POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => AIDS Activism => Topic started by: exbf on August 26, 2009, 10:33:49 am
-
I'm so happy about this news. Bec I can be finally re united with my wife in san francisco soon. I hope I can post this here.
http://phrblog.org/blog/2009/08/25/human-rights-victory-katheen-sebelius-to-end-the-hiv-travel-ban-calls-it-unfair-and-unsafe/
Human Rights Victory: Katheen Sebelius to End the HIV Travel Ban, Calls It “Unfair” and “Unsafe”
By Sarah Kalloch on August 25, 2009 Tweet this
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius promised to end the travel ban yesterday during her keynote address at the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference. She thanked the 21,000 people who submitted comments in support of lifting the ban — many of them PHR supporters — and said HHS is going through the comments now.
Check out Secretary Sebelius’ comments below — and know you were part of ending this discriminatory ban:
We know that HIV/AIDS stigma remains a huge problem with real repercussions in people’s lives. There are people who don’t get tested because they’re afraid they could get beaten up or lose their place to live if the test comes back positive. They don’t pick up a flyer about treatment because they’re afraid if they’re seen with it, someone will make a judgment about their sexual orientation or their drug use. Because we care about all of our friends, families, and neighbors, we need to send a message that HIV/AIDS may be a serious condition, but we have the knowledge and tools to help people live successfully with this condition.
Sometime later this year, we will strike a major blow against this stigma when we finally lift the rule -sometimes referred to as the “HIV entry ban”-that includes HIV on the list of diseases that can bar entry into this country. This change has been a long time coming.
The ban was not only unfair. It was also unsafe. The more accepted people with HIV/AIDS feel, the more open they are about their HIV status. The more open people can be about their HIV status, the more likely other people are to get tested. The more likely people are to get tested, the slower the spread of HIV. It’s a virtuous cycle and it starts with ending the stigma.
Read the rest of Sebelius' comments here : http://www.hhs.gov/secretary/speeches/sp20090824.html
-
Excellent. It's nice to see an administration behaving fairly and pragmatically as opposed to knee-jerk fear-mongering.
-
Its about Time!
-
Thank you finally some good news :). So many people will benfit from this ban being lifted.
-
Finally!
-
Finally!
One thing I still don't see is the date when this awful policy will effectively be repealed. A colleague of mine was just telling me 2 weeks ago about a friend in France who got denied an entry visa because of his status. He did not know his friend was positive before. This is proof enough that the previous policy (waiver-based) did not work.
-
Call me a cynic but I will believe it when it actually happens.
As far as I am concerned this onerous, disgusting, bigoted and ignorant ban ought to be have been lifted months ago. That it should never have happened at all is a separate issue.
There's nothing complicated about making this happen. And I'm not interested in being patient about the process.
So get it done and get it done quickly is what I say.
-
when the ban is lifted i'll have another reason NOT be embarrassed as a U.S. American (a good chunk of mortification left with the departure of bush and election of obama but we ain't there yet).
according to what i've read the series of bureaucratic steps required to legally rescind this awful law are near the end and the ban should be history before the close of 2009. to give credit where it is due president obama's predecessor began the process in 2007 (maybe 2008) and it's taken this long to jump through most of the hoops. why the step wasn't taken at the beginning of the former prez's first term is, to me, more pertinent than what obama can or cannot do now.
when the USA drops the HIV ban these stellar countries will be the last to continue enforcing stupid, useless, even harmful laws regarding poz travelers:
Armenia
Brunei
Colombia
Fiji
Iraq
Libya
Moldova
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Sudan
fortunately not one is on my list of travel destinations. i've also instructed my cocaine suppliers to immediately cease commerce with colombia.
-
i've also instructed my cocaine suppliers to immediately cease commerce with colombia.
Bad joke !