AIDS Conference 2012 – ACLU Continues Fighting to “Turn the Tide Together”
This week, Washington will host the . This is the first time since 1990 that the U.S. will host the major international gathering on the AIDS epidemic. The reason for this is that in 1987, Congress passed legislation prohibiting people living with HIV from traveling into the United States. Under the ban, those living with HIV were listed as having a “communicable disease of public health significance.” Rooted in the fear and prejudice that was an ever-present reality in those days, the ban imposed an unfair burden on tourists, short-term visitors, and foreigners seeking to live in the U.S. In 2009, President Obama finally , following a 2008 statutory repeal vote in Congress, correctly pointing out that if the U.S. wants to be a world leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, “we need to act like it.”
Thanks to the demise of the HIV travel ban, thousands of advocates from around the globe, including many people living with HIV and AIDS, will gather in the nation’s capital to discuss the groundbreaking advancements in modern science and medicine for treating HIV/AIDS, the progress made in the fight against discrimination, and the remaining challenges in the pursuit of a cure for HIV and equal treatment for those living with HIV. The theme of the 2012 conference – “Turning the Tide Together” – recognizes the hope and renewed optimism of those working to end the HIV epidemic, while serving as an urgent call to action. The ACLU is proud to answer that call, and will continue to advocate for the civil rights and fair treatment of those living with HIV/AIDS.
The 2012 International AIDS Conference is a unique opportunity to reflect on how far we have come as a nation, and as a global community, since the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Today, thanks to advances in modern medicine, HIV is a chronic, but manageable condition, and prevention strategies are improving around the world. Better understanding of HIV has led to stronger protections for people living with HIV. Anti-discrimination safeguards in housing, employment, and access to medical care have improved the lives of many. But there is still much more to be done. The ACLU looks forward to advancing policies and changes in our laws that reflect the realities of the 21st century, rather than the stigmas and prejudices of the past.
The ACLU has been a leader in fighting discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, and continues to work towards ending the prejudice, ignorance, and stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. For decades, the ACLU AIDS Project has improved the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS through litigation challenging discrimination by government and private actors, and through our advocacy on state and federal legislation.
In Congress, the ACLU is a strong supporter of the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act, introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), which would establish a national framework to reform outdated criminal laws that target people living with HIV. Today, 34 states criminalize HIV status through such laws. These laws reflect the fear, misunderstanding, and prejudice that surrounded HIV decades ago, and have no place in state and federal criminal codes.
The ACLU has also long called for a review by the Department of Health and Human Services of the lifetime ban on blood donations by gay and bisexual men. Decisions on who is an eligible blood donor must be based scientific evidence, rather than outdated, discriminatory stereotypes and assumptions. While there is no constitutional right to donate blood, government policy regulating the blood donation field must not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation by adopting differing standards for conduct that poses similar risks based solely on the identity of those engaging in such conduct. As long as the civil and human rights of people living with HIV are on the line, the ACLU will continue to champion respect, dignity and the march toward full equality.
