Hospital, AIDS Agency Ordered to Treat Activist

As Broward County's most influential gay rights activist only a few years ago, Gary Steinsmith had access to the ears of county commissioners -- and the wallets of taxpayers. But this week, as AIDS ravaged his body and his mind, Steinsmith was turned away by some of the same social service agencies to which he once steered money. Destitute, sick and mentally ill, Steinsmith spent much of this week in the Fort Lauderdale city jail on trespassing charges.

Broward General Hospital's psychiatric unit would not keep him because he was not sufficiently mentally ill. Broward House, a private nonprofit AIDS support program, would not take him because he was too mentally ill and did not have enough money. On Wednesday morning, an enraged County Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren ordered both programs to treat Steinsmith calling Broward House's actions "absolutely unacceptable" and "inexcusable."

In the courtroom, Broward House officials all but refused to accept Steinsmith, whom they insisted was too psychiatrically "unstable" to receive treatment at their residential program. Hours later, officials struck a more compromising tone, saying they would "work together with the court system" to provide care for Steinsmith. "Just help him," Lerner-Wren told representatives of Broward House. "I am ordering you to treat this man." Lerner-Wren, who presides over mental health court, summoned Broward House officials to her courtroom Wednesday morning demanding to know why they would not treat Steinsmith. She became angry when calls to the service agency went unreturned, she said.

In his prime, Steinsmith, 44, was the leading voice for gay people in Broward County, serving as president and a board member of Dolphin Democratic Club in the early 1990s. He also served on the Broward County Democratic Executive Committee, the county HIV Health Services Planning Council and the Advisory Board for Persons with Disabilities. He reduced his work five years ago as his health deteriorated, but his efforts on behalf of others did not end. "Everybody in the gay community knows Gary Steinsmith," said Shane Gunderson, who replaced Steinsmith as president of the Dolphin Club. "He's the most well-known gay activist in Broward County."

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