World AIDS Day: Perseverance in a Pandemic of Prejudice
By: Jeramy Ashton
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect views of the Journal, the William H. Bowen School of Law, or 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.
During the early days of the fight against HIV, American physician and AIDS researcher Johnathon Mann made the galvanizing statement, 鈥淭here is a prejudice associated with this fight, will you help me ?鈥� Forty years later, the fight to eradicate the prejudice against human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome continues. World AIDS Day, observed on December 1, is a time to unite in the fight against HIV, to condone lingering fallacies, and strive to repeal outdated, punishing legislation targeted at people living with HIV.
In June 1981, the fatal virus, then known as gay-related immune deficiency , devastated the United States. AIDS, the of what is now known as HIV infection, substantially weakens the immune system ultimately causing the body to succumb to 鈥�.鈥� The federal government failed to address the epidemic for almost seven years. Inaction led to a massive amount of misinformation and stigma surrounding people living with HIV. By 1985, HIV went from being 鈥渢he gay disease鈥� to rapidly overtaking the heterosexual community through blood transfusions, intravenous drug use, and childbirth. In conservative southern states, children like fourteen-year-old Ryan White, who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion, were chased out of school and attacked at their . In California, bumper stickers proclaimed: Many legislative and attempts were taken to maintain a focus on traditional family values and suppress . It was not until 1987 that President Ronald Reagan even publicly used the word valiantly fought for the government to take action and counter the stigma surrounding HIV.
Today, we continue to see the fruits of such stigmatization and delayed action. In February 2021, the a twelve year sentence of a man living with HIV with an , citing, 鈥渆ven in his current medical state, appellant is still鈥攁nd will always be鈥擧IV positive, a disease to which there is no cure or vaccine and is still potentially fatal.鈥� The ruling not only stigmatizes HIV but exposes prejudice in the failure to recognize and incorporate significant scientific progress that promotes the purpose of the statute, limiting HIV exposure. Additionally, Howton argued that such a statute 鈥渟ingles out disfavored persons by illness [and] labels them as dangers to the public.鈥� The Court agreed with the State鈥檚 response, labeling a person capable of transmitting HIV as a 鈥渄anger to the public鈥� does not impose any kind of 鈥減unishment鈥� on people living with HIV. What the court failed to consider was the historical and ongoing 鈥減unishment鈥� suffered by the gay male community and all people living with HIV; misinformation, ongoing prejudice, and decreased well-being.
In 1988, after mounds of pressure from HIV and AIDS activists, President Reagan鈥檚 recommended states enact laws to deter people with HIV from exposing others in a way likely to transmit the virus. Although few knew what the virus was, how it was transmitted, and how to prevent the spread, took off, motivated by political pressure, morality, and abstinence, with little adherence to public health recommendations. In response, Arkansas passed in 1989, which makes it a criminal offense for a person to 鈥渒nowingly expose another person to HIV through engaging in sexual conduct without disclosing the person鈥檚 HIV-positive status.鈥� Arkansas鈥檚 broad statute defines “sexual conduct” as “any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person’s body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person’s body.” Further, such exposure is a that requires sex offender registration. By 1996, during a time when many believed the toxic fable that people living with HIV purposely exposed others for the sake of 鈥淚鈥檓 dying so you should die too,鈥� a showed that over three-quarters of Americans agreed that one who knowingly exposed someone to HIV should face criminal charges. Such criminalization was fueled by fallacy and stigma surrounding the virus and those living with HIV. The lingering effects of criminalizing individuals living with HIV and AIDS are experienced right here in Arkansas today.
The outdated legislation fails to consider exceptional medical advancements that destigmatize the virus and significantly reduce the spread of HIV by approximately . Current HIV treatment options enable a person living with HIV to reach anviral load that cannot even be detected in most blood tests. Additionally, preventative medication (鈥淧rEP鈥�) is now available for HIV-negative adults at high risk for getting HIV through sex or injection drug use. includes medications as well as necessary clinic visits and lab tests. Medical progress and preventative measures are important because without the ability to actually 鈥渆xpose鈥� someone to HIV, the purpose of the criminalization laws, decreasing HIV transmission rates, is no longer relevant.
Criminalization statutes such as Arkansas鈥檚 conflict with public health and medical advancements. Donald Hermann, Director of DePaul University Health Law Institute wrote, 鈥� with these statutes鈥� in terms of not recognizing the use of condoms and modern-day preventative measures as a defense. Without such a defense, 鈥渋t is possible to argue that by looking at the conduct specified, the removes the harm from the statutory definition of conduct .鈥� The court in Howton relies on the fact that even if he had an undetectable viral load, the Defendant failed to inform his sexual partners of his HIV Positive status. A frustrating part of this is the next to nothing educational resources for newly diagnosed people living with HIV to know how to have a individuals about their diagnosis, forms of transmission, and control factors. According to the CDC, 鈥渢hese laws have been shown to , increase stigma, and exacerbate disparities.鈥�
Forty years after Dr. Mann pleaded for help to fight the prejudice of HIV and AIDS, we continue to experience the lingering and ripe effects of such prejudice, misinformation, and injustice. On World AIDS Day and every day after, may we on the facts, adhere to scientific progress, and pummel the stigma of HIV and AIDS. May we heed the call to fight the prejudice and .