It's hard to think of an Illinois law that we at AIDS Legal Council of Chicago have hated more than the Illinois Criminal Transmission of HIV statute?.? This bit of fear-mongering legislation has been on the books for over 20 years, and it turns people?with HIV?into felons whenever they have any kind of?"intimate contact" without first disclosing that they have HIV. What does the law count as "intimate contact?"? Anything that might perhaps maybe conceivably transmit HIV, no matter how vanishingly small the likelihood might be.? Like, oh, I dunno, spitting on someone.? Making out.? You name it.
Well after several years of trying, ALCC and several of its allies finally convinced the Illinois legislature to amend the stupid law into something a bit more reasonable. For starters, "intimate contact" has been struck from the statute.? Instead the bill criminalizes "sexual activity without the use of a condom."? And the bill defines sexual activity as insertive vaginal or anal intercourse.? Which means oral sex doesn't count.? Or making out.? Or spitting.
Perhaps most importantly the bill says that a prosecutor would have to prove that the person with HIV had "the specific intent" to transmit HIV.
The bill passed both houses of the Illinois legislature unanimously and now awaits the governor's signature.? You can read the bill here.? You can read ALCC's tidy little summary of it here.?
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