Comments on: Maryland Senator introduces bill to classify HIV transmission as felony

By: Justin B Terry-Smith

Justin B Terry-Smith — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:10:01 +0000

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.

I have a video response to this ignorant bill
[URL removed]

Mr. Justin B. Terry-Smith
Author of children’s HIV book “I Have A Secret”
Creator of Justin’s HIV Journal
[URL removed]

By: Justin B Terry-Smith

Justin B Terry-Smith — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:23:49 +0000

Excuse the hell out of me WTF

By: James Ozmun

James Ozmun — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:18:05 +0000

Thank you,
James Ozmun / homosexual / HIV+ / human being / Chattanooga,Tennessee

By: James Ozmun

James Ozmun — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:16:25 +0000

Dear Senator Norman Stone jr; I find myself wondering whose back, in Tennessee, might you be scratching? There seems to be a discriminatory cycle starting to occur between Tennessee and Indianna that is targeting the LGBT community and now the HIV/AIDS community. How can any (of you) politicians in the Appalachian Region presume such absurdity will ever be merited with logic or a reasonable noesis? Personally I believe the entire proposal is, with great stride, an effort to further perpetuate the stigma that has been attached to the HIV/AIDS epidemic for the last 30 years. Senator Stone, the Appalchian Region is a product of the Paleozoic era, dating as far back as 544 million years; we sir are in the 21st century A.D. – I truly hope my flippant remark(s) have been taken into consideration because, Senator Stone jr., your proposal is flawed beyond belief.

By: laurelboy2

laurelboy2 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:01:56 +0000

Thanks for pointing out (and early on) that Stone is a democrat. But, I don’t understand your concluding sentence: “…36 U.S. states and territories have HIV-specific statutes, which are often used to criminalize behavior like spitting and biting 25% of the time…” So, in some of those states/territories, a positive person would violate statute if s/he spits or bites 25% of the time? That’s the way it literally reads to me…

By: Maryland introduces bill to make HIV transmission a felony #HIV #AIDS | Sayen CroWolf

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:44:17 +0000

[...] sure this one is going to get plenty of people up in arms over the next few [...]