Flash-demo against HIV criminalization brings media attention

Canada•

Flash-demo against HIV criminalization brings media attention

More : ACCM, Radical Queer Semaine, Stella

by RG - 2B staff on February 7, 2012

Over 50 people gathered today in front of Montréal’s Palais de Justice to demonstrate against the criminalization of HIV disclosure and non-disclosure in anticipation of tomorrow’s hearing at the Supreme Court.

ACCM, Stella, Radical Queer Semaine and the COCQ-sida were out in full force to urge provincial attorneys general not to prosecute HIV positive people for non-disclosure of their status. The demostrators were inspired by Toronto’s AIDS ACTION NOW! network, which staged their own demo on Feb 6, and sent posters from their POSTER VIRUS campaign in solidarity.

The demo, organized by Montréal activist group Radical Queer Semaine, in conjunction with the Coalition des organismes communautaires québécois pour le sida (COCQ-sida), occured at the end of a quiet, sunny lunch hour with court house security watching from a discrete distance.

The COCQ-sida will be intervening at tomorrow’s Supreme Court hearing on two major HIV criminalization cases. They will be asking the Court and provincial government justice ministers to stop prosecuting HIV positive people for not disclosing their status to sexual partners in cases where condoms were used or where the HIV carrier’s viral load is so low as to be considered undetectable.

Currently in Canada, a criminal code amendment from 1993 currently requires that HIV positive people disclose their status to sex partners prior to sexual contact, protected or otherwise, to avoid being charged with sexual assault for “fraud”. STELLA, Radical Queer Semaine, and France-Belgium based AIDS awareness org WARNING were all signatories on the manifesto for today’s demonstration. The demonstration was billed as a “flash-demo” and only lasted about 45 minutes, with media from CTV, CBC, Global, The Link, and Radio-Canada present to the apparent glee of the organizers.