National
Gay doctoral student files sexual harassment lawsuit against Columbia University
Alberto Leguina Ruzzi claims the school wrongly terminated him
Alberto Leguina Ruzzi (Photo courtesy of Alberto Leguina Ruzzi)
A gay Chilean doctoral student claims in a lawsuit against Columbia University that he was unfairly fired from his job after complaining that a supervisor sexually harassed him.
Alberto Leguina Ruzzi, 25, alleges that Dr. Qais Al-Awqati, a professor at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons sent him a picture of himself from Grindr on March 9, eight days after he began working at Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan. He claims that Al-Awqati asked him whether “he would date an older man.” Leguina said that he rejected his advances.
“I have many guys as beautiful and as young as you,” responded Al-Awqati to Leguina, according to the lawsuit his lawyer filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 27. “So it is not a joke. You need to have better manners when in New York. Maybe in Argentina or Chile, you are a spoiled Mamma’s boy.”
“It was an awkward situation because it was my first week,” Leguina, a PhD candidate in biology at Chile’s Catholic University, told the Blade from New York City. He said that he specifically asked to work directly with Al-Awqati when he applied for a grant to come to Columbia. “I never thought someone I admired like Al-Awqati would do this.”
Immediately after he said he declined the proposition, Leguina said that Al-Awqati came out of his office and screamed “You are out!” He said he suffered what he described as a panic attack and began to cry because he thought he had been fired. The lawsuit claims that Leguina’s other direct supervisor, Rosemary Sampogna, witnessed the incident and assured him that she would work to ensure that he kept his job. Leguina further claims that she said she would report the incident to the hospital’s Department of Human Resources.
The lawsuit states that Leguina discussed it with Mayra Marte-Miraz, director of operations for Columbia’s Department of Medicine, on March 15. Leguina claims that she told him that he “needed to continue working as if nothing happened.” He further alleges Marte-Miraz told him four days later that he needed to “deal with this matter as a big man” and he “must pretend that nothing happened.”
Marte-Miraz allegedly told Leguina that he would have not declined Al-Awqati’s advances if he was “young and pretty.” The lawsuit states that she further threatened to send him back to Chile if he discussed the incident with an attorney, his Chilean supervisors or any other officials in the South American country.
Leguina claims that Al-Awqati subsequently apologized and gave him a Mac Book computer. The lawsuit further alleges that he told him to “pretend that nothing happened.” Leguina said he told Marte-Miraz that Al-Awqati had apologized to him and he said she assured him that she would perform what she described as a full investigation into the alleged incident.
Following that meeting; Leguina said that Sampogna, whom he said had previously praised his work, began to call him “useless.” The lawsuit notes that she told him he was “incapable of troubleshooting” and “incapable of doing his job.” And it further alleges that Sampogna kicked furniture, used profanity and abruptly dropped his research material when Leguina asked her for help.
Leguina further alleges that both she and Al-Awqati made his job “virtually impossible.”
Marte-Miraz accused Leguina during a May 10 meeting of posting derogatory messages about Sampogna on his Facebook page, according to the lawsuit. Leguina said he provided her with a copy of his Facebook transcript that he claims disputed her allegations.
“Your mind is clouded and your stress is simply because you are from a small country and this is New York and you just need to learn,” responded Marte-Miraz, according to the lawsuit.
Leguina said Marte-Miraz suggested that he meet with Sampogna to discuss ways that he could improve his work — she was unavailable, so he said he was forced to meet with Al-Awqati himself. The lawsuit claims that he told Leguina that, among other things, he had a poor work ethic and had been absent. It notes that Al-Awqati had private weekly meetings with Leguina, during which he was required to show his work and provide a report. The lawsuit further claims that Al-Awqati “awkwardly expressed how impressed he was” with Leguina’s “skills and intelligence” during these meetings.
Leguina alleges that he was forced to take prescription medications to help him cope with the stress, anxiety and insomnia he said he was experiencing. He said also e-mailed one of his Chilean supervisors to discuss the situation with him.
Al-Awqati allegedly sent her a “derogatory e-mail” that criticized his performance. In spite of these claims, Leguina received an award and positive comments about his Columbia work during the American Society of Hypertension’s annual meeting.
Leguina said his Chilean supervisors told him on June 8 that he had to step down and return to Chile based on Al-Awqati’s feedback. The lawsuit claims that Al-Awqati initially questioned the decision in follow-up e-mail to Leguina, but again criticized his work in a follow-up meeting. It further alleges that Al-Awqati “suddenly got very nervous” when Leguina raised his sexual advances and subsequent retaliation with him.
“It has nothing to do with that, but if you need to return to Chile, then just go,” said Al-Awqati, according to the lawsuit.
Leguina was fired on June 12.
“Maybe I was ready to deal with rats in my apartment or New York stuff, but not sexual harassment,” Leguina told the Blade. “I knew I couldn’t just let this go. I couldn’t just leave.”
