ACLU Jumps to the Defense of Prostitutes Who Knowingly Spread HIV, Arguing That Tennessee Law ‘Unfairly Targets Black and Transgender Women’
The ACLU’s challenge to the law comes in the wake of recent efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discourage the criminalization of HIV/AIDS concealment.
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with the Transgender Law Clinic, says it is “suing Tennessee” for seeking to punish prostitutes who knowingly spread HIV/AIDS. “This law is unconstitutional and disproportionately affects Black and transgender women,” the ACLU claims.
The law, which has been on the books in the Volunteer State since 1991, upgrades the crime of prostitution to a “violent sexual offense” from a misdemeanor and requires lifetime sex offender registration should prostitutes ply their trade while knowing they are HIV-positive. Thirty-four other states have similar measures in place to criminalize knowingly concealing a positive HIV/AIDS diagnosis from a sexual partner.
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