Matt Bass was stripped of his financial aid after Baylor University officials inquired about his sexuality.
Related Web Site • Houston Voice: Baylor U. rally protests censorship, revokal of gay students’ scholarship »

June Speaker

Matt Bass
Former Baylor University Graduate Theology Student

By Jason Cecil

On Thursday, June 17, AEN's speaker will be Matt Bass, formerly a Baylor University graduate student in theology.

Baylor confronted Matt about his sexuality after he came out to some close friends who in turn told a pastor who contacted the university. Matt refused to discuss his sexuality, but admitted he supported same-sex marriage.

Matt's stance was all university officials needed to strip Bass of his scholarships, making it impossible for him to attend school there. The decision was based upon the school's handbook that states that drinking, gambling, premarital sex, cohabitation and homosexuality are all punishable offenses.

Join us on June 17 to hear his tale of discrimination and what the future holds for Matt.

Mr. Bass' appearance has been made possible in part by the Atlanta Pride Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

We need your help at Pride!

AEN is looking for volunteers to help with our booth at Pride. We're looking for folks to help tell people about the great things that AEN does, add names to our mailing list and help decorate our booth with flair.

Volunteer now and avoid the rush. Volunteer spaces are limited!

Please contact Dana Brown-Owings at danabrownowings@aen.org with your available times to make this event a success.

Related Web Site • Lamdba Legal: Matter of Matthew Cusick and Cirque du Soleil » Sights and Sounds • Click to see pictures » • Click to see video highlights » Photos and Video by Dan Lax/Buzzword Media

Jumping through legal hoops

On Thursday, May 20, Matthew Cusick spoke to AEN about his experience as a Cirque du Soleil performer who achieved national attention when he was fired because of his HIV status in 2003.

In April 2004, the case resolved in a record $600,000 settlement of Mr. Cusick's discrimination charges against Cirque du Soleil.

Mr. Cusick relayed the excitement he felt at finally having his dreams of performing come true with the offer to train from Cirque du Soleil. Before the Cirque offer, Mr. Cusick had been coaching girls in competitive gymnastics. He dropped everything in his life for this opportunity of a lifetime and moved to Montreal for training. He was honest about his HIV status with team doctors. He trained for months without any concern over his HIV status.

That changed when Mr. Cusick was cast in a show based in Las Vegas. Before he was to report for work, he was fired for being HIV positive. Cirque said that his work would endanger not only fellow cast members but audience members in event of an accident.

Flabbergasted, Mr. Cusick at first could not believe what he was hearing, but he knew it was wrong. Never before had his HIV status been a problem in his career, and he trained with the full knowledge of Cirque's medical staff of his status. That was when he decided to fight the dismissal.

The case resulted in the largest public settlement ever for an HIV-discrimination complaint settled with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), according to the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which represented Mr. Cusick. Cirque du Soleil will also host annual antidiscrimination trainings for all of its employees worldwide and will adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward discrimination based on HIV and other disabilities. And for two years Cirque will have its records open to the EEOC to ensure it is in compliance with the settlement.

Although still a talented gymnast, Mr. Cusick said Cirque du Soleil's public hostility toward him since the firing led him to decide not to return to work for the company. Privately, he had been warned that life would be difficult were he to return, considering the notoriety of the case.

Mr. Cusick's talk was an informative look into one person's experience fighting discrimination in the workplace, especially when it comes to HIV status. Mr. Cusick shared his personal experience with the AEN so that we could understand what led him to fight back.

Matthew Cusick's appearance was made possible in part by Lambda Legal.

LGBT Leadership Council meets

AEN sponsored the last quarterly meeting of the Georgia LGBT Leadership Council on May 18 at the offices of the AIDS Survival Project.

The purpose of the conference was to initiate the sharing of ideas across all LGBT organizations as well as establish an ongoing avenue for continued brainstorming.

Attendees of the conference included: Hector Vargas (Lambda Legal), Susan McCray (The Rainbow Center), Phred Huber (Huber and Associates), Lynn Tyson (Cake), Edward Gray (Youth Pride), K. Lynn Berry (HRC), Paul Turner, Bob Shaw, and Stephen Agati (Gentle Spirit Christian Church), Beth Littrell (ACLU of Georgia), Kathy Kelly (Marriage Equality - Georgia), , Heather Branham (Georgians for Health Care), Allen Thornell (Service Employees International Union), Mike Horton (Log Cabin Republicans and Georgia Equality), Jonathan Hammond (The Georgia Safe Schools Campaign and Enlight), Bonnie Barton, Glen Paul Freedman, Sandy Hoke and Carla Corley (AEN).

"We now have over 21 different organizations participating in this council," says AEN Community Outreach Chair Carla Corley. "This is such an exciting time for the Atlanta community. I've heard from so many people that they've seen other groups like this in other cities and were amazed at all of the good that came from them."

The next meeting is August 10 at 6:00 p.m. at a location to be announced.

The LGBT Leadership Council's mission is to work smarter by coming together collectively to expand and enhance the capacities of organizations serving the LGBT community.