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News & CommentaryMar 2024
HIV
Fighting Back Against Discriminatory Laws That Impact People Living with HIVFighting Back Against Discriminatory Laws That Impact People Living with HIV
The ACLU is challenging a Tennessee law that criminalizes HIV status. This law unfairly prevents people from securing employment and housing. -
Press ReleaseNov 2023
HIV
Plaintiffs File Federal Suit to Overturn Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution StatutePlaintiffs File Federal Suit to Overturn Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution Statute
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution statute and related sex offender registration requirements are unconstitutional and violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to a federal lawsuit filed today against the state by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Transgender Law Center, and the ACLU of Tennessee in the U.S. District Court in Memphis on behalf of four Jane Doe plaintiffs and OUTMemphis, the state’s oldest and largest service provider for LGBTQ+ people. Plaintiffs argue that the Aggravated Prostitution statute is rooted in fear and discrimination, targeting people living with HIV for harsh punishment and forcing them to register as “violent sex offenders” for the rest of their lives. Criminalizing people with HIV defies evidence-based best practices and is patently unlawful as it singles out people living with HIV — a protected disability — for harsher punishment. “People convicted of Aggravated Prostitution must spend years in prison and then register as violent sex offenders for the rest of their lives – meaning they cannot access the housing, employment, healthcare and community life that they need to get back on their feet,” said Molly Quinn, executive director of OUTMemphis. “This statute solely targets people because of their HIV status and keeps them in cycles of poverty, while posing absolutely zero benefit to public health and safety.” “HIV stigma is becoming a thing of the past, and it’s time for state law to catch up. OUTMemphis fights so that queer people are free to live in safety, with dignity, and we believe everyone deserves that regardless of their HIV status.” Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution law was passed in 1991 at a time of national panic over HIV. The law targets people engaged in sex work, enhancing their charges from misdemeanors to felonies solely based on HIV status, making it difficult to find other employment. Since then, many states have moved on from criminalizing HIV, better understanding the rates and methods of transmission and the way criminalization is counterproductive to effective testing and treatment. New treatments such as Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) can reduce viral loads to undetectable levels, blocking the possibility of transmission. And yet, Tennessee state law enhances sex work from a misdemeanor to a felony, solely based on HIV status, which has long been recognized as a disability protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Tennessee has no comparable law for any other infectious disease, even those that are more prevalent and transmissible than HIV. “Disability discrimination is illegal,” said Alexis Agathocleous, deputy director of the National ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, “and yet the Aggravated Prostitution singles out economically-marginalized people living with HIV for excessively harsh punishment. The results are predictable: Black women are the targets of this archaic, unscientific law – many of whom are simply trying to secure food, a place to sleep, or a way to meet their basic needs.” Entirely divorced from science, Tennessee’s law applies indiscriminately, ignoring that either party to a sexual encounter can ensure against HIV transmission in many simple and effective ways. “Each of us, regardless of our race, our genders, or our HIV status, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and welcomed as full members of our communities,” said Milo Inglehart (he/him), staff attorney at Transgender Law Center. “With today’s filing, we join the ACLU, ACLU-TN, OUTMemphis, and our individual plaintiffs to challenge the counterproductive and discriminatory Aggravated Prostitution statute that unlawfully singles out people living with HIV, disproportionately impacts Black transgender and cisgender women, and places lifelong, punitive restrictions on those who are criminalized for trying to survive.” “The Aggravated Prostitution statute is a relic from when HIV first emerged in the 1980s and is motivated by fear, misinformation and discrimination — not sound science or evidence,” said Jeff Preptit, ACLU-TN staff attorney. “Instead of criminalizing HIV, which disproportionately targets transgender and cisgender Black women who are already socially and financially marginalized, lawmakers should invest in evidence-based public health responses to support people living with HIV to end the epidemic. All Tennesseans should be able to live a full life free from discrimination and harm, regardless of our health conditions.” In addition to violating the ADA, the lawsuit also argues that, among other things, the law violates equal protection, due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The plaintiffs are asking the court to strike down the Aggravated Prostitution statute and the resulting lifetime sex offender registration requirement as clearly discriminatory because they unlawfully punish people on the basis of a protected disability. The complaint filed today can be found online at: /cases/outmemphis-v-lee?document=Complaint Background on the legal challenge to Tennessee’s discriminatory Aggravated Prostitution law can be found here: /documents/fact-sheet-legal-challenge-to-tennessees-discriminatory-aggravated-prostitution-law For more information about the case: /cases/outmemphis-v-lee#legal-documents -
TennesseeOct 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+3 Issues
OUTMemphis v. LeeOUTMemphis v. Lee
OUTMemphis v. Lee is a first-of-its-kind challenge to a state-level HIV criminalization law as a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Constitution. Plaintiffs OUTMemphis and Jane Does 1-4 seek to strike down Tennessee’s discriminatory, irrational and cruel enforcement of its “Aggravated Prostitution” law and related sex offender registration requirements. -
PodcastOct 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+6 Issues
How ACT UP Changed the Face of AIDS and ActivismHow ACT UP Changed the Face of AIDS and Activism