Proud of How Far We’ve Come: Zoey Peach on LGBTQ Rights and HIV Prevention

Zoey Peach is, as her name implies, a real peach, with a bubbly personality and excitement behind her glistening eyes. The health educator and outreach maven invited us into the newly re-opened offices at Caracole, a nonprofit AIDS service organization serving the tri-state area in the fight against HIV/AIDS through prevention, housing, and care. Zoey shared stories of the amazing people she’s learned from and how she’s using that knowledge to fight discrimination in the tri-state area. 

Interview by Blaire Bartish. Photography by Heather Colley. 

The following Q&A is based on the interviewee’s firsthand account of their experiences and opinions alone.

Where do you come from?

I grew up in a small town in southern Illinois called Mount Carmel. I went to college in Lexington, Kentucky, at Transylvania University. Somehow I ended up here in Cincinnati!

Tell us about an experience you’ve had that really shaped who you are.

I went to what was then called the Safe Schools Advocacy Summit in March of 2012 in Washington D.C. I’ve always identified this specific instance as a changing point in my life. It was held by an organization called GLSEN; it used to stand for Gay-Lesbian-Straight Education Network, but now they’re just GLSEN. There’s a local chapter here in Cincinnati – awesome folks. 

I identify those four days as such a major turning point in my life... for the wonderful! It was the first time I had ever really left my small town and the first time I traveled alone. For me to be around so many other LGBTQ youth was so powerful and opened up different possibilities for me; it opened my mind to exploring my own gender. And beyond that, I was a part of something bigger. 

Not only did I have the personal experience of meeting these other folks at the conference, but with it came three days of training beforehand, and then we went to Capitol Hill. Students from all over the country went to lobby their senators and representatives to support what was called the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Student Non-Discrimination Act, neither of which have passed! But it has been rolled into the Equality Act now. I so vividly remember, even though it was nine years ago, being in a second-floor conference room in the hotel. It was an older hotel so it was dark and wooden, and all of the students and the GLSEN staff were gathered together for the first time at the conference, and that alone is a pivotal moment, seeing so many other folks like me. 

Did you continue to work with GLSEN past that conference?

I did! I started a GLSEN chapter in Lexington called GLSEN Bluegrass, which still continues today and now serves the entire state of Kentucky. It blows my mind that I started it – I didn’t play a small role; I started it! It’s incredible.

What kind of services does GLSEN Bluegrass provide? 

On the whole, GLSEN serves to support LGBTQ students in K-12 schools. Hence why they use the phrase “safe schools” a lot. [GLSEN aims] to combat bullying and discrimination in schools, both from the school structures and from other students. Increasingly, as we’ve seen the next generation become more educated, our fights are not stopping students from bullying other students, but stopping school districts and politicians from discriminating against students. 

One memory from my time in GLSEN Bluegrass was a week when: There was a conference I was organizing; there was an event GLSEN holds yearly called the Day of Silence, which is a national student-led protest against discrimination in schools, and students in a new Gender and Sexuality Alliance at a high school in a county next to Lexington contacted me saying the administration told them they were not allowed to hold the Day of Silence; [and I was] also working on finals at the same time! 

I had to contact our national office, which put me in contact with the A.C.L.U. I got to send a letter to that school on A.C.L.U. letterhead with my name on the bottom – and they didn’t have a problem with the Day of Silence after that! 

I [was later a national] consultant for GLSEN on the chapter level, and they called me into a few meetings in Washington with some political leadership, including a roundtable discussion with then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan. 

Would you be comfortable sharing your coming out story?

Yes! It’s a fun story. It was while I was campus life editor of the campus newsletter at Transylvania University [Transy]. I came out in an article titled “Trans at Transy, Part Deux: This Time It’s Personal” after a previous article was written about another trans person a couple of months prior. I thought it was pretty clever! [Laughs.] It was terrifying writing that and knowing it was going to go out the next morning, but also so empowering: for one thing, just to get that off my chest, and also [my thinking was,] “I don’t have to do this over and over again – it’s in black and white print somewhere.” 

How was your reception of that?

Very positive overall. I didn’t receive any outright discrimination. I was on the student government association and I wasn’t reelected that year, so a few things happened, but no outright, blatant transphobia happened to me. 

What drew you to Caracole and LGBTQ health issues?

I was a women’s and gender studies major in college. I didn’t have any interest in health or the clinical side of things at all, but I knew that after college I wanted to help out the LGBTQ community in some way, preferably in a nonprofit setting. 

