If elected, Biden supports law amendments making it legal to spread HIV

Reporter : Zhou Zhen / Editor : Zhang Lili / https://www.soundofhope.org/post/459524 / Direct translation 

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden promised in his campaign to "promote the equality of LGBTQ people" and will revise and implement the "AIDS Exposure and Transmission Punishment Law" for decades. He believes that this law has no "scientific basis" and "stigmatizes AIDS patients."

Biden said that he supports the "Abolition of HIV Discrimination Act" proposed by U.S. Democratic Representative Barbara Lee (Barbara Lee). At present, in the 26 US states that have implemented punishment laws for the transmission of AIDS, the "blood, semen, and saliva" of people living with HIV are classified as "lethal weapons." But Lee’s bill states that HIV cannot be spread through saliva. This legislation will "modernize" AIDS-related laws and policies.

Biden said in his plan to improve LGBTQ policy, "These laws perpetuate discrimination and stigma against people with AIDS, and they have no ‘scientific basis’."

Lee’s bill requires Congress to implement new policies, requiring the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Defense to review state and federal laws, including military policies, and resolve regulations and criminal charges related to exposure or transmission of AIDS.

The bill believes that such policy updates need to take into account the scientific progress of antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of AIDS. These drugs can reduce the number of viruses in patients to an almost "undetectable level" and make the AIDS infection rate "close to zero." ". This is not considered in the current AIDS transmission penalty law. States such as California and Washington have passed legislation to reduce the transmission of HIV from felony charges to misdemeanor penalties.

Opponents of the new bill believe that mitigating penalties will increase the likelihood of HIV deliberately spreading from person to person. But supporters say that the revision of the law will reduce discrimination against people with AIDS.

According to NBC News, Biden has elected two lesbian officials to serve as his future government members, reflecting his commitment to support the LGBTQ community, including the former chief of office of Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Karine Jean-Pierre and former Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's assistant Pili Tobar. Pierre will serve as deputy secretary of the Department of Information, and Tobal will serve as deputy director of public relations at the White House.

Biden also appointed Pete Buttigieg as Minister of Transportation, the first openly homosexual in his cabinet. Richard Grenell, who served as President Trump’s Acting Director of National Intelligence from February to May this year, was the first openly gay person to serve in the Cabinet.

According to data from the CDC, currently 37 states in the United States have laws criminalizing the spread of AIDS.