Imagine your next door neighbor calls to invite you to a dinner party. The date and time work for you, and you enjoy your neighbor’s company, so you say yes. As the neighbor ends the call, she says, “Oh, I’m going to seat Jack next to you. He has coronavirus. Is that okay?” What would...Read More
HIV criminalization is a complex issue. In the time when many of the laws concerning HIV were first established, there was widespread public fear about HIV and AIDS along with significant bias against members of the LGBTQ community who were severely impacted by the epidemic. The combination of that fear and prejudice fueled a lack...Read More
On Wednesday, December 11, Representatives Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) and Tracy McCreery (D-St. Louis) held a press conference to discuss legislation they had filed to modernize HIV-specific criminal codes in Missouri for the third year in a row. Senator Shalonn “Kiki” Curls (D-Kansas City), who will sponsor this legislation on the Senate side, prepared comments as...Read More
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 13, 2019Contact: Conner Kerrigan, Communications Director815-263-1261 (cell)[email protected] JEFFERSON CITY, MO…On December 11th, 2019, Representatives Holly Rehder (R – Sikeston) and Tracy McCreery (D – St. Louis) filed HBs 1691 & 1692, respectively. Both bills aim to modernize Missouri’s outdated and medically inaccurate criminal statutes concerning HIV. Currently, Missouri and more than 30...Read More
Michael Johnson was released from Booneville Correctional Center on Tuesday, July 9th, 25 years before his expected release date. “Leaving prison is such a great feeling,” he told a BuzzFeed News reporter. Mr. Johnson was accused and convicted of failing to disclose his positive HIV status with a number of his sexual partners, leading to...Read More
This priority reflects the best practice known as Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS (or, MIPA, pronounced MEE-puh). MIPA was established in 1983 as part of the Denver PrinciplesRead More
If you follow our work, you are likely aware that one of our policy priorities this year is to modernize Missouri’s outdated, medically inaccurate, stigmatizing HIV-specific criminal codes. You may remember a Weekly Perspective from the first week of February after an energizing committee hearing. If you haven’t paid that close of attention because you feel like...Read More
I really couldn’t have imagined the hearing going any better. The room was packed, standing-room-only in the gallery, nearly every one of the 19 (!) committee members were present. A Republican from the rural bootheel sat next to a Democrat from the big city of St. Louis, and together Reps. Holly Rehder and Tracy McCreery...Read More
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