Spring 2024

The Health Not Prisons Collective is an intersectional national initiative launched in 2020 by Counter Narrative Project (CNP), Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN), Sero Project, Transgender Law Center (TLC), and the U.S. Caucus of People Living with HIV (the HIV Caucus) — longtime collaborators led by, and accountable to, communities most affected by HIV criminalization in the United States.

The Health Not Prisons Dispatch is a quarterly bulletin highlighting recent developments relevant to criminalization and policing of people living with HIV in the United States, along with upcoming events, relevant resources, and opportunities to get involved. For more information, email Elena Ferguson at hnp(at)pwn-usa.org.

Collective Updates

HNP had a strong presence at AIDS Watch,  the largest, nationwide annual HIV advocacy event in the country.  HNP partner organizations, including the Caucus, PWN, Sero and TLC, facilitated a number of discussions on the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV (MIPA), HIV criminalization, HIV and aging, and more.  The Caucus hosted its annual reception, where several people living with HIV were honored, including TLC’s very own Tiommi Luckett!

HNP Partner Organization Spotlight

This quarter’s collective partner spotlight is on The Sero Project! February 28th marked the 3rd annual HIV is Not a Crime (HINAC) Awareness Day (HINAC) and the first time that the awareness day was recognized as a global awareness day! HINAC Awareness Day was created by the Sero Project in collaboration with the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and serves as an opportunity to amplify the voices of those who have been criminalized based on their HIV status. This year, The Sero Project was able to provide 8 $500 micro-grants to organizations and individuals to host HINAC Day events. The HNP Collective also hosted a Founder’s Panel in recognition of HINAC Day. 

National Updates

On Monday, April 8, 2024, the Chair of the White House Domestic Policy Council announced the appointment of Francisco Ruiz as Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP).  The Health Not Prisons Collective warmly welcomes Director Ruiz to the position and looks forward to working with him and ONAP to end the criminalization of people living with HIV in the U.S. 

The March 2024 President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) meeting, was hosted in Houston, TX, one of the Collective’s priority states.  There was strong in-person attendance from HNP Partner organizations, including the Caucus, TLC, PWN as well as the Collective’s coalition partner, the Texas Strike Force. 

In February 2024, The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)’s released updated guidance on the controversial practice known as molecular HIV surveillance and cluster detection and response (MHS/CDR). There are many concerns about MHS/CDR, including the very real danger the molecular HIV surveillance data, which public health officials  collect and store without the consent of people living with HIV, could be weaponized against people living with HIV in a criminal prosecution. Many experts within the HIV movement have argued that these new guidelines did not go far enough to protect the human rights, health information and privacy of people living with HIV. To learn more about the new guidelines, check out the HIV Justice Network’s coverage. 

In March 2024,  the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated their guidance on recommended infant feeding practices for parents living with HIV. The updated guidelines reverse prior guidance and instead instruct pediatric care providers to offer a "family-centered, nonjudgmental, harm reduction approach." The bodily autonomy of parents living with HIV who want breast/chestfeed should always be respected and supported. These new guidelines follow updates to the Infant Feeding for Individuals with HIV in the United States section in the Perinatal HIV Clinical Guidelines, issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).   

Decriminalization Efforts at the State Level

Legislative Session Recap

*Disclaimer: HNP staff tries to monitor relevant legislation related to HIV and sex work decriminalization, but unfortunately we can’t keep track of every important piece of policy. Did we miss a decriminalization bill that you worked on? If so, please email the editor of the HNP Dispatch, Elena Ferguson (she/her) at Elena(at)pwn-usa.org.

As legislative sessions across the country come to a close, let’s take a look back at the efforts to pass HIV modernization or total repeal bills and bills that aimed to further criminalize people living with HIV and sex workers. 

Other State Updates

Shelby County, Tennessee – home to the city of Memphis and the driver of most of the state’s  HIV convictions – has agreed to stop prosecuting people living with HIV under the state’s “aggravated prostitution” law. Tennessee’s “aggravated prostitution” law is a clear example of how discriminatory, counterproductive, and anti-Black HIV criminalization is.  As of March 2024, Senate Bill 0181 has been signed by the Governor and  removes aggravated prostitution as a registerable sexual offense and as a registerable violent sexual offense, but does not totally repeal the law.  The challenging of Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution law has been 2 years in the making. To learn more about the journey to this settlement and the background on the aggravated prostitution law, check out the Center for HIV Law & Policy’s coverage and the ACLU’s fact sheet. 

