Michael Paul Felts (August 20, 1956 – November 16, 1996) was an American deaf gay activist.
Felts was born at RAF Burtonwood in the United Kingdom, the son of SMSgt Walter Earl Felts and Greta Mary Johnson.[1] The family returned to the United States when Felts was two years old, settling in Colonial Heights, Virginia.[2] Owing to his father's military work, the family moved around frequently. He graduated from the Washington School for the Deaf in 1977, and from Gallaudet University in 1982.[1]
Michael Felts was an activist in the deaf gay community, particularly regarding HIV/AIDS activism. He began his work in California, serving as the statewide coordinator for the Deaf Empowerment and Action for Freedom's "No on Prop 64" initiative.[3] Following his diagnosis of HIV in 1987, where he had no interpreter and was provided with his test results by a handwritten note. His own difficulty receiving information and care, combined with observing how others in the deaf community were treated by medical professionals, spurred him to move to Texas.[4][5]
In 1988, he co-established the Dallas County Deaf AIDS Task Force Committee with Marc Lerro, one of the earliest HIV prevention programs focused on the deaf community.[1][6][7] During his time in Texas, he was a speaker at the 1989 March on Austin for Lesbian/Gay Equal Rights, alongside Cleve Jones, Roberta Achtenberg, Hilary Rosen, and others.[8] After returning to California in 1989, he worked as a statistician with the National Deaf AIDS Project, and produced research identifying gaps in AIDS education for deaf and hard of hearing Americans.[9] In 1991, his work in Texas yielded a commendation from then-Governor Ann Richards.[10] In 1993, he was the chairperson of the National Conference on Deafness and AIDS, and after moving to Washington, D.C. he participated in demonstrations, and was arrested alongside other activists.[1][10][11] In 1995, he founded Deaf AIDS Action, which provided counseling and testing services, a food bank, and other support for deaf and hard of hearing people living with HIV in the nation's capital.[12]
In addition to his HIV/AIDS work, Felts supported other aspects of the deaf gay community. In 1989, he was on the task force that established the NLA: Deaf chapter, which later became International Deaf Leather.[13] He was also co-chair of the 1991 Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf conference.[14]
Felts died at home on Capitol Hill with Marc Lerro and Bill Terrell by his side on November 16, 1996, after living with AIDS for nearly ten years.[1] In 2019, he was honored by the Washington Blade as an "AIDS Hero."[10]
I saw the deaf community suffering, ignored by agencies. These are my people. It's really sad the East Coast and West Coast have a lot going on, but through the Midwest and the South, there's nothing for the deaf.
When I moved here, several of my friends were HIV-positive. I asked them, 'Do you access any [AIDS-related] services?' and they said there were none at all for deaf people. So I decided to set up the Dallas County Deaf AIDS Task Force.
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