Florida Nurse Fired Over Decades Old Nightclub Drag Act

[FreeState]

Don't think old laws targeting gay men still effect the lives of GLBT people. think again.

http://southfloridagaynews.com/news/local-news/694-god-save-the-queen.html

You may know or remember Ray Fetcho as ‘Tiny Tina.’ He is a proud gay 61 year old man who has been a licensed practical nurse for the past forty years; four decades of service to people who are ill.

Unfortunately, in 1976, while hosting a ‘Wet Jockey Shorts Night’ at the Copa, he was busted for promoting a lewd act. Today, that incident has come back to haunt him. The state has told him he can no longer be a nurse because of the conviction.

For the past 15 years, Fetcho has been an acclaimed and honored employee at Victoria Villa, an assisted living facility in Davie, recognized for his “compassionate service to the elderly.”

On March 31, 1976, Fetcho, performing as ‘Tiny Tina’ at the Copa in Dania Beach, was charged and convicted of promoting ‘lewd and lascivious’ behavior by throwing small buckets of water on boys’ briefs while hosting the irreverent ‘Wet Jockey Shorts’ contest.

Last month, that dated conviction from his past became a nightmare. Last week, Ray Fetcho was summarily fired from the job he has loved and cherished. A state licensing agency, the Agency for Health Care Administration, doing a routine screening inspection of nursing home employees, told him he would be ineligible to remain on the job at his facility “because of the lewd act conviction” from thirty plus years ago....

[DURHAM D]

1. those mother fuckers... nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. they don't limit themselves to mothers, unfortunately.

I'd call them bastards, but bastards had no choice in the matter.

This is truly ridiculous. Question: was he a target because he is openly gay?

[Soylent Brice]

2. unfuckingbelievable.

[Lil Missy]

3. What Bullshit.

[monmouth]

5. Florida just gets dumber with each passing day. Children are lost

through the fault of DCF, police run rogue in every county down here and a guy who is great at his job and his patients love him is fired for something like this, after all of this time? Sounds like he's being set up, a good lawyer could straighten this out I'm hoping.... We have a multi-millionaire down here in Wellington who blew through a stop sign, hit and killed a recent engineering student graduate. Guy is not in jail, toxic tests are not being made public but Roy Black is defending him...Makes me ill.

[GodlessBiker]

6. In New York, you can get a "Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities" ...

from a judge which, for most situations, does not allow your conviction to be used to disqualify you in civil licensings and such. I wonder if Florida has something like it.

This is fucking ridiculous.

[jberryhill]

7. That is typical of most states

There should be a mechanism to clear that conviction in FL as well. Although if there was an affirmative failure to disclose it when required to do so, clearing the conviction might not help.

[rug]

8. I hope he gets a Florida pro bono lawyer.

http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/content/getdoc/c83dd888-ef7a-448e-9a96-ba69fc4181f7/Seal-and-Expunge-Home.aspx

[QC]

9. This is why civil rights are not a "pony"! n/t

[QC]

10. KICK!