Ignorance: A Shocking Reminder (on HIV criminalization)
Editors' Note: Guest blogger Todd Heywood is a professional journalist for the Michigan Messenger.
heywood.JPGAs a reporter, I have spent a lot of time writing about HIV-specific criminal laws and their impact not only on those who are accused of violating them, but of the wider impact on HIV as an epidemic.
I have reported on the case of Michael Holder, a straight black man who was convicted in 2000 of failing to disclose his status to his white female partner. She recanted her testimony during trial, admitting that she knew he was HIV-positive, but a jury which included four members with blatantly racist attitudes convicted him.
I broke the story about the unprecedented bio-terrorism charges against a black gay man in the Detroit area. The man was charged with bio-terrorism for allegedly biting a neighbor during a brutal gay bashing incident.
So when the Jan. 20 post by John Aravosis supporting the hanging of a man convicted of failing to disclose his infection came across my inbox, it was a shocking reminder about how much work is left to do in relation to HIV and criminalization.
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