The American Civil Liberties Union has released a survey, HIV & Civil Rights: A Report from the Frontlines of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic, which details widespread civil-rights violations throughout the U.S. against people with HIV/AIDS.
The ACLU also filed lawsuits last week on behalf of an HIV-positive 19-year-old Nebraska woman against two of her former employers, a local restaurant and Casey’s General Stores, Inc., for illegal discrimination. ‘Priscilla Doe’ was fired from her job as a hostess at a restaurant in the town where she lives when the owner learned she was HIV-positive. One week later, Doe suffered significantly reduced hours and was forced to wear protective gloves by the manager at Casey’s after the manager learned of her HIV status.
According to the ACLU’s survey, Priscilla’s story illustrates just one of many of the ways people with HIV and AIDS are discriminated against. Denial of medical treatment, violations of privacy, deprivation of parental rights, discrimination in the workplace, and refusal of admittance into nursing homes and residential facilities top the list of common hardships experienced by people with HIV/AIDS. All of the 43 providers surveyed reported numerous violations.
See www.aclu.org/hivaids.