August 10, 2012
Orlando Police Accuse HIV+ Man of Rape at Parliament House
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Orlando police say a man who is HIV-positive raped another man at a popular gay resort in Orlando, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
According to a police report, Kenneth Creuzer, a 48-year-old waiter, told authorities that he walked into an unlocked motel room and assaulted another man. The door to the motel room was left open and Creuzer allegedly walked in and raped the man while he was sleeping face down on his stomach.
The report goes on to state that the man told local police that he was sleeping around 3:05 p.m. and that he heard someone come inside his room but assumed it was his boyfriend. After he realized it was a stranger and not his boyfriend, the man punched Creuzer, who then ran out of the room.
Creuzer was not a guest at the motel, which is part of the Parliament House resort.
Parliament House calls itself "the world's largest and most famous gay resort and entertainment complex," according to the establishment's website. It also say it is "the gayest place on earth."
The resort hosts a number of events, including "Boxers and Briefs" night and the "National Miss Large And Lovely Pageant."
In 2010, the resort celebrated its 35th anniversary after it was on the brink of closing down. It was reported that Parliament House was going to go into foreclosure over a $7.5 million mortgage. But a few months later, it was reported the debt was being managed and it would not be closing its doors, HotSpots! magazine reported.
Since the incident, Creuzer has been arrested and suspended from his job as a waiter at Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater at Disney's Hollywood Studios. He is being held without bail and has been charged with burglary of a dwelling with a battery, sexual battery and having sex without disclosing his HIV-positive status.
The criminalization of HIV-positive individuals for not disclosing their aerostats remains controversial in the United States and many other nations. Despite activists' concerns that such laws are arbitrary and discriminatory, they widely remain on the books.
Both the federal government and all 50 states have such laws on the books. Even spitting can be considered "assault with a deadly weapon." Back in 2010, the executive director of the Center for HIV Law and Policy, Catherine Hanssens, noted that treating HIV infection as evidence of guilt and a deadly weapon wasn't appropriate in 1985, and it isn't appropriate now. To refer to HIV as a deadly weapon in 2010 speaks of just unforgivable ignorance."