John Lambert toasts a helicopter overhead as he carries his ‘Life Goes On’ sign through the historic French Quarter in New Orleans as part of a drastically scaled-down Southern Decadence parade on Sept. 4. (Photo by Rick Bowmer/AP)
advertisement
advertisement
|
By ANDREW KEEGAN
Friday, September 09, 2005
New Orleans residents Richard Read and John D’Addario consider themselves
lucky. A week after Hurricane Katrina decimated their city, killing as yet untold
thousands, the couple recalls how close they came to being victims instead of
survivors.
“We had options,” Read said. “Sticking it out, going to
a hotel near New Orleans or staying with friends. We had a hard time choosing
the right game plan until we had one of those thunderbolt moments Saturday night
and said ‘we need to leave — and now.’”
Within two hours of reaching that decision, the couple gathered their four
dogs, packed a few belongings and headed for a friend’s house in Lafayette,
La., about 120 miles northwest of New Orleans.
Now they wonder what happened to their home and when they can return.
“We don’t have any definite plans,” Read said. “Like
most New Orleans residents, we’re in limbo. We actually feel kind of guilty
being here. We’ll probably be here between three to six months.”
As Hurricane Katrina evacuees spread out across the country, gay and HIV-positive
survivors of the storm may face particular hurdles as they seek shelter and
begin the daunting task of rebuilding their lives.
Residents of Lazarus House, New Orleans’ primary hospice for people
with HIV, had no place to go to escape the storm, and many now have no place
to go to recover from it, according to Robert Banks. Banks, who lives in Phoenix,
operates the organization’s Web site, lazarushouse.net, while his mother
Susan serves as director for the non-profit agency.
Hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents fled before the massive Category
4 hurricane slammed ashore Aug. 29 with winds at more than 140 miles per hour.
But the 22 residents of Lazarus House, including several gay men, had zero
options, Banks said.
“They were stuck,” he said. “When you have people with this
type of medical condition, no one wanted to take them.”
Banks said he received a call from his mother three days after the hurricane
hit.
“The National Guard had stopped by on Tuesday and told Mom they would
come back in a day or two,” Banks said. “She called me on Thursday,
and said ‘get us out of here.’”
By Friday morning, Sept. 2, Lazarus House residents had been evacuated to various
shelters, according to Banks.
“Staff members gave each resident enough medication for at least a week,
and a schedule of when to take each one,” he said.
Now they face the difficult task of locating temporary housing.
“We’ve paired a stronger person with a weaker individual to act
as a buddy,” Banks said. “But we are having a difficult time finding
anyone to take two people in this medical condition. While we can always use
monetary donations, we really need places for our residents.”
Banks said the organization will pay for travel should out-of-state options
become available. Donations, including offers of housing, can be made through
the group’s Web site.
HIV-positive people are especially vulnerable when displaced, according to
Ron Valdiserri, deputy director for HIV, STD & TB prevention at the Centers
for Disease Control & Prevention in Atlanta.
“It’s becoming apparent that health workers are just now beginning
to grapple with HIV-positive individuals without their medication,” Valdiserri
said. “From a public health standpoint, you don’t want patients
missing their medication because it can lead to the development of resistance.”
But HIV-positive residents from New Orleans would face even greater risks
if they remained in the city, Valdiserri said, citing unsanitary conditions
like no running water or sewers.
“That’s a dangerous situation for those who have healthy immune
systems,” Valdiserri said. “It can be fatal for a person who is
HIV-positive.”
Currently, the CDC does not have information on what steps are being taken
at individual shelters to provide for HIV-positive individuals, Valdiserri said.
Initial relief efforts in the three states slammed by Hurricane Katrina —
Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi — focused on meeting individual needs
for food, water, shelter and medical care. But when efforts turn from rescue
to recovery, gay couples may find themselves at a decided disadvantage —
especially those whose partners perished in the monster storm.
The Defense of Marriage Act, which became law in 1996, denies federal recognition
to same-sex marriages and gives states the right to refuse to recognize gay
marriages licensed in other states.
Widows and widowers from heterosexual marriages can receive surviving spouse
Social Security benefits, which gay couples are denied because the federal government
will not recognize their relationships as marriages.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, also bound by DOMA, excludes gay
partners from certain family benefits offered to married couples, according
to Jack Senterfitt, senior attorney with the Lambda Legal Defense & Education
Fund’s southern regional office in Atlanta.
“Some FEMA benefits are derived from what constitutes a ‘family,’
such as the loss of a spouse,” Senterfitt said. “This just highlights
the difficulties faced by gays because we’re not all treated the same.”
FEMA officials did not respond to repeated interview requests on how gay couples
would be treated in relief efforts, such as whether gay partners would be allowed
to accompany each other if evacuated for medical assistance or other issues.
The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief & Emergency Assistance Act, which
FEMA adheres to when a disaster is declared by the president, protects individuals
from discrimination based on several categories, including race and religion.
It does not include sexual orientation.
Groups involved in the relief effort should be vigilant in monitoring situations
in which sexual orientation is a factor, Senterfitt said.
“Some gay people may feel a heightened anxiety because their usual network
of support is gone,” he said.
Assessing how public and private agencies are responding to the needs of gay
men and lesbians affected by Katrina, Senterfitt acknowledged, “it’s
still pretty early in the game.”
Lambda Legal worked with gay couples seeking equal treatment from government
compensation programs following 9-11. The group also participated in a meeting
with the American Red Cross when the agency was criticized by some gay advocacy
groups for a lack of written policies for dealing with gay survivors in the
wake of the attacks. After the meeting, the Red Cross reaffirmed its commitment
to including survivors from same-sex relationships.
The national headquarters of the American Red Cross did not respond to interview
requests this week.
But a spokesperson at the Red Cross chapter in Midtown Atlanta said Katrina
evacuees are being treated equally.
Sexual orientation is “not an issue,” Debbie McChesney said.
“As of today, Sept. 6, we are not aware of any specific requests from
gay evacuees,” she said.
Since the hurricane, several gay relief funds and efforts have been quickly
organized.
Under One Roof, a San Francisco-based AIDS service organization, formed the
Above & Beyond Fund to assist HIV/AIDS service organizations in Louisiana
and Mississippi. The group operates a retail shop in the Castro with proceeds
benefiting Bay-area HIV agencies.
“All too often people with HIV are the last ones thought about in situations
like this,” said Mike Marshall, the group’s executive director.
“Our goal is to make sure they receive the treatment they need.”
Marshall indicated that 100 percent of donations go to HIV service providers
and the organization is “eating any administrative costs.”
Donations can be made at underoneroof.org.
More than half-a-dozen national gay organizations joined the National Youth
Advocacy Council in Washington D.C., in launching the Hurricane Katrina LGBT
Relief Fund.
“The next few days are critical,” said Craig Bowman, executive
director of the non-profit, which works to end discrimination for gay youth.
“No amount is too small to make a difference,” he said.
Bowman said the tax-deductible contributions will be used to “support
humanitarian relief for LBGTQ youth and families from the devastated areas.”
Donations made at the agency’s Web site, nyacyouth.org,
will be forwarded to local organizations dealing with evacuees, according to
Bowman.
Laura Douglas-Brown contributed.
|
