A Question
In the community where I'm from in Canada there is a controversy occurring within the gay community surrounding a man who is HIV+ and is up on attempted murder charges for failing to disclose his status to numerous partners that he subsequently infected. Among others I've spoken to it seems that I am in the minority on this issue since I don't believe this should be a criminal matter. I say so since fundamentally I believe it is up to every person to protect themselves against STDs and in this day and age there is no excuse for not knowing enough to use a condom. Its called using universal precautions so in my estimation the onus is on every individual to protect themselves if they choose to have sex. We all know there are people of every orientation who will lie or not tell the truth about many things in order to obtain sex so in light of this I feel it is the height of naivety to not protect oneself against STDs no matter what a prospective partner says or doesnt say. Certainly it is immoral and unethical to deliberately withhold your HIV status from your partner(s) but should it be considered a criminal matter? We are talking about consenting partners here so outside of a sexual assault I think not. Anyways like I said I seem to be in the minority in my opinion so I wont be offended if others here disagree with me. I just think debate on issues like this is important and healthy for all of us to engage in so feedback is appreciated. Thanks. JS