Protest descends on Cirque.Protesters gathered outside the San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden opening of Cirque du Soleil's Alegria on November 6 to launch a series of demonstrations against the Montreal-based company, alleging former acrobat Matthew Cusick was fired because he has HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. . The protests are designed to bring attention to a federal discrimination suit filed by the Lambda Legal Lambda Legal (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund) is a United States civil rights organization that focuses on gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. Defense and Education Fund. "Matthew Cusick's firing is based on ignorance and bias," said Lambda's Michael Adams
Michael Adams (born November 17, 1971 in Truro, Cornwall, England) is an International Grandmaster of chess. . "Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (French for "Circus of the Sun") is an entertainment empire based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier. portrays itself as a friend of the gay community, and these protests are designed to show people Cirque is engaging in [HIV] discrimination. Cusick said he was "blindsided" by Cirque du Soleil's decision to fire him. "We're doing the right thing in fighting this," he said, "and I'm very happy so many people feel the same way I do." Cusick, who is gay, said he revealed his HIV-positive status shortly after being hired in July 2002 and that a company doctor deemed him healthy. After four months of training, then being assigned a role in the Las Vegas show Mystere, he said, the company sent him a letter in April 2003 claiming he posed a health risk. |
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