I ended up finding a job at an AIDS service organization in Kentucky. The agency started a prevention program while I was there, so I started doing that. As I worked there longer, the more interested I became in the clinical side of things. From the first time I did an HIV test, I loved it. I loved my interactions with clients, and was honored that my clients shared their deeply personal stories with me. 

Eventually, I found my way up here to Caracole! The other organization fired me for being trans, for all intents and purposes. There was a change of leadership at the organization; I was open when I started working there, but the new leadership wasn’t quite as open and progressive as the previous leadership. I ended up losing that job with no notice. Two months later the city [it was in] passed a non-discrimination ordinance – two months too late! 

I played a teensy role in getting that ordinance passed, though. I didn’t get to tell my personal story, but I had some friends in statewide advocacy from my time at GLSEN Bluegrass, so they sent me some talking points. I had a teensy-tiny role! 

But [someone I know] posted [my current] job on Facebook, and after two interviews, I got the job at Caracole! I’ve been here for three and half years now. I take care of a lot of our data for the prevention side of things. Primarily, I analyze our data to see where we should be going – to see if there’s an increase in infections from a particular zip code.

Do you have any clients that stand out in your memory?

There are fortunately, but also unfortunately, so many. I have approximately forty folks who I’ve delivered the diagnosis that they were HIV positive. I used to be able to remember each one of their names. I hate that I can’t do that anymore because there’s just been so many, and there’s been an increase just in the past couple months. 

What are cases like in the Cincinnati area right now?

We’ve seen a dramatic spike in new infections in Butler County, which has been deeply concerning. The increase has primarily been among folks who inject drugs; we have seen that, at least. But why specifically now, I’m not sure. I have some guesses related to COVID, but it’s hard to pin down. [In Hamilton County], around half of all cases are from men who have sex with men. But there’s been such an increase among people who inject drugs, so that’s where our concern is. 

What do you wish people knew or understood about being HIV positive?

I am not a person living with HIV, so I don’t want to speak for [those people], but I still encounter so many misconceptions and I think it’s hurting a lot of our folks who are newly testing positive. They don’t understand that this is a chronic illness now. It’s treatable. 

I remember when I was in Kentucky... I heard about a client whose family would still invite them to Thanksgiving – so they weren’t completely cut out, as has unfortunately happened to many LGBTQ folks and folks living with HIV – but they would have to sit at a separate table. Everyone would get silverware, but they would get plasticware. And the family would dispose of everything at the end of the meal. This was just a few years ago. 

That’s ridiculous things like that are still happening! It’s not like it’s 1991. 

It’s been 40 years! The first case was reported June 5, 1981. 

Lately there have been several celebrities that have come out as HIV positive. Do you see evidence of that changing the conversation?

Certainly anecdotally. There’s been a positive impact (pardon the pun!). In the past, there was a study the C.D.C. did after Magic Johnson revealed his diagnosis. It showed that there was a dramatic rise in HIV testing in the six weeks following his press conference. I haven’t seen any more recent studies with current celebrities but I imagine there may be a similar impact. I have several of my clients who have mentioned the TV show “Pose” as having a major impact on their lives in general, and I can also think of one client who watched an episode the previous night, and that was what pushed them to come in and get tested. 

Caracole recently reopened, too!

Prevention never closed! We’ve been here the whole time [throughout the pandemic]! But our housing folks and case management folks are back in the office now. It’ll be a little bit busier finally. 

You all are in such a cool building, too.

This [the Caracole office in Northside] used to be the Miller Funeral Home. Our executive director, Linda, told us that through some of her research, she found out that Miller was the first funeral home that was willing to bury folks who passed away of HIV-related complications. 

What makes you feel proud?

Personally, how far I’ve come; how much I’ve grown. 

Professionally, I’m proud of the good work I’ve done. I’m proud of the clients I’ve linked to care, the clients who have told me things they’ve never told anyone else, and, in general, the honor of working with them. 

I saw on Twitter that you have a fox obsession. Can you tell us about that?

I always think that foxes and I have similar hair color, so that’s why I share a special bond with them! [Laughs.] On a slightly more serious note, I do think that as a transgender woman, I didn’t have the childhood I necessarily wanted. So after I came out, I got to relive a few pieces of childhood. I’m still in the animal phase. [Laughs.]

Who is a woman who has been very influential in your life?

Andy Marra. She currently is the executive director of Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. I first met her at the Safe Schools Advocacy Summit when she was a communications associate for GLSEN. She was the first trans woman I saw depicted in a positive light, because all of my experiences prior to that were through media. And, still, many depictions of trans women in the media are not very positive. So seeing her in a position of power, living her best life, was so powerful for me. It kind of opened up my eyes to “you can live that way.” It opened my eyes to the possibilities.