Strong legal protections for people living with HIV are
essential prerequisites to effective risk-reduction and prevention strategies.
By fighting discrimination based on HIV status, protecting people’s privacy,
and improving access to information about HIV-related legal issues, we can
strengthen the health of our communities.
GLAD’s AIDS Law Project continues to fight for strong
privacy protections for HIV status and medical information, and to educate the
public about the consent requirements for HIV testing across New England.
Because the laws vary from state to state, it’s important to
understand what is and is not allowed or required where you live. Read on for an overview, and visit www.glad.org or contact our Legal InfoLine for more information.
Guest post from Carisa Cunningham, Director of Public Affairs and Education, who joined AIDS Law Project Director Ben Klein at the AIDS Project Worcester 25th Anniversary dinner on October 4.
AIDS Project Worcester celebrated their 25th anniversary
last night with a lovely dinner at the College of the Holy Cross.Attendees remembered APW Executive
Director Joe McKee, who died in April, and honored those who continue Joe's
work.Among the honorees was GLAD's
ownAIDS Law Project Director Ben Klein,
who received the Outstanding Advocate Red Ribbon Award.
The award marked Ben's many accomplishments
advocating on behalf of people with HIV, not the least of which was his Supreme
Court win in Bragdon v. Abbott, establishing that people with HIV are protected
from discrimination by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Ben is extremely
modest, but there is always a little intake of breath in a room when people are
told - or reminded - that he is a Supreme Court victor.
That was the title of GLAD’s panel discussion held Tuesday night at the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center. It is a heavy title that forces us to ask the question: “Where are we today with regards to the AIDS epidemic?” How is it possible that after so many years of devastating loss and discrimination that infection rates continue to soar, disproportionately affecting minority communities? A panel of four renowned individuals in the fight against AIDS: Douglas Brooks, ED of JRI Health; Jacob Smith Yang, ED of Massachusetts Asian and Pacific Islanders for Health;Reverend Irene Monroe, writer and activist; and Kevin Cathcart, ED of Lambda Legal took the stage to discuss their thoughts on the invisibility of the HIV epidemic in the United States.
Kevin Cathcart addressed the paradox of the US government requiring national HIV plans in developing countries, but never forcing our own country to develop one. Other countries that have placed HIV/AIDS at the forefront of national policies and used culturally appropriate prevention strategies have been successful in reducing the transmission rate of HIV. Thailand, for example, implemented a “100 percent condom program” in the 1990’s providing all sex workers with boxes of free condoms. HIV infection rates dropped significantly. What makes it so hard for the US to implement a national strategy that would decrease infection rates across the board? Is our country just too diverse to come up with one national plan?
Jacob Smith Yang discussed the complexity and diversity of the US population. Neglecting to address this diversity has left minority populations behind in the fight against HIV. Yang described the diversity within the Asian population that’s often invisible in the US. It’s necessary to break down the larger Asian population to understand the specific populations affected. When it comes to collecting demographic data for the AIDS epidemic it does not suffice to simply fill in “Asian” (or, worse, “Other” – lumping anyone who is not white, African American or Latino into one category) on a form.
Recording agencies such as the CDC have claimed that desegregating this data is useless because the differentiated numbers are too small to matter, but when infection rates continue, what number is too small? Why can’t we be concerned nationally and on a state level about the health and well being of every individual? We are lucky to live in a diverse society where each population is unique in terms of its cultural dynamics, but that makes it all the more necessary for a national HIV plan to address these differences. By failing to develop a national HIV plan for our own country, we are making this epidemic invisible to the greater public, when in fact decreasing infection rates takes the awareness of every single individual.
- Noreen Giga, Bilingual Outreach Educator
Panelists Reverend Irene Monroe, Jacob Smith Yang, and Kevin Cathcart discuss educating youth about HIV and AIDS.
