Two big leaps forward in the movement to end HIV criminalization (2011)

Thanks to our quick work this week, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS' (PACHA's) first annual letters to President Obama and to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) priorities include vital language regarding HIV criminalization. The letters, which describe successes over the prior year of implementing the NHAS as well as the major challenges for the upcoming year, now include three separate mentions of HIV criminalization, and encourage swift action to address the discriminatory and stigma-producing practices.

CHLP learned of the letter on Friday, July 29th, and jumped into action with Positive Justice Project (PJP) members when we saw that, despite general references to the fact of ongoing HIV stigma and discrimination, the references stopped short of pointing to specific laws and policies, such as the use of the criminal law to target people with HIV, that require concrete action.

By the following Monday, August 1st, we drafted and submitted to PACHA a letter from PJP members pointing out the oversight and proposing additional language to remedy that. During PACHA's meeting on August 2nd, PJP's letter request was acknowledged; and a motion to amend PACHA's letter to prioritize HIV criminalization in language tracking that proposed by PJP was introduced and approved unanimously. Julie Davids of AIDS Foundation Chicago (and a PJP member) rightly called this development "The best news – by far – that I've heard in days."

In other good news, U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee released a draft of legislation planned for introduction later this year that would require a review of all federal and state laws, policies, and regulations regarding the criminal prosecution of individuals for HIV-related offenses. The bill, which will be called the Repeal HIV Discrimination Act, would be the first to take on the issue of HIV criminalization, and would provide incentives for states to explore repeal or reform of laws and practices that unfairly target people with HIV for consensual sex and conduct that poses no real risk of HIV transmission.