Justin's HIV Journal: HIV Criminalization Comes To MARYLAND!!!......Wait I'm HIV+ and I'm from MD

Maryland's oldest and longest serving Senator Norman Stone (Democrat from Baltimore County) proposed the bill (Senate Bill 60) to raise the transmission of HIV from a Misdemeanor to a Felony charge. The bill currently has no co-sponsor in the Senate. Currently along with 34 other states and 2 territories, Maryland does have laws in place that criminalize the transmission of HIV through sharing needles & sex. Some states have even harsher guidelines such Iowa in which HIV positive Iowans have been imprisoned for having protected sex. In Iowa a HIV positive man was jailed for 25 years even though he was having protected sex with an undetectable viral load. In Texas a HIV positive man was jailed for 35 years for spitting on a police officer. Yes that is a nasty offense but we know that one must consume a gallon of saliva to transmit the virus. Knowing this; conviction measures in the future could even be taken for someone who is HIV positive to kiss someone else. In both of these cases there was NO TRANSMISSION OF HIV NOTED. Across the country there have been least 125 individuals persecuted since 2008. All of them were HIV positive gay, straight, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, men and women. BILL DETAILS:There are two bills that would classify transferring the HIV virus to another individual as a felony in Maryland, one bill has already been introduced in the Maryland Assembly. These bills would increase the fine from the previous amount of $2,500.00 to a heftier fine of $10,000.00 and also jail time for the crime would be from 3 years to a longer time of 25 years imprisonment. MY OPINION:If this bill goes through than it might come back and bite the originator in the @$$. I cannot believe this. This bill will have to be written very carefully. This is the time of HIV & EVERYONE has the responsibility to protect themselves. People who do not want to put them self at risk needs to use protective measures to not be infected with HIV. We should all know that if you have sex without a condom you not only put yourself at risk for HIV but for Hepatitis, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and other STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections). This bill also removes accountability on both parties. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
In the case of rape then there should be a punishment, because rape is rape and no means no. Also if someone knows they are HIV positive and they are not disclosing to their wife, husband or partner than something needs to be done. A friend of mine Mindy summed it up perfectly, "If this bill passed, the police could treat people with a chronic disease as dangerous threats to society. The bill does not address a continuing public health crisis. Instead, it perpetuates stigmatization of HIV+ people. In fact, it violates several international human rights conventions and declarations." We as Marylanders should be focused on prevention and education and not criminalization. This is not right. I wish this Senator would understand that even putting this bill in front of the Maryland General Assembly is in itself ludicrous. Look at this bill, it's very vague and if put into law it will clearly label all of us as criminals before we have done anything and even if we were planning on causing bodily harm or not. This is just so wrong, I personally feel that if this bill is passed arrest will go up and what is important like education and prevention or even harm reduction will go out the window. Also the real enemy is HIV, how do you expect people to disclose their status if they will be tried and convicted for it? How can you expect anyone to be able to tell someone they're dating that they have HIV if they don't want the police called on them? How do you expect people to be comfortable about being HIV positive themselves if they are branded as criminals? How do you expect stigma and shame to be overcome when self esteem will be hindered if this bill is passed? This bill could jail a HIV positive person for having protected sex with anyone. I can't believe that this bill is even being proposed this is not where our energy needs to be. Proposed Bill: http://mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/bills/sb/sb0060f.pdf THIS IS LAW IN WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

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[leodjoneluv]

i believe they should hang people who pass the disease knowingly. Im a black man but I hate niggas. A lot of blacks pass diseases to people who trust or love them. Down low brothers bring it home to their wives.

[0305trailblazer]

Hmmm....sound like more will get infected.

The downlow to.... the EXTreme downlow ....to the super extreme down low with throw away phones.

[KhagarBalugrak]

Actually, this bill wouldn't make people reluctant to disclose their status. Actually, being HIV positive doesn't mean you'd go to jail automatically if this bill is passed. This bill ONLY criminalizes HIV positive people who have sex with HIV negative people. That's all. If you keep your dick in your pants and not put other people in danger of HIV infection, you won't go to jail. Sounds fair to me.

[KhagarBalugrak]

What you're doing is very immoral.  Have you had sex with HIV negative people, or random strangers? If so, you should be in jail.

[KhagarBalugrak]

What I see is that all you HIV positive bloggers are just operating in an echo chamber. You guys are supporting things that benefit you somewhat but put the rest of society in great danger. This is just like all the other selfish special interest groups, like the oil companies that want to prevent renewable energy technologies from becoming popular, despite the fact that that's our only hope of saving the planet from ecological destruction.

[KhagarBalugrak]

In effect, what you're suggesting is that HIV positive people should be allowed to fuck other people unprotected, not tell the people they're fucking about their status, with only a minor punishment. Anyone who knowingly and willingly puts someone in danger of being infected with HIV should go to jail for a very, very long time. The only exception should be for psychologically disturbed people who have a poor connection to reality (schizophrenics, etc.).

[KhagarBalugrak]

And you bring up that we're all susceptible. And that we all need to be responsible. How does your refusal to make responsible sexual choices concerning HIV into laws encouraging responsibility? You're defending your "right" to be irresponsible and pushing responsibility onto others, when in fact any stranger you meet does not know you have HIV to begin with. That's hypocrisy at it's finest.

[KhagarBalugrak]

However, if you didn't know you were positive, then there should be no penalty.

[KhagarBalugrak]

Of course it's right that if you have sex with someone, even with protection, and you don't tell them that you're HIV positive, that you would be punished. If you did that to me (if I was gay or bi) I'd want you locked up for life.

[KhagarBalugrak]

HIV criminalization is a wonderful thing. The last thing we need is people spreading HIV. It is morally wrong to have sex with people if you're HIV positive, because no amount of protection can guarantee that it won't be transmitted. The exception to this should be if an HIV positive person has sex with another HIV positive person. But any action that results in the transmission of HIV by people who know they are infected should be punished.