Advocacy: Letter to Hakeem Jeffries

To Hakeem Jeffries, 

United States Representative of New York’s 8th congressional district

Dear congressman Hakeem Jeffries,

 

            As your constituent, I seek to support efforts to end HIV stigma and criminalization and boost the well-being of young people living with and impacted by HIV in the U.S. Can you co-sponsor the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act (H.R. 1305 in the 117th Congress)?

            Thirty-four states penalize young people living with HIV (YPLHIV) for perceived HIV exposure, nondisclosure of HIV-positive status, and non-intentional transmission. Spitting by young people living with HIV is considered a criminal act and they receive stern punishment. It is unjust to these young people that when they commit these crimes, they receive severe punishment compared to crimes committed by other persons who are not living with HIV. Several states criminalize acts like oral sex or spitting that have been classified as “negligible and low risk” by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meaning that they are very unlikely to transmit HIV. Mississippi is one of the ten states that criminalize biting, spitting, or throwing bodily fluids by people living with HIV.  Even though HIV cannot be transmitted through saliva but by semen, blood transfusion, or coming into contact with blood infected with HIV, among others.

            The United Nations released a report showing that prosecution of children that violates HIV criminal laws is higher in the U.S. than in any other part of the world, and this shows why The REPEAL Act needs to be supported.

            The REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act works to eliminate the harmful consequences of dangerous and stigmatizing laws. Young people living with HIV should be shielded from further discrimination that the virus has inflicted on them. I believe that people like myself living with HIV have a right to treatment and healthcare, a right to education, and the right to live free from oppression, stigma, and criminalization. 

            This Act will enable persons living with HIV to lead an everyday life. According to Anderson et al. (2020, p.90), HIV stigma poses a danger to the quality of life that these children live; even though there is improvement in healthcare, policies that safeguard them need to be addressed. Then young people living with and affected by HIV can live a more fulfilling life.

I look forward to your response.

 

Best regards,

Linden Isles