Quinn Tivey, 35, an officer of The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF), writes about continuing the late star’s legacy of campaigning for those living with HIV and AIDS. Quinn Taylor is Elizabeth Taylor’s grandson.
“My grandmother established the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation thirty years ago to offer assistance to those who were afflicted by HIV and AIDS and those who were living with them. Although the fight against HIV/AIDS is ongoing, I’m honored to see ETAF carry on her legacy by educating lawmakers, increasing public awareness, busting myths, and reducing stigma and fear. Grandma, I’m sure, would also be pleased with this effort.”
Currently, the “HIV Is Not A Crime” program of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, in collaboration with Gilead Sciences, focuses on updating criminal laws and punishments that currently target people with HIV. Old rules passed decades ago out of fear and stigmatization of HIV-positive people have not been updated to reflect contemporary science.
These out of line laws serve as barricades to headway by empowering shame and separation. With the proper drugs, HIV-positive people can ended up non-transmittable due to imperceptible viral levels.
In spite of this, people with HIV are denounced of wrongdoings and treated like hoodlums in more than 30 states. Moreover, conviction is pointless in most HIV-related proceedings in these states in the event that there’s no prove of transmission or malevolent expectation.
Ladies, counting transgender ladies, BIPOC (Dark, Inborn, and Other Individuals of Color), low-income communities, sex specialists, and transients, are among the bunches excessively affected by criminal HIV laws. Dark men are six times more likely to be imprisoned than white men, bookkeeping for generally half of all unused HIV diseases.
The work being done through the “HIV Is Not A Crime” project would have made Grandma extremely pleased. Grandma had a brave and adventurous life, standing up for what she believed in.
She would never capitulate in the face of pressure and never embrace the status quo if it didn’t feel right.