WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
BY CRISTINA GONZÁLEZ
Keeping people with HIV employed will boost the economy.
HIV-Related Discrimination in the Workplace
In the United States and abroad, a barrage of incidents reveals that HIV discrimination in the workplace remains rampant. Consider: ●
In Florida, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) refused an Air Force veteran a job because he was HIV positive. (The TSA has since reached an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union to review its job policies for job applicants with HIV.)
●
In Utah, a convenience store chain is paying damages after firing a clerk two weeks after learning he was HIV positive.
●
In Pennsylvania, a staffing firm violated federal law by withdrawing an offer of employment to a certified nursing assistant because he was HIV positive, even after a doctor cleared him to perform all job duties.
●
In Mexico, an HIV-positive man was forced to sign resignation papers after employers found out about his status.
●
In Swaziland, civil regulations ban pilots who have HIV or tuberculosis from flying planes from the only commercial airport in the town of Manzini.
What does this mean? A huge economic and social loss. If those of us living with a costly, chronic illness are forced into unemployment, we lose not only our health insurance, but also our ability to contribute (through taxes) to the welfare programs we’re being forced into. Discrimination is not only wrong, it also detracts from the bottom line for both people living with HIV—and the societies in which they live .
12 POZ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 poz.com
In response to a petition to legalize and regulate marijuana, the White House said there is yet no scientific data to support legalization and that pot does not yet meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicinal use. However, it seems Colorado didn’t get the memo. It became the first state in the nation to issue business licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries and the makers of marijuana-infused products. Now that’s what we call a Rocky Mountain high.
Disclosure May Not Keep You From Jail
A Minneapolis man was found guilty of transmitting HIV despite informing his partner he was positive. Say what? Disclosing your status to your partner and then engaging in consensual sex can still lead to jail time? Horrifyingly, yes. In this case, the Minnesota jury convicted the man on a statute that criminalizes the “transfer of blood and sperm… except as deemed necessary for medical research.” Our ruling: We need a massive overhaul of HIV criminalization laws.
(OUT OF WORK) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ANDREA ZANCHI; (JOINT) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/JEAN PHILIPPE COCHET
White House ‘Just Says No’ to Legal Pot
HOT DATES / February 7: National