The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued the state of Tennessee over its decades-old felony aggravated prostitution law, arguing that it illegally imposes tougher criminal penalties on people who are HIV positive.
The lawsuit, filed in western Tennessee, follows an investigation completed in December by the Justice Department that warned that the statute violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case heads to court separately from another federal lawsuit filed in October by LGBTQ+ and civil rights advocates over the aggravated prostitution law.
Tennessee is the only state in the United States that imposes a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” if convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV, regardless of whether the person knew they could transmit the disease.
Do you not trust that the restaurant is cleaning properly and using safe ingredients, that some nutcase hasn’t poisoned the food to murder people, etc?
There’s already so much blind trust we have to place in society for things to function and not kill people, what’s one more.
So you are advocating that it’s ok for unnecessary risks to be taken by others in regards to your health because “what’s one more?” Your the kind of person that doesn’t secure the ladder brace before you climb it, aren’t you? Keep on keeping on, rebel.
I’m saying risks happen all the time, that alone is not cause to discriminate against someone who doesn’t pose a risk due to treatment.
In my country it is not illegal for HIV positive people to be sex workeds, nor do they have to disclose their status. There is not an epidemic of HIV being spread, in fact STIs are lower among sex workers than the general population so you’re safer with them.
There doesn’t have to be an epidemic. There just has to be one case. Ever. One time where another human life is ruined by a sex worker with a deadly virus. Do you not agree? Want to put a number to it? How many people have to die so sex workers with HIV can fuck indiscriminately? Do we even need one? Or can we preempt the misery and just say, “hey, be a decent human and don’t kill other people.” I’m glad your country doesn’t give a shit about people with HIV selling their disease on the street. Good for wherever you live, I hope it works out. Personally, I’d prefer safeguards against that shit. Fuck whoever you want to fuck, but if you are selling it, certain safeguards for health need to be observed.
To use your previous example, there’s been a nonzero number of people working in food service while having communicable diseases and getting people sick, but nobody has made a big deal out of that.
There are safeguards, it’s called a decent healthcare system.
This isn’t the 80s, you can drop the AIDS panic.
I’m sorry, what?
A decent healthcare system doesn’t mean shit if you don’t require people with a deadly disease to tell people THEY HAVE A DEADLY DISEASE. Sure, you can help those infected to live better lives, but they would be living much better ones if the prostitute had told them they have HIV so they could make an informed decision not to fuck someone who could kill them. Do you even read what you write? How can you even begin to justify that logic? That’s some sociopathic shit. Again, I’m not trying to say people with HIV shouldn’t be allowed to have sex. Go for it. But informed consent is a big deal.
Mate you’re more likely to die from a car than you are HIV. It’s not the death sentence you think it is.
If you’re so worried about it, don’t sleep with a sex worker. It’s not a big deal and doesn’t cause these huge issues you think it does.
Frankly I’m going to trust expert opinions on the issue over uninformed fear mongering comments.
Yeah, but a car is a necessary evil in today’s world. Fucking a sex worker who doesn’t disclose their list of deadly diseases isn’t. If you don’t care about it, great, I’m happy for you, but maybe think about others who may not be so comfortable with the idea. Maybe everyone doesn’t share the same joie de vivre as you with regards to completely avoidable lifelong disease. So, how about you be a team player and agree that regulations on informed consent of HIV infected sex workers is a pretty low bar to clear for a better world.
If they’re uncomfortable with the idea, they can not do it. Hiring a sex worker is not a necessity in today’s world, nor has it ever been one.
The risk is so low it’s insignificant to worry about, the risk of affecting someones livelihood from denying them work is higher. How about you be a team player and realise not having regulations discriminating against people with an illness that with treatment is non-transmissible is a pretty low bar to clear for a better world. And instead channel your anger into why your healthcare system doesn’t provide this easy solution to the issue for your fellow citizens.