Legalizing HIV Stigma:
The Hidden Impact of Anti-Gay Legislation

By: Stephen Lucin*

During the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia, a Nigerian man stands before a group of nearly 50 people and speaks about the decrease of stigma towards HIV positive populations in his country. Meanwhile, that very country has recently passed anti-gay laws that have subsequently had a negative effect for continued HIV treatment for HIV positive gay men. What is one left to think?

That’s exactly the question I posed to myself when I decided to leave the session entitled “Sexier Than You Think: HIV Policy, Regulation, Legislation” at this year’s International AIDS Conference. That, coupled along with a presentation on the Zambian law allowing men to marry their deceased brother’s wife, helped me to carry on with my day in other, more productive ways.

Nigeria passed the “Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill” in January 2014, which has subsequently led to abuses, discrimination and beatings of LGBT people in that country. It has also, similarly as is happening in Uganda, thrown many gay people into hiding. Consequently,that has also forced HIV positive people to go off of their medications because of a lack of access to them and fear of being labeled LGBT.

Oluwole Fajemisin gave his presentation entitled “Effects of anti-stigma legislation on the level of stigma directed towards persons living with HIV in Nigeria,” and noted that because of outreach to the various states throughout the country, stigma against people living with HIV had decreased. However, he made no mention of the impact on the LGBT Community or MSM (men who have sex with men). And that made me question the validity of his research; especially since online news reports suggest that in various states across Nigeria, the number of MSM who are made aware of HIV prevention or treatment has dropped from as little as 10 percent.

Through the sessions at this year’s AIDS 2014 conference, it’s apparent that HIV and LGBT criminalization laws across the globe need some serious overhauls if not complete overturning. And while the most shameful of all civil or common laws can be found in the developing world, there is still so much work to be done in developed countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia where there are many laws that, inconsistent with science and research, unfairly jail and/or sentence individuals who have caused no harm to society.

All researchers and legal experts point back to Former Justice of the High Court of Australia Michael Kirby’s statements that the democratic process must work for people and that science must inform law.

It’s clear that countries the world over must reassess their legal codes towards LGBT and HIV positive citizens, and to create fair and equal treatment for all people. If we can begin by enacting change in our own country, we can more firmly advocate change in countries abroad.
                  *This article was originally published 7/28/14, HIV Equal Online
                              http://www.hivequal.org/legalizing-hiv-stigma.html