There’s been Joe “You Lie!” Wilson, Lane “Repeal DOMA Now!” Hudson, and now Terri “Change the Definition!” Smith-Caronia, who interrupted New York State’s AIDS Advisory Council meeting to demand state health officials redefine the meaning of HIV.
No, Smith-Caronia (the vice president of Housing Works’s New York Advocacy and Organizing unit) doesn’t want “HIV” to stand for something else. She and Housing Works just want New York State to move away from the term “HIV illness,” which is the standard by which New Yorkers qualify for HIV treatment, and start using “HIV-positive,” which the org says would enable “thousands of poor people with HIV throughout New York State” to receive “lifesaving supportive services, such as housing and nutritional assistance.” With the “Redefine It/Change the Definition” campaign, Housing Works has already been lobbying the AIDS Advisory Council to update its threshold for qualification.
Meanwhile, Housing Works says “AIDS Institute staffers and State Health Commissioner [Richard F.] Daines acknowledged the pressing problem of the outdated definition but still have not fulfilled their promise to bring the issue up with the AIDS Advisory Council.”
Was Smith-Caronia’s interruption a violation of decorum? Sure. But it got us — and, soon, others — talking about it.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Qjersey
NY State is in the budget hole and she’s clamoring to add more people to the social welfare rolls?
What is the deterrent to getting infected when you’re poor and becoming HIV positive actually increases your standard of living?
Tom
QJersey is an asshole.
damon459
wow Qjersey NY wow thats all I can say i’m dumb founded by your remarks.
Hyhybt
“What is the deterrent to getting infected when you’re poor and becoming HIV positive actually increases your standard of living?”
NOT wanting to die a horrible death, maybe?
Keith Kimmel
No. 2 · Tom
QJersey is an asshole.
I’ll second that.