Peace Corps Seeks Gay Couples

The Peace Corps has issued a press release that invites same-sex couples to apply to serve overseas together.

Peace Corps Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet today announced that the agency will begin accepting applications from same-sex domestic partners who want to serve together as volunteers overseas. Same-sex couples may begin the application process starting Monday, June 3.  “Service in the Peace Corps is a life-defining leadership experience for Americans who want to make a difference around the world,” Deputy Director Hessler-Radelet said. “I am proud that the agency is taking this important step forward to allow same-sex domestic partners to serve overseas together.”

The press release also notes: "The Peace Corps requires formal documentation for all couples who want to serve, and same-sex domestic partners will be required to sign an affidavit before leaving for service that will act as verification of their relationship."

Peace Corps Reverses On HIV+ Volunteers

The Peace Corps has apparently backed off its policy of rejecting HIV+ volunteers, as reported here back in April.

In a lengthy story about Jeremiah Johnson, the 25 year-old Peace Corps volunteer who became infected while on assignment in Ukraine, Poz Magazine reports receiving this email from the Peace Corps:

“Although there are certainly significant challenges associated with properly supporting Peace Corps Volunteers overseas who are HIV positive, our commitment to accommodation of HIV-positive applicants and Volunteers where reasonable and possible is firm. If qualified applicants and qualified Volunteers can be reasonably accommodated without placing an undue burden on the agency, they will not be medically disqualified, or medically separated from service, as the case may be.”

After being ejected from the Peace Corps, Johnson returned to Denver where he currently works in a restaurant. Congratulations to him for pursuing his case and causing this policy change at the Peace Corps.

Peace Corps To Pozzers: Get Out

The ACLU is warring with the Peace Corps over their policy of rejecting volunteers who are HIV positive.

Jeremiah Johnson joined the Peace Corps because he wanted to help people, but was forced to quit after giving nearly a year and a half of service because he is HIV-positive. Now, Johnson, 25, is working with the American Civil Liberties Union to get the Peace Corps to change its policy on how it treats volunteers with HIV.

"I only want the Peace Corps to change its policy so it is in accordance with federal anti-discriminatory laws," Johnson said. "And if it is in accordance with federal laws, at least clarify what their policy is so another volunteer wont have to experience the stress brought on by this."

Johnson, a 2005 graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, spent more than 16 months teaching English in a Ukrainian secondary school before he was sent home and terminated from the Peace Corps when an HIV test came back positive.

On Monday, the ACLU sent a four-page letter to the Peace Corps on behalf of Johnson, demanding that the they stop barring people with HIV from serving as volunteers. A Peace Corps official declined to comment on the incident until they are able to review the ACLU's letter.

In a written statement they said they cannot discuss medical or other privacy protected matters concerning volunteers. Cates and the ACLU think it is illegal under the Rehabilitation Act for the Peace Corps to discriminate against Johnson because he has HIV. The letter cites a recent federal appeals court decision finding that it is illegal for the Foreign Service to bar people with HIV from serving.

The Peace Corps says it cannot send people with potentially serious medical conditions to remote parts of the world where medical treatment may not be immediately available.