Hate Crimes: March 2006 Archives

I’ve heard of people avoiding people they thought were HIV positive. I’m sure most of us have. In the early 1980’s in San Francisco, there were some health professionals who did not want to treat patients with HIV or AIDS. In those days, it was largely unknown in this country so there was a lot of fear. I understand that.

But this happened recently in West Virginia. Apparently, they are still stuck back in the early 80’s. What happened to this man is tragic and pretty darn scary. It really makes you stop and think if you are going to be in rural America where people’s priorities are.

Just for my personal safety, the Virginia’s are off limits for me. It’s amazing. In the free United States of America, there are some states that I don’t even feel safe in. I accept that. But I never thought that it would be possible to deny emergency health treatment to someone for being gay. Scary stuff.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A small-town police chief was accused in a federal lawsuit Thursday of stopping a would-be rescuer from performing CPR on a gay heart attack victim because he assumed the ailing man had HIV and posed a health risk.

Claude Green, who did not have HIV, died a half hour after his June 21, 2005, heart attack in the southern West Virginia town of Welch. The lawsuit filed on behalf of family members seeks unspecified damages against the town and Chief Bobby Bowman. [...]

The lawsuit accuses Bowman of stopping Green’s friend, Billy Snead, from performing CPR after Green collapsed while driving through the town of about 2,400. Snead, who was a passenger in Green’s truck, was able to gain control of the vehicle and immediately start chest compressions. The lawsuit said the chief physically stopped the CPR because he knew Green was gay and assumed he was HIV positive. (source)

Related Article
CBS News - W.Va. Police Chief Denied Gay Man CPR
USA Today - Stigma of AIDS, timely use of CPR collide in death lawsuit
AP News Source