The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has found a new cause with which to vex any right-thinking person within the boundaries of the United States or on the face of the earth. The ACLU is suing the state of Tennessee over sex workers disclosing to partners whether or not they are infected with HIV. The Daily Caller notes that the ACLU posted an announcement on X on Tuesday, declaring its intention to sue:
BREAKING: We’re suing Tennessee for their “aggravated prostitution” statute that targets people with HIV with harsh punishment and lifetime sex offender registration.
This law is unconstitutional and disproportionately affects Black and transgender women.
— ACLU (@ACLU) October 24, 2023
BREAKING: We’re suing Tennessee for their “aggravated prostitution” statute that targets people with HIV with harsh punishment and lifetime sex offender registration.
This law is unconstitutional and disproportionately affects Black and transgender women.
— ACLU (@ACLU) October 24, 2023
The law that is causing the ACLU to be upset states that it’s illegal for a person to knowingly transmit HIV through “intimate contacts” unless that person has given informed consent. The Caller reported that another Tennessee law prohibits anyone who is HIV-positive from prostitution. In Tennessee, it’s against the law to expose someone without their knowledge to the risk of HIV. The ACLU, for some reason, finds that is beyond comprehension and finds this objectionable.
When I first decided to become a priest, I lived briefly in San Francisco in order to study with a friend of my family who was also a priest. In the parish, church members talked about being exhausted from attending so many funerals for AIDS victims. While living in the city, I met many people who had AIDS. No one, no matter how uptight and white they may be or how right they are, would wish AIDS upon a fellow human being.
The ACLU is calling for the repeal of these laws in the name of progressivism and to break down boundaries. They also want them scrapped in the interests of blacks and transgender people. Chesterton’s wall and public health and decency are to be ignored! Here’s where a patriarchy needs to be ripped down! Keep your distance! You know, we need to progress!
To avoid being accused of straight-splaining or worse, straight white man-splaining I would like to make what I consider a very important point.
The disease could even be curable one day. Does this excuse the transmission of HIV to someone else? Who in their right mind wants to be infected with HIV? Do you go to the liquor store and buy a bottle of Prosecco when the doctor says that the spot you have on your skin may not be anything, but it is still worth a biopsy? I’m not aware of anyone dying from a broken limb. Show of hands, who would want one? Anyone?
The ACLU’s hypocrisy, aside from their recklessness, is galling. People who advocated the repeal of these laws were the same people who demanded that everyone be triple-vaccinated during the pandemic and who howled if anyone left home without a Level A HazMat or old-fashioned deep-sea-diving helmet. These are the people who would glare at you if, while thumping melon at your local grocery store, your mask fell a centimeter under your nose. They’d also scream bloody murder if they thought you had accidentally stepped into their socially distancing zone by 1/8 inch. So, COVID-19 is bad, even deadly. But, what about HIV?
You would think the ACLU, and other acronym entities, would be more concerned about the health and safety of black and trans women than they are with a cause that could lead to increased disease and death, particularly among black and transexual sex workers. As is often the case on the left, the rhetoric of chaos and violence is more important than life itself. Anyone’s life.
