It used to be that in most cases being HIV positive led to dying from an AIDS related illness. People with HIV or AIDS were treated as pariahs with some legislators calling for those infected with the virus to be removed from society and kept imprisoned in quarantine facilities. The hysteria surrounding HIV/AIDS in the 1980’s -1900’s can be likened to the reaction to Ebola patients of this decade.
While the American government ignored the crisis surrounding the so-called “gay men’s disease,” grassroots AIDS activists lead the charge to educate the public on HIV prevention and to end the demonization of people infected with HIV/AIDS.
Medicines were finally developed that helped HIV positive people live longer and a new generation of medicine helped to destroy the virus to an undetectable level. Some would say that America has come a long way in its attitude toward people with HIV. Others would argue that is not the case.
A September 25 Truthout article reveals how people with HIV, especially if they are black, are being be incarcerated for decades under laws that were written during the time when hysteria and ignorance concerning HIV/AIDS prevailed.
Read HIV Is Not a Murder Weapon: Racism and the Criminalization of AIDS.
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