The push to criminalize HIV started in the 1980s, after unconfirmed reports that a French-Canadian flight attendant, Gaetan Dugas, purposely and knowingly infected gay and bisexual men with what was then called the “gay cancer” or the “gay plague.” There have been other similar stories among the sex work community. There were unconfirmed reports of full service sex workers also purposely having unprotected sex with clients.

These stories and others pushed state governments to pass laws that essentially criminalized HIV in a way that no other disease has been criminalized. People will point to HIV’s incurable status and the fact that it costs tens of thousands of dollars to treat it as the reason why people with HIV need to be punished so severely. However, there are other viruses that are permanent and can cause fatal disease. Hepatitis C virus — though curable — can cause liver failure and liver cancer, which can cause people to die.

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has strains that do not go away and can cause oral, anal and sexual organ cancers, which people die from. Even the SARS-CoV-2 virus — the virus that causes COVID-19 — can cause permanent lung damage or lung failure; it killed more people in its first year than even HIV did.

Should people disclose their HIV status if asked? That requires much thought on the part of the HIV- positive person. Even now, more than 40 years after its discovery, people with HIV are mistreated, brutalized and discriminated against due to their seroconversion status. To disclose this is a highly personal thing.