Culture

Illinois Becomes First State in 27 Years to Fully Decriminalize HIV Transmission


 

Illinois just became just the second state in U.S. history to fully repeal its outdated laws criminalizing HIV transmission.

On Wednesday, Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 655, which removes all mention of HIV from the Illinois Criminal Code. Under the Illinois Criminal Transmission of HIV statute, people living with HIV faced a Class 2 felony or having unprotected sex with a partner without previously disclosing their status. That charge could result in a sentence of up to seven years in prison or a $25,000 fine.

SB 655 sailed through the Illinois House of Representatives in April with near-unanimity — passing on a 90-9 vote — before being approved by the State Senate the following month, largely along party lines. Upon signing the legislation into law, Pritzker claimed the criminal codes targeting HIV are “archaic.”

“Research has shown these laws don’t decrease infection rates, but they do increase stigma,” he said in comments cited by local news site Block Club Chicago. “It’s high time we treat HIV as we do other treatable, transmissible diseases.”

The enactment of SB 655 makes Illinois the first state in 27 years to fully strike its laws criminalizing HIV transmission from the books, according to NPR. The first and only other state to do so was Texas in 1994. States like California, Nevada, and Virginia have repealed their own felony statues in recent years, but replaced them with criminal codes prosecuting nondisclosure of HIV status as a misdemeanor.

Even incremental changes have been hailed by LGBTQ+ advocates as necessary progress, but activists say the fact remains that targeting people living with HIV does nothing to stop the virus’ spread.

“Not a single study shows that HIV criminalization has led to reduced HIV transmission,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois said in a statement. “HIV criminalization is ineffective and dangerous because it discourages testing, treatment, and disclosure — all of which are key to preventing the spread of HIV and ending the epidemic.”

These laws make people living with HIV vulnerable to “blackmail and coercion” are disproportionately used to target “LGBTQ+ people, women, and Black and Brown communities,” the pro-LGBTQ+ legal advocacy group added.

Recent research has backed up the claim that HIV criminalization primarily affects marginalized communities that are already overpoliced. A June report from Injustice Watch found that 75% of individuals charged under the Illinois Criminal Transmission of HIV statute — which dates back to the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1989 — are Black. Two-thirds are Black men, although the study does not specify the individuals’ gender identity or sexual orientation.

One of the more objectionable aspects of the law, according to critics, is that a person living with HIV did not need to actually transmit the virus to a sexual partner to face prosecution. Merely the threat of transmission was enough to be prosecuted under the law, and defending oneself against a charge of HIV exposure was reportedly a next-to-impossible task.

“The law’s only affirmative defense was the disclosure of one’s HIV status —proof of which is often difficult to obtain without witnesses or documentation,” noted the legal advocacy group Center for HIV Law and Policy.

At least 22 individuals have been charged under the statute, according to the Chicago Tribune. It’s unclear how many were convicted.

LGBTQ+ advocates thanked Pritzker for signing the repeal bill into law following years of advocacy on the part of organizations like the AIDS Foundation Chicago and The Illinois HIV Action Alliance, which spearheaded the passage of SB 655.



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