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AIDS in America - Discrimination
Discrimination in the USA
Reasons for discrimination
Results of discrimination
Solutions to discrimination
Discrimination is something which happens all over
the world, and America is no exception. Since the beginning of the
epidemic, HIV+ people have experienced stigma, stereotyping, and
discrimination - sometimes leading to violence, always distressing.
In the early days of the epidemic, this discrimination occurred due
to the tendency of people to fear what they don't understand - and
there was a lack of understanding about what caused AIDS and how
people could become infected.
As early as 1983, police officers in San Francisco
wore special masks and gloves for use when dealing with a 'suspected
AIDS patient'. They were concerned that they could bring the bug
home and their whole family could get AIDS. At the same time
landlords evicted tenants who had AIDS, and in 1985 Ryan White, a
13-year old schoolboy who had become infected via a blood
transfusion, was banned from going to school, in case the other
children "might pick up AIDS".
A Florida family called the Rays had three sons who
were each HIV+, haemophiliacs who contracted the virus from infected
blood products. In 1986, the family were told that their sons were
not to attend the local school. They moved to Alabama, where the
same thing happened. The family began to be threatened, and
eventually the Rays' small single-storey house was doused with
gasoline and torched.
Such violence is clearly the result of an extreme
and unacceptable level of discrimination. The United States now has
legislation which makes it illegal to discriminate against someone
on the basis of their HIV status, and, as early as 1986 the
government made clear to employers that they would be prosecuted if
they discriminated against HIV+ people. In spite of this,
discrimination is something which still occurs today, and although
it may not involve physical violence, it can still have traumatic
consequences for HIV+ people.
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This sort of discrimination is often a result of
ignorance - the general public didn't understand about AIDS, didn't
know how it was transmitted, and that they weren't at risk from
everyday contact with infected people. Those in authority, those who
were seen as setting an example of how to behave, were just as
ignorant, and when the public saw police and school officials acting
in this way, alarm increased. Given that discrimination is often a
direct result of ignorance, this suggests that AIDS education was,
and maybe still is either not working, or not present at all.
America, however, started early in educating its
public about AIDS - the first national AIDS awareness campaign came
in 1986, and since then there have been more campaigns to educate
the general public and specific risk groups. Clearly, however, not
enough is being done, as discrimination continues. Issues
surrounding AIDS education in America are examined later in this
page.
Another reason for the discrimination experienced in
America by people who are HIV+ is the existing prejudices against
the most-affected groups. Long before AIDS was an issue, gay people,
injecting drug users, sex workers - all experienced considerable
hostility from society. AIDS, of course, has provided another excuse
for this prejudice. It seems that a large proportion of the American
public still associate HIV with injecting drug users and gay men,
and see it as something 'dirty', even as something which HIV+ people
'brought on themselves'. To some extent, this is exacerbated by HIV+
people themselves and by the media who talk about the 'innocent
victims' of the AIDS epidemic - meaning babies infected via
mother-to-child-transmission, or people infected by blood
transfusions. This concept of 'innocent victims' implies a concept
of 'guilty victims' - people who were infected via risky sexual
behaviour, or injecting drugs. Of course, no-one deserves to die for
taking drugs or having sex, but the terminology suggests otherwise.
In turn, this increases the stigma directed towards many HIV+
people, who are seen as being to blame for their infection
Aside from the distress it causes to those who
experience it, discrimination against HIV+ people has several other
negative consequences.
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In a situation where people who are HIV+ are
discriminated against, anyone who has a positive test result will be
very reluctant to 'come out' about their status. The more people who
are open about their HIV status, the more the general public will be
aware that there is an ongoing problem, that people do continue to
become infected, and that they need to protect themselves. They will
also be able to see that HIV+ people are not exclusively gay men or
drug users, which will itself help to fight prejudice. Furthermore,
if there are already plenty of people who are 'out' about their HIV
status, this makes it easier for someone new to 'come out'.
Another negative effect of social discrimination is
an increase in people's reluctance to learn their HIV status. People
generally don't want to join a group which is stigmatized. Of all
HIV infections diagnosed in 2002, 38% progressed to AIDS within 12
months after HIV infection was diagnosed25. This high percentage
suggests that many HIV+ Americans had been infected for a number of
years before they were tested - during which time they may have
infected other people. Reluctance to learn their status and thus
join a stigmatized group might explain this gap between infection
and testing.
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In the early days of the AIDS epidemic in America,
very few well-known people 'came out' as having AIDS. Since then,
some people have been open about their HIV status, something which
helped to show the public that the disease was something that could
happen to anyone, and that people with AIDS weren't necessarily gay
men or needle users. This helped to reduce the discrimination felt
by HIV+ people across America. Still, however, few straight people
have 'come out' as being HIV+, and there remains a lack of HIV+
'role models'.
Another solution to discrimination is to teach
people how they can protect themselves and how they can become
infected - so they know that there is no need to fear HIV+ people.
For this discrimination to be dissipated, however, an effective AIDS
education program is required.
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