Fort Myers man arrested, accused of knowingly spreading HIV

[intaglio]

Here is the link.

This is why many people still wont get tested, at least from my personal, anecdotal experience. I've been told time and again, if there's no record of them being HIV+, they cannot be held criminally accountable for spreading HIV. No amount of reasoning seems to change their minds.

[wolfter]

OH NO, another criminalization thread.    

[intaglio]

Sorry, Wolfter.

If there's a better place for this, then maybe the mods can move it there.

[wolfter]

Sorry, Wolfter.

If there's a better place for this, then maybe the mods can move it there.

Not that, I've just seen how heated these types of threads get.  Brings about lots of passion and opinions.

[tednlou2]

I posted about it, and it got zero replies.  I actually felt better about that, than having it turn into arguments--not saying it would.  My issue was how he was charged with transmitting the virus, when that could not be known, at this point.

[mecch]

I encourage people to read the linked article. Its very brief. And each sentence speaks volumes about a different issue involved. 

Maybe we can play a word association game.  What single words come to mind when you read this article about these people (+ state law) and their actions and words, their ignorance, and humanity.

dire
desperate
sad
ordinary
unfortunate
selfish
banal
human

[mecch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PioTMe1pNls

cleans and dirtys

[intaglio]

The comments on the piece were few, but all over the place, too. To one commenter, the accused was a careful partner and open about his status. To another, he was guilty of what he was accused.

Stories like this hit a nerve with me long before I became HIV+. I've seen that criminalizing transmission does nothing but make the spreading of HIV worse.

The fix involves people being levelheaded and logical about HIV and its impact. Somehow, I don't visualize Florida when I think of logical and levelheaded.