Under an agreement just signed between the European Union and the United States, airlines must provide personal information on passengers traveling to the U.S. from Europe, including details about their race, religion, political affiliations, sexual orientation and health. The argument is that the September 11 attacks could have been prevented if such a system had been in place.
What does this mean for people living with HIV? The 1993 U.S. HIV travel ban already requires passengers entering the country to disclose their HIV status, so advocates are more concerned about the requirements on disclosing sexual orientation and other details of their personal lives.
“They’re maintaining that this is about counterterrorism, but they’re certainly not explaining why these specific categories are necessary to move toward that stated goal,” says Nancy Ordover, Assistant Director for Research and Federal Affairs at the New York-based Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC). “How is someone’s sex life related to counterterrorism? Obviously there’s something else going on here.”
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
