreme Court, and video
clips of Klein discussing the experience and
the importance of the case.



* A podcast
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001vUkbQVIJXw7BIUgB52Ot5bVdjh1_Z9UcaAO9IJgTr9X7rw25dJdxwya3HlRcuAzjy4k7X_UTk-AuLB1lzVw9jP8oqJHrh4OoYgWhdxYk-P6NHsxzDzfSH1sKa9lM4HazsNCmFv9DtDU=)
that looks back on
the climate of fear and bias around HIV/AIDS
in the 1990s, and charts the road to
Supreme Court victory. The podcast
features interviews with Sidney Abbott, Ben
Klein, and attorneys Wendy Parmet and
Chai Feldblum.

Easily
subscribe to the podcast with
iTunes
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001vUkbQVIJXw5quZ9c4LaIzWSkcdntxJsVmDBw20TXTGEKK8qDrZlAjHIE0yUhdGnt_ym6GQje-WVfb67RYi67R6zo_xT5yLsb8GiCLbowvM5kDFVboyzL42CW-jeDpMvd-wHpzbYJbCCNiQnZwvuNsQFEhyqUXE1mKI1xinwNHqjoJc6XMRVL1RpHMn2bcqZ0)



* A free panel discussion
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001vUkbQVIJXw6cu2PjwE35PjLgCPM5QJ1eJjm1vhZWYeFK5V8th0svvB1dVrc6Bm2oVwBYSKcptRF_xeDo6yG86jzKgg7ykNGd1kPWJV-ZtQ4HiW8G3eDS73pGeC9KoC_z_-Nhx1hnxd8=)
on
April
22, "The AIDS Epidemic and the Politics of
Invisibility." Panelists include Kevin
Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda
Legal; Reverend Irene Monroe,
Writer and Community Activist; Jacob
Smith Yang, Executive Director of
Massachusetts Asian and Pacific Islanders
for Health; and Douglas Brooks,
Vice President of Justice Resource Institute.



Bragdon v. Abbott was the Supreme
Court's first case involving the ADA, and its
first case touching on HIV. The decision
helped change attitudes and behavior by
stating clearly that discrimination against
people with HIV is wrong.

Join me in remembering this culture-shifting
moment and share your thoughts on our
blog
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001vUkbQVIJXw6EdlzJPymX694OtEbnJbwnPNMx_b5kUtQFpsEcjn8e76Wu3FWRm56ZOMXjC-q7_Bbway20p62CTm4qR1B3np22m36GVWcio8jZWrLhyLFasYqAvTsx2c6Ws28fcUVCNSE5f4O5ShAjSM69C8mNcry04c1S6pSEjuRHBDE9sFJ7IQ==).

Sincerely,



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lee Swislow
Executive Director

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
gladlaw [at] glad.org


gladlaw [at] glad.org