Biden DOJ Sues Tennessee over Enforcement of Law with Higher Penalties for Prostitutes with HIV

Kristen Clarke

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday launched a lawsuit against Tennessee over the enforcement of a 1991 law that increases prostitution penalties for individuals who knowingly engage in the illegal practice while testing positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

According to a press release by the DOJ, Tennessee’s law prohibiting aggravated prostitution violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by enforcing legislation “against people living with” HIV, citing their December letter that warned of forthcoming litigation unless Tennessee stopped enforcing its law.

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DOJ Joins ACLU In Attacking Tennessee over Law Meant to Stop Spread of HIV

Gay Couple

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that the enforcement of a Tennessee law meant to prevent the knowing spread of HIV violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution law is outdated, has no basis in science, discourages testing and further marginalizes people living with HIV,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, according to a DOJ press release. “People living with HIV should not be treated as violent sex offenders for the rest of their lives solely because of their HIV status. The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities are protected from discrimination.”

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ACLU Suing Tennessee over Law That Punishes People Who Knowingly Spreading HIV

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said on X, formerly Twitter, that it is suing the State of Tennessee over a law meant to prevent people from knowingly spreading HIV.

“BREAKING: We’re suing Tennessee for their ‘aggravated prostitution’ statute that targets people with HIV with harsh punishment and lifetime sex offender registration. This law is unconstitutional and disproportionately affects Black and transgender women,” the group said Tuesday afternoon. “The law elevates engaging in sex work from a misdemeanor to a felony based on someone’s HIV status – a protected disability.”

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Analysis: COVID-19 Is Not a ‘Pandemic of the Unvaccinated’

On Friday, September 17, the CDC published a study that refutes the common claim that COVID-19 is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Coauthored by more than 50 MD’s and Ph.D.’s, the study contains data on the vaccine status of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 (C-19) at 21 U.S. hospitals across 18 states during March to August of 2021.

Contrary to assertions from the Associated Press and Anthony Fauci that fully vaccinated people comprise only 1% of those being hospitalized or killed by C-19, the study found that 13% of patients hospitalized with C-19 had been fully vaccinated. Moreover, that 13% figure is just the tip of the iceberg because the authors excluded from their study a large group of hospitalized C-19 patients, the bulk of whom were likely vaccinated.

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Virginians No Longer Required to Disclose HIV+ Status to Sexual Partners

It is no longer a crime for Virginians to fail to disclose their HIV+ status before engaging in sexual activities with an unknowing partner, after legislation from the General Assembly’s spring session took effect Thursday. 

The new law says that it is not a crime to unknowingly transmit the virus, for which there is no cure, unless the person transmitting intended to do so. Under the new law, an accuser must also prove that they contracted the virus. 

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Scientists Develop Drug That Prevents Spread of HIV, Study Reveals

by Grace Carr   Scientists reported that an antiretroviral drug prevented the spread of HIV in 1,000 sexually active homosexual couples, according to an eight-year study conducted in Europe. The authors published their findings in the Lancet medical journal Thursday, Reuters reported. Researchers followed 1,000 couples, each composed of one HIV-positive partner and one HIV-negative partner. The couples were sexually active and did not use condoms during intercourse, according to the researchers. Despite a lack of protection, none of the HIV-negative men reportedly contracted HIV. The HIV-positive men underwent antiretroviral therapy to suppress the AIDS virus, allowing them to engage in intercourse without transmitting the virus. HIV is a virus spread through bodily fluids that attacks the immune system, specifically CD4 cells, according to HIV.gov. Over time, the virus renders the body unable to fend off infections and disease. HIV is largely spread through sexual intercourse and shared syringe use. Mothers can, however, spread the virus to their babies by breast-feeding. The researchers followed the couples for eight years and found that no HIV-negative men contracted HIV from their partners taking antiretroviral drugs. The scientists estimate that the treatment prevented approximately 472 HIV transmissions over eight years, according to Reuters.…

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Second HIV-Positive Patient Reported Cured, Giving Hope That Disease Will Soon Be History

by Grace Carr   A second individual suffering from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) appears to have been cured, marking a major breakthrough in scientific advancement that could mean the elimination of the disease in the future. Twelve years after doctors cured an HIV-positive patient for the first time, a second patient appears to be in “long-term remission,” giving hope to those afflicted with the disease that a cure is no longer a pipe dream. The patient asked to remain anonymous and is referred to as the “London patient.” He received a bone-marrow transplant that appeared able to cure both his cancer and HIV. “I never thought that there would be a cure during my lifetime,” the patient told The New York Times. HIV is a virus spread through bodily fluids that attacks the immune system, specifically CD4 cells, according to HIV.gov. Over time, the virus renders the body unable to fend off infections and disease. HIV is largely spread through sexual intercourse and shared syringe use. Mothers can, however, spread the virus to their babies by breastfeeding. “This will inspire people that cure is not a dream,” virologist Annemarie Wensing told TheNYT. “It’s reachable.” Wensing heads a consortium of European…

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Senate DFL Introduces Slate of Identity Politics Bills, Seeks to Loosen Prevention of HIV in Blood Donations

The Minnesota State Senate plans to introduce 92 new pieces of legislation Monday, several of which are backed by the DFL, and focus on LGBT or race issues. Senate File (SF) 95, for instance, urges President Donald Trump and Congress to direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “revise its current blood or plasma donor deferral policy related to men who have had sex with a man and to women who have had sex with a man who has had sex with another man within the previous 12 months from the most recent contact.” The resolution, co-authored by five DFL senators, argues that the United States is “facing a critical shortage of blood donations,” which could be offset by revising an FDA donor deferral policy that “prohibits approximately 19 million American men and women from donating blood and plasma.” “Advances in HIV donor testing have reduced the risk of HIV transmission from blood transmissions to about one in 1.47 million transfusions,” the bill continues, calling for a revised policy “based on individual assessment of the risk posed by the donor.” SF 107, meanwhile, calls for the establishment of a “Council on LGBTQI Minnesotans,” which would consist of “two members…

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