This is so frustrating and disappointing.
AFter the end of a four year relationship, one of the men found out the other had HIV — and that he knew the whole time, without telling him.
Luckily in Florida there’s a law against that and the former boyfriend was arrested. Unluckily, the court ruled that it’s only a crime when it’s between a man and a woman!
That means the law doesn’t apply to those most at risk: gay and bisexual men.
In 2006, men who had relations with other men made up 53 percent of new HIV infections in the United States, according to the federal government.
So the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office said it had no choice but to drop the charge this week.
“The facts as we believe them to be have not changed,” said Assistant State Attorney Kendall Davidson. “It’s the construction of the statute that caused us to drop our case.
“The statue is still valid. But it doesn’t protect everybody.”
Terrible. This should be changed.
WE hate hearing of cases where gay and bisexual people are not protected under the law — be it intentional, or due to outdated wording — because everyone should have the same rights under the law, and follow the same set of rules!
What makes this extra hard is that it doesn’t cover the statistic above — 53% of new HIV infections. Shame.
We hope somehow this can be corrected, and things can be made right for this man.
[Image via AP Images.]