A proposal advancing in the Tennessee legislature would stop requiring lifetime registration as a violent sex offender for anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee would no longer be the only U.S. state to impose a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” on anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV under a proposal that advanced Tuesday in the legislature.
The controversial statute still on the books is being challenged in federal court by LGBTQ+ and civil rights advocates. They argue that the law stems from the decades-old AIDS scare and discriminates against HIV-positive people. The U.S. Department of Justice has also weighed in on the decades-old law after completing an investigation in December, saying that it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and called on the state to repeal the measure.
However, Republican Sen. Page Walley on Tuesday stopped short of fully removing the law and instead introduced legislation that would remove those convicted of aggravated prostitution of having to register as a violent sex offender.
“It maintains the charge,” Walley said. “But removes the sex offender registration.”
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Tennessee residents, Show Up, Stand Up, and Speak Up to stop unjust bills SB0181 and HB1617! If you don’t do it, who will stop these terrible bills? Write your representatives! Show up to hearings! It works in California, and it can work in any state.
Hiv positive people are more of a danger to the community than 90 percent of the [People Forced to Register]