Brian Kemp Signs Bill Modernizing HIV Criminalization Laws

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed SB 164 into legislation on Monday (Could 9),  modernizing the state’s HIV legal guidelines. 

The invoice, which was launched by Sen. Chuck Hufsteler and obtained almost unanimous help in each the Senate (50-2) and Home (124-40), requires prosecutors to show that an individual residing with HIV had “intent to transmit” and posed a “vital danger primarily based on scientifically supported ranges of danger transmission.” The invoice additionally eliminates authorized penalties for individuals residing with HIV who share wants, interact in intercourse work, donate blood, or use bodily fluids on police and correction officers. Georgia follows within the development in the direction of modernizing HIV criminalization legal guidelines behind a minimum of 9 different states, together with California, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia. 

“With the passing of SB 164, Georgia residents residing with HIV can relaxation a little bit simpler and consciousness can proceed to increase on HIV as survivable, treatable and in the end untransmittable,” Serena Sonoma, GLAAD’s Regional Media Lead for the U.S. South, stated in a press launch. “Most legal guidelines criminalizing individuals residing with HIV don’t replicate the unbelievable scientific developments in treating HIV that makes the virus undetectable and subsequently untransmittable, U=U. Reforming outdated legal guidelines is a key step in eliminating the misinformation and stigma that drives new infections. With an estimated 1.2 million Individuals residing with HIV who are sometimes not seen, represented, or mentioned, we should guarantee each state on this nation has equal legal guidelines to finish the decriminalization of HIV, struggle discrimination in opposition to marginalized communities that restricts entry to lifesaving medical care and therapy, and work collectively to finish the HIV epidemic.” 

The Counter Narrative Venture (CNP), an Atlanta group devoted to shifting the narrative round Black homosexual males, responded to the invoice’s passage, recognizing the trigger for celebration however acknowledging the work that continues to be to be performed. 

 “This can be a very heavy second,” stated CNP’s Govt Director Charles Stephens. “There’s actually a lot to have fun, actually. And I’m glad that the work that so many people have been engaged in over time, has led to the passage of this historic laws.  However I additionally acknowledge that the struggle for justice isn’t even near being over. There’s pleasure, but additionally extraordinary rage. That being stated, I stay greater than something, actually grateful to be part of the wonderful motion of HIV advocates and organizers in Georgia who labored so very exhausting for this.”

Roughly 1.2 million individuals within the U.S. live with HIV. In keeping with the CDC, the South experiences the best charges of HIV and lags behind different areas in offering high quality HIV prevention companies and care.