Columbia has yet to formally respond to the lawsuit, and declined to comment on the allegations. Leguina, who seeks unspecified monetary damages, said he hopes his decision to come forward sends a message to those who suffer sexual harassment in the workplace.
“It’s about some kind of awareness,” he said. “You cannot let these [things] happen anymore. I know I’m not the first person, but I hope I can be the last person.”
Pennsylvania
Malcolm Kenyatta could become the first LGBTQ statewide elected official in Pa.
State lawmaker a prominent Biden-Harris 2024 reelection campaign surrogate
Following his win in the Democratic primary contest on Wednesday, Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who is running for auditor general, is positioned to potentially become the first openly LGBTQ elected official serving the commonwealth.
In a statement celebrating his victory, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President Annise Parker said, “Pennsylvanians trust Malcolm Kenyatta to be their watchdog as auditor general because that’s exactly what he’s been as a legislator.”
“LGBTQ+ Victory Fund is all in for Malcolm, because we know he has the experience to win this race and carry on his fight for students, seniors and workers as Pennsylvania’s auditor general,” she said.
Parker added, “LGBTQ+ Americans are severely underrepresented in public office and the numbers are even worse for Black LGBTQ+ representation. I look forward to doing everything I can to mobilize LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians and our allies to get out and vote for Malcolm this November so we can make history.”
In April 2023, Kenyatta was appointed by the White House to serve as director of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.
He has been an active surrogate in the Biden-Harris 2024 reelection campaign.
The White House
White House debuts action plan targeting pollutants in drinking water
Same-sex couples face higher risk from environmental hazards
Headlining an Earth Day event in Northern Virginia’s Prince William Forest on Monday, President Joe Biden announced the disbursement of $7 billion in new grants for solar projects and warned of his Republican opponent’s plans to roll back the progress his administration has made toward addressing the harms of climate change.
The administration has led more than 500 programs geared toward communities most impacted by health and safety hazards like pollution and extreme weather events.
In a statement to the Washington Blade on Wednesday, Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said, “President Biden is leading the most ambitious climate, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history — and that means working toward a future where all people can breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a healthy community.”
“This Earth Week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $7 billion in solar energy projects for over 900,000 households in disadvantaged communities while creating hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs, which are being made more accessible by the American Climate Corps,” she said. “President Biden is delivering on his promise to help protect all communities from the impacts of climate change — including the LGBTQI+ community — and that we leave no community behind as we build an equitable and inclusive clean energy economy for all.”
Recent milestones in the administration’s climate policies include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s issuance on April 10 of legally enforceable standard for detecting and treating drinking water contaminated with polyfluoroalkyl substances.
“This rule sets health safeguards and will require public water systems to monitor and reduce the levels of PFAS in our nation’s drinking water, and notify the public of any exceedances of those levels,” according to a White House fact sheet. “The rule sets drinking water limits for five individual PFAS, including the most frequently found PFOA and PFOS.”
The move is expected to protect 100 million Americans from exposure to the “forever chemicals,” which have been linked to severe health problems including cancers, liver and heart damage, and developmental impacts in children.
An interactive dashboard from the United States Geological Survey shows the concentrations of polyfluoroalkyl substances in tapwater are highest in urban areas with dense populations, including cities like New York and Los Angeles.
During Biden’s tenure, the federal government has launched more than 500 programs that are geared toward investing in the communities most impacted by climate change, whether the harms may arise from chemical pollutants, extreme weather events, or other causes.
New research by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law found that because LGBTQ Americans are likelier to live in coastal areas and densely populated cities, households with same-sex couples are likelier to experience the adverse effects of climate change.
The report notes that previous research, including a study that used “national Census data on same-sex households by census tract combined with data on hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from the National Air Toxics Assessment” to model “the relationship between same-sex households and risk of cancer and respiratory illness” found “that higher prevalence of same-sex households is associated with higher risks for these diseases.”
“Climate change action plans at federal, state, and local levels, including disaster preparedness, response, and recovery plans, must be inclusive and address the specific needs and vulnerabilities facing LGBT people,” the Williams Institute wrote.
With respect to polyfluoroalkyl substances, the EPA’s adoption of new standards follows other federal actions undertaken during the Biden-Harris administration to protect firefighters and healthcare workers, test for and clean up pollution, and phase out or reduce use of the chemicals in fire suppressants, food packaging, and federal procurement.
Maine
Maine governor signs transgender, abortion sanctuary bill into law
Bomb threats made against lawmakers before measure’s passage
BY ERIN REED | On Tuesday, Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed LD 227, a sanctuary bill that protects transgender and abortion providers and patients from out-of-state prosecution, into law.
With this action, Maine becomes the 16th state to explicitly protect trans and abortion care in state law from prosecution. This follows several bomb threats targeting state legislators after social media attacks from far-right anti-trans influencers such as Riley Gaines and Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok.
