U.S. Repeals HIV Traveler Ban
The United States has repealed their ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants yesterday as part of a larger bill designed to combat AIDS through research and education.
Since 1987, any HIV-positive, non-US citizen was disallowed into the country, even to visit. This bizarre policy was later codified by congress in 1993, requiring another act of congress to overturn it. Fifteen years later, that has finally happened.
The bill’s journey wasn’t without some strange twists of its own. Senator Elisabeth Dole attempted to amend the bill to be named after the late Jesse Helms, who originally introduced the traveler ban with horrific anti-gay sentiment. That motion was defeated, which is good. Otherwise who knows what wacky law names they’d have next? The Dick Cheney Firearm Prohibition Law… The DDT-Growth Hormone Food Safety Law…