The Collective salutes the work of the Center for HIV Law and Policy, the attorneys at the DOJ, the Tennessee HIV Modernization Coalition, and all of the people living with HIV who continue to fight for the rights and dignity of Tennesseans living with HIV. . 

The Williams Institute has been instrumental in providing comprehensive research around HIV criminalization across the country. Check out their latest reports on the enforcement of HIV criminalization laws and anti-trans legislation

HNP Advocates' Corner

Welcome to a new section of the HNP Dispatch! For those readers who’ve followed the Collective for a while, you’ll know that we have an HNP Advocates Project. This section of the newsletter will highlight the achievements and activities of our current HNP Advocate cohort.  

Our HNP Advocates have been showing up and speaking out during the 2023-2024 legislative sessions across the country! Our Tennessee advocate, Lashanda Salinas testified in front of the Criminal Justice Committee in support of the HIV decriminalization bill, HB 1302. Our Louisiana Advocate Baile Martin testified at the Louisiana Task Force to Study HIV Criminalization’s meeting, encouraging the task force to recommend that the legislature revise its HIV criminalization law. Our Pennsylvania Advocate, Kenya Moussa spoke at a press conference at the Pennsylvania State Capitol with lawmakers introducing HB 2171, a new HIV decriminalization bill. We salute our advocates for sharing their stories and educating lawmakers about the dangers of HIV  criminalization. 

The HNP Collective is delighted to share that we have a new HNP Advocate for Mississippi, Valerie Pinkston. Valerie will be stepping into this new role after the passing of our first HNP Advocate for Mississippi, Rymsky Evans. Congrats Valerie and welcome to HNP! 

Global News

In early April, the Ugandan Supreme court endorsed the nation’s 2023 “Kill the Gays” law. The 2023 law prescribes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people living with HIV, as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people. In doing so, they drew inspiration from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning its previous Roe v. Wade ruling that had established abortion rights. While most of the law was upheld by the Ugandan Supreme Court, some particularly egregious provisions were struck down by the court. Specifically, a section that would’ve proscribed the death penalty for someone living with HIV engaged in sex with someone of their same gender and where HIV was allegedly transmitted. To learn more about the court case, You can read more in Erasing 76 Crimes here.  

In early January, The Congress of Mexico City completely repealed the crime of "danger of contagion" from the Penal Code. Prior to repeal,  this offense was punishable by up to 10 years in prison regardless of if HIV was actually transmitted. To learn more about this historic decision, check out the latest in El Universal.  

Resources from the Field

Watch/Listen

  • To learn more about the ways that the surveillance of people living with HIV and folks seeking reproductive healthcare are connected, check out this webinar, entitled  “Watching the Watcher: Intersections of surveillance and criminalization in HIV and reproductive health care.” This webinar was co-sponsored by Positive Women’s Network-USA and The Choice Agenda

  • Sex work is work! To learn more about why sex work must be decriminalized and destigmatized, listen to the latest podcast episode from The Amendment, brought to you by The 19th News. 

Read

  • As we continue to raise awareness about HIV criminalization, we must not forget to examine one of HIV criminalization’s most insidious consequences in certain states, the requirement to register on the sex offender registry. To learn more about 2 longtime advocates living with HIV, Lashanda Salinas and Robert Suttle,  who are deeply connected to the work of HNP and who have both experienced being on the registry, check out the latest conversation with PWN Co-Executive Director, Marnina Miller,  in The Body as well as a recording of the interview.

  • As the genocide in Gaza continues, people and groups in the HIV movement are drawing important connections between our struggles for HIV justice, Palestinian liberation, Black liberation and reproductive justice, including fighting for more visibility for the needs of people living with HIV in Palestine pregnant people, people who menstruate, new parents, and queer Palestinians.

  • To learn more about the ways that the genocide in Gaza is a reproductive justice issue, check out the new blog post written by If/When/How Reproductive Justice Fellows, Maya Arigala and Deepali Gill, entitled, “Palestinian Liberation is Reproductive Justice, Period.” Free Palestine 🍉