An earlier version of the bill failed in committee after similar attacks in January. Undeterred, Democrats reconvened and added additional protections to the bill before it was passed into law.
The law is extensive. It asserts that gender-affirming care and reproductive health care are “legal rights” in Maine. It states that criminal and civil actions against providers and patients are not enforceable if the provision or access to that care occurred within Maine’s borders, asserting jurisdiction over those matters.
It bars cooperation with out-of-state subpoenas and arrest warrants for gender-affirming care and abortion that happen within the state. It even protects doctors who provide gender-affirming care and abortion from certain adverse actions by medical boards, malpractice insurance, and other regulating entities, shielding those providers from attempts to economically harm them through out-of-state legislation designed to dissuade them from providing care.
You can see the findings section of the bill here:
The bill also explicitly enshrines the World Professional Association of Transgender Health’s Standards of Care, which have been the target of right-wing disinformation campaigns, into state law for the coverage of trans healthcare:
The bill is said to be necessary due to attempts to prosecute doctors and seek information from patients across state lines. In recent months, attorneys general in other states have attempted to obtain health care data on trans patients who traveled to obtain care. According to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, attorneys general in Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, and Texas attempted to obtain detailed medical records “to terrorize transgender teens in their states … opening the door to criminalizing women’s private reproductive health care choices.”
The most blatant of these attempts was from the attorney general of Texas, who, according to the Senate Finance Committee, “sent demands to at least two non-Texas entities.” One of these entities was Seattle Children’s Hospital, which received a letter threatening administrators with arrest unless they sent data on Texas patients traveling to Seattle to obtain gender-affirming care.
Seattle Children’s Hospital settled that case out of court this week, agreeing to withdraw its Texas business registration in return for Texas dropping its investigation. This likely will have no impact on Seattle Children’s Hospital, which has stated it did not treat any youth via telemedicine or in person in Texas; the hospital will be able to continue treating Texas youth who travel outside of Texas to obtain their care. That settlement was likely compelling due to a nearly identical law in Washington that barred out-of-state investigations on trans care obtained solely in the state of Washington.
The bill has faced a rocky road to passage. A similar bill was debated in January, but after coming under intense attack from anti-trans activists who misleadingly called it a “transgender trafficking bill,” the bill was voluntarily withdrawn by its sponsor.
When LD 227 was introduced, it faced even more attacks from Gaines and Libs of TikTok. These attacks were followed by bomb threats that forced the evacuation of the legislature, promising “death to pedophiles” and stating that a bomb would detonate within a few hours in the capitol building.
Despite these threats, legislators strengthened both the abortion and gender-affirming care provisions and pressed forward, passing the bill into law. Provisions found in the new bill include protecting people who “aid and assist” gender-affirming care and abortion, protections against court orders from other states for care obtained in Maine, and even protections against adverse actions by health insurance and malpractice insurance providers, which have been recent targets of out-of-state legislation aimed at financially discouraging doctors from providing gender-affirming care and abortion care even in states where it is legal.
See a few of the extensive health insurance and malpractice provisions here:
Speaking about the bill, Gia Drew, executive director of Equality Maine, said in a statement, “We are thrilled to see LD 227, the shield bill, be signed into law by Gov. Mills. Thanks to our pro equality and pro reproductive choice elected officials who refused to back down in the face of disinformation. This bill couldn’t come into effect at a better time, as more than 40 percent of states across the country have either banned or attempted to block access to reproductive care, which includes abortions, as well as transgender healthcare for minors. Thanks to our coalition partners who worked tirelessly to phone bank, lobby, and get this bill over the finish line to protect community health.”
Destie Hohman Sprague of the Maine Women’s Lobby celebrated the passage of the bill despite threats of violence, saying in a statement, “A gender-just Maine ensures that all Mainers have access to quality health care that supports their mental and physical wellbeing and bodily autonomy, including comprehensive reproductive and gender-affirming care. We celebrate the passage of LD 227, which helps us meet that goal. Still, the patterns of violence and disinformation ahead of the vote reflected the growing connections between misogyny, extremism, and anti-democratic threats and actions. We must continue to advocate for policies that protect bodily autonomy, and push back against extremist rhetoric that threatens our states’ rights and our citizens’ freedoms.”
The decision to pass the legislation comes as the Biden administration released updated HIPAA protections that protect “reproductive health care” from out-of-state prosecutions and investigations.
Although the definition of “reproductive health care” is broad in the new HIPAA regulations, it is uncertain whether they will include gender-affirming care. For at least 16 states, though, gender-affirming care is now explicitly protected by state law and shielded from out-of-state legislation, providing trans people and those seeking abortions with protections as the fight increasingly crosses state lines.
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Erin Reed is a transgender woman (she/her pronouns) and researcher who tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world and helps people become better advocates for their queer family, friends, colleagues, and community. Reed also is a social media consultant and public speaker.
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The preceding article was first published at Erin In The Morning and is republished with permission.
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