Countrify

Why Anti-Gay Laws Harm Public Health

by Michael A. Jones 

New statistics were released on HIV/AIDS infections this week by the United Nations, and in no uncertain terms, they're not very good. They show that rates continue to rise, particularly for several at-risk groups, including men who have sex with men.

What's the cause? Well, as UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe says, one major force behind higher HIV/AIDS rates among gay men is repressive laws. Like in Uganda. Like in Malawi. And even in places like China, where homosexuality has been decriminalized, but where stigmatization around the disease is so sharp, it drives scores of LGBT folks underground.

Sidibe noted that 85 countries around the world criminalize homosexuality, which fuels the spread of HIV among gay men more than anything else. He called this appalling, and said that the international community must work to overturn harsh anti-gay laws. (Everybody wave to Uganda.)

"We must insist that the rights of the minorities are upheld. If we don't do that ... I think the epidemic will grow again," he warned. "We cannot accept the tyranny of the majority."

Yes, so for those who like math equations, the new statistics from UNAIDS look something like this: Tyranny of the majority + anti-gay laws = HIV rates through the roof.

Sidibe admitted that apathy in places like the U.S. in Europe have also fueled the disease, with lots of folks (particularly younger folks) falling back on the idea that medical treatment can help them live with the disease if they get it. Sidibe calls this a deadly form of complacency.

"It seems like we have come full circle" in the United States, he said. "After almost no cases a few years ago we are seeing again this new peak among people who are not having access to all the information, the protection that is needed."

But Sidibe underscored the impact that repressive laws play in exacerbating HIV/AIDS rates. He calls out Uganda and says that if their Anti-Homosexuality Bill passes, it will be disastrous for the country's HIV/AIDS rates. And Sidibe also calls out places like Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where repressive drug laws have caused HIV rates among intravenous drug users to skyrocket.

All of this adds to a certain narrative that any time laws force people underground, really bad things happen. Perhaps no more so than in the area of public health.