Does HIV Make You a Criminal?

Every now and then there is a media storm about HIV+ people putting their sexual partners "at risk". Some countries go so far as to make it a special criminal offence all by itself.

We're lucky here in New Zealand. At the moment, so long as you have "taken all reasonable precautions", and that means making sure you use condoms and lube when fucking, you haven't broken any laws. You don't have to tell your partner whether you're HIV neg or poz, and that's good.

If you're HIV+, you can have sex without telling your partner, but you have to use condoms and lube - if you don't do that, then you are legally in the wrong, and that makes sense. If you tell your partner about your status, and have bareback sex, then it gets tricky. How do you prove that you told your partner? It might all be fine while you're happy together, but if you have a nasty breakup, it could be used against you, but it's a very hard one to prove, and generally the police don't want to touch these sorts of personal accusations.

By focusing on getting us all to take responsibility for using condoms and lube, we actually can control the spread of the virus. You just can't tell by looking at someone if they have HIV, and heaps of positive people find it really hard to talk about easily. Say you hook up with some hot guy online or at a bar, why should you expect him to tell you his HIV status if you're only going to see each other once for a few hours? What if he is poz but doesn't know? If everyone uses condoms and lube though, the chance of getting infected is just about zero.

This is another really good reason to get tested, and if you're sexually active, get it done regularly. If you know your status, especially if you know that you're HIV+, you're much more likely to protect your partner. HIV+ people usually do not want to pass it on to anyone. Some guys think that anyone with HIV should have to tell others before they have sex. Some HIV+ guys do this automatically, but not all of them do, and they don't have to. There are a lot of guys out there on the scene who simply do not know that have it, so assume nothing, and look after yourself.

Living with HIV, and having sex with HIV, is not a crime, and shouldn't be seen as one. People with HIV are ordinary humans, just like anyone else, and have all the same rights and responsibilities. The stigma around having the virus is still very strong, and one of the things that makes it so hard for poz people to actually tell others.

Every few years there is a case that grabs the headlines here - the Glenn Mills case here in NZ was the last one. There is obviously a difference between someone who deliberately sets out to infect people, as he did, and those who are HIV+ and being responsible about what they do. But we didn't need any special laws that target HIV to prosecute him, and we wouldn't in future either. There are already laws that cover the deliberate and malicious infliction of harm on others; HIV doesn't need a law of its own.

So here in New Zealand, we're lucky. In general, the courts and the cops take a reasonable line about it all. If you live in the USA though, it's a very different matter. Have a look at this video from Sean Strub, a well-known HIV+ activist in the USA. It's frightening.