Moving Forward or Rolling Back? (NSFW)

Regular Contributor Raymond

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that reduces penalties and sentencing for those who are HIV Positive and knowingly engage in activities that put others at risk of infection. Those include engaging in sexual activity with someone and donating at local blood banks.

There is fear and disdain from those who vehemently oppose this rollback who believe this could cause another nationwide HIV epidemic. There’s excitement from those who are in favor of this law, who believe this effectively ends the stigmatizing of those with HIV/AIDS and those who are at high risk of being infected.

Moving Forward

I’m in that high-risk category. I don’t donate blood or organs. I am regularly tested. I take Truvada as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of HIV. And I had to overcome a lot of my own prejudices, ignorances, and even hypocrisy to ask my doctor about PrEP. I will be the first to admit I still have a lot to learn about HIV/AIDS and how the blood and organ donation process works.

But based on what I do know, a rollback on some situations that are deemed HIV criminalization should not be an issue. There are thousands who are HIV Positive and still have absolutely no idea they have become infected. They are either asymptomatic once they are infected or they pass off symptoms of new HIV infection as a cold/flu, lethargy, or something that (to them) seems more plausible. Because, as we’ve heard so many times, “It could never happen to me.” Decriminalizing HIV crimes in these cases protects those who are not deemed a threat to the medical community and keeps from punishing those who are ignorant of their status.

Also, most everyone these days are thoroughly tested once they walk through the door of any medical clinic or emergency room, blood donation banks thoroughly test blood before using it for transfusions. Most state/local governments have a database collected of those folks who are diagnosed with any sexually transmitted disease or chronic bloodborne illness (HIV/Hep C). And while there is a window between someone being HIV negative and HIV positive where the antibodies may not show up in the most sophisticated of testing for weeks or months, checks and balances still exist and should continue to exist. But, as previously mentioned, donations are also taken from the “It could never happen to me” population, that may or may not be at high risk, have never had an HIV test, and may also be in that newly infected category too.

For what it is worth, I don’t have an issue with not being able to donate my blood or organs. Half of it is due to needle phobia and the other half has to do with the fact that if taking myself (and others who are HIV-, healthy, on PrEP, but still engage in what is deemed high-risk behavior) out of the bank means peace of mind for others and for the medical community, then I’m perfectly okay with that. The medical community’s standards will never have a bearing on my personhood. And there are millions of other virile, healthy Americans out there that can and should donate. Let’s just hope they’re all telling the truth about their sexual activities, needled drug usage, and are aware of their status.

Rolling Back

I previously mentioned that there are some cases of HIV criminalization where either the accused did not know they had HIV or or had low risk/no risk activities, that were grounds under the law for criminalization. But I am not completely sure the answer is to completely decriminalize HIV transmission.

The normalization of stealthing (the act of removing a condom and or ejaculation without a partner’s consent) is a valid concern for many of those who are sexually active and for those in the health community who have to deal with new cases of HIV transmission, pregnancy, and other STDs as a result. There is legitimate concern to be had, particularly when there are many groups who use HIV transmission as a weapon or as a rite of passage to unsuspecting individuals. There is a known subculture of individuals (known as bugchasers) whosearousal for sexual activity partly stems from passing HIV along to others, even those who are completely trusting and have not been disclosed the person’s positive status.

All of that being said, Governor Brown, who signed decriminalizing HIV transmissions into law, is the same one who signed a mandatory vaccinations bill to protect the health and safety of all individuals. I find it to be a contradiction that Governor Brown and other California lawmakers believe that mandatory vaccinations are important to the medical community, yet also believe the mandatory disclosure of one’s health status to his/her sexual partner or at a blood bank is not at all a concern for the medical community

Which Direction?

At the end of the day, I do believe that we, as responsible, mature adults, should be in charge of our own health and know our own risks before engaging in any sexual or drug-related activities. It’s one of the many reasons I use PrEP as a tool in my personal health and safety. Sexual activity with random strangers, introducing vetted (and unvetted) different partners into your monogamous relationships, condomless sex, and sharing needles are all things our parents, the medical community, and our consciences have warned us about since we realized what our erections were capable of. And I honestly don’t think the government has any business regulating our decisions or protecting us from our own actions, regardless of how foolish and stupid those decisions appear to be. My position isn’t an attempt to normalize HIV; the fact is that it already exists among the people in our normal lives from those who are vocal about their status, those who live in silence with or without treatment, and in those who have no idea.

By attempting to shield its undetectable HIV population and those who live in fear of being tested, liberal California lawmakers hearts are somewhat in the right place. The science for those who are on a daily drug regimen and are untransmittable is there and they should not be jailed or deemed as a threat. But what some fail to grasp is that the complete decriminalization of HIV transmission (speaking specifically of those who are involved in a subculture of stealthing and bugging unconsenting conquests) sets the stage for an epic Us vs. Them culture war that will do way more damage to the HIV/AIDS community, those at high risk, and allies than any defunding of drug regimens/research, Michael Weinstein slut-shaming or Pat Robertson quotes from his 700 Club chair.