“It’s not just about the meds”

From the Huffington Post…

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association reminds us that 12 U.S. states with some of the highest HIV incidence rates in the country still have not repealed their anti-sodomy laws, including Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Utah, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan and Idaho. That’s despite a 2003 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court declaring such laws unconstitutional.

Homophobia, racism, sexism, ageism, stigma and violence clearly contribute to the spread of HIV around the globe. Why get tested for HIV if you will be harmed because of your status? Why link to healthcare that may give you inadequate care or cause you harm? Why stay in care in a place that is hostile? How can you possibly remain 90 percent adherent to HIV meds if you have no place to live or store your medications, or a safe and confidential pharmacy to get them from? Why indeed. The HIV epidemic, no matter how close it comes to becoming a medicalized, chronic and manageable illness through the intervention of science will never come to an end unless these parallel social diseases are also defeated.

Read the full article here.