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In a controversial move, California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill lowering the crime of deliberately exposing a sexual partner to HIV from a felony to a misdemeanor.

In its rush to destroy itself, California has gone and done this: Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection. The measure also applies to those who give blood without telling the blood bank that they are HIV-positive. Modern medicine allows those with HIV to live longer lives and nearly eliminates the possibility of transmission, according to state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), authors of the bill.“Today California took a major step toward treating...

Almost 620,000 gay and bisexual men in the United States were living with HIV in 2014, and 100,000 of these men were not even aware of their infection. These men are 100 times more likely to have anal cancer than HIV-negative men who exclusively have sex with women. Yet, no national screening guidelines exist for anal cancer prevention in any population. Anal cancer is predominantly caused by chronic or persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. HPV infection can lead to the development of anal precancer which, if remains undetected or not adequately treated, may lead to anal cancer. Likewise, HPV infection...

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection. The measure also applies to those who give blood without telling the blood bank that they are HIV-positive.... Supporters of the bill said women engaging in prostitution are disproportionately targeted with criminal charges, even in cases where the infection is not transmitted. Republican lawmakers including Sen. Joel Anderson of Alpine voted against the bill, arguing it puts the public at risk. “I’m of the mind that if you purposefully inflict another...

Do I smoke too much pot? It’s a question I’ve asked myself over the years, and it raised its uncomfortable head this week as I absorbed the results of the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The first thing to note about the report is the good news. One of the major and legitimate fears of those who have opposed legalization is that teen use would increase. Weed is genuinely harmful to the developing adolescent brain and those of us who passionately advocated legalization argued that making it legal would actually make it harder for teens to get...

HIV kills on average 80 Russians every day and the number is rising, statistics published earlier this week by the AIDS.Center foundation show. In the first six months of the year, more than 14,500 Russians died from the immunodeficiency virus, the foundation says, citing figures from the Federal Center for Fighting AIDS. This represents a more than 13-percent increase in HIV deaths compared to the same period last year.

The number of people diagnosed with HIV in Ireland is rising amid concerns that ambivalence about the disease is putting increasing numbers of people at risk. A record 512 cases of HIV were diagnosed in the State last year. Rates have been rising steadily since 2011, with experts saying “complacency and risk-taking” among a younger generation is contributing to the rising numbers. “This generation hasn’t grown up with the legacy or even the reality of HIV,” said HIV Ireland executive director, Niall Mulligan. “It was a massive issue in the 1980s and we were aware of it. We were very...

ATLANTA - Black gay men are contracting HIV in Atlanta in epidemic proportions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which stated in 2016 that one in two black men would contract the disease. Christian Dacus is a youth HIV policy advisor with Georgia Equality. He said personally, the spike in the number of HIV cases for gay black men in Atlanta is not surprising to him because of the stigma. “It's been spun in such a negative way that HIV is a punishment for your sins,” Dacus said. Dacus cited non-acceptance from religion and family, and living...

36.7 million The number of people with HIV worldwide. This figure is up from 36.1 million in 2015, largely because of the success in transforming the virus from a death sentence into a manageable illness. 19.5 million The number of people on anti-retroviral drugs used to suppress the HIV virus. The figure, up from 17.1 million in 2015, represents 53% of those infected. 1 million The number of AIDS-related deaths last year. This figure is down from 1.9 million in 2005, a 47% decline. 1.8 million The number of new HIV infections last year. That figure is down 16% since...

Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) resigned in protest of the Trump administration, which they allege "has no strategy to address the on-going HIV/AIDS epidemic." Scott Schoettes, Counsel and HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal, explained in a Newsweek op-ed Friday that he and five colleagues decided to leave their posts on the council for a number of reasons. But their largest expressed gripe was that the Trump administration has not sought input from the council when formulating HIV policy.

More than 9 in 10 new HIV cases among young men and boys ages 13 to 24 in the U.S. occur among homosexuals and bisexuals, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The April 25 CDC report, “HIV Among Gay and Bisexual Men,” offers stark evidence of the extreme health risks associated with male homosexual sex, in particular receptive anal sex. Below are some of its findings: — Gay and bisexual men aged 13 to 24 accounted for an estimated 92 percent of new HIV diagnoses among all men in their age group...

The state Senate on Wednesday voted to no longer make it a felony for someone infected with HIV to knowingly expose others to the disease by having unprotected sex without telling his or her partner about the infection.The crime would be downgraded to a misdemeanor, and the bill would also apply to people who donate blood or semen without telling the blood or semen bank that they have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, or have tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the precursor to AIDS.The measure, which next goes to the Assembly for consideration, was introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco),...

Sources say Bill Clinton is in rough shape. . Sources close to the Clinton family say that Slick Willy, 40th President of the United States and perpetual cheater, will be lucky to make it through the end of the week. The Clinton family, including extended relatives and members of the Rodham clan, have been filing into Little Rock all week where Bill is reportedly bedridden at the residence attached to his presidential library. The fact that they’re booking rooms and sticking around most likely means they’re expecting to have to stay for a funeral. The Clintons have said that they...

An associate editor of the largest newspaper in Sacramento, California has published a bizarre article asking why is it still illegal to “willfully expose others” to AIDS. Erika D. Smith, the associate editor of The Sacramento Bee daily newspaper, wrote “The AIDS crisis is over. Why are people still going to jail over HIV?”

Elton John has cancelled all of his upcoming concerts in Las Vegas after contracting a rare and “potentially deadly” infection while touring in South America. A representative for John said Monday that the 70-year-old “Rocket Man” Grammy-winner would no longer be able to honor the April and May dates of his Las Vegas residency, “The Million Dollar Piano,” due to an extended stay in a hospital recovering from the rare illness. “During a recent, successful tour of South America, Elton contracted a harmful and unusual bacterial infection,” the singer’s representative said in a statement obtained by People magazine. “During his...

The threat to publish the names of suspected homosexuals in Tanzania has been defended by the deputy health minister in a fierce row on Twitter. Homosexual acts are illegal in the East African nation and punishable by up to 30 years in jail. Those who advertised homosexual activities online would also be targeted, the politician warned. Tweeters accused him of homophobia and infringing on the right to freedom of expression online.

Dating apps rarely encourage deep and meaningful communication but they are a minefield for people living with HIV as a series of real messages sent to gay men on Grindr reveals. The hurtful texts have been read out by HIV-positive men to highlight stigma, misunderstanding and ignorance around the virus. The messages, which include 'You're a walking disease, mate' and 'Sluts like you deserve it,' were sent to Grindr users and the Gay Men's Health Charity (GMFA) asked a group of HIV-positive models to read them out and react. ...

The ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and environmentalist group Earthjustice have partnered to put on Facebook Live’s first-ever tel-a-thon as counter-programming to Friday’s presidential inauguration. Dubbed the “Love-a-thon,” the event will be held from 12:30 p.m. ET until 3:30 p.m. ET and will feature a variety of celebrities, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jane Fonda, and Judd Apatow. A press release for the Love-a-thon said that the fundraising efforts are necessary as the next four years will bring “significant challenges” to these organizations. “Each of these organizations helps our most marginalized communities and protects our democratic norms and civil liberties every day through their...

IT shouldn’t be a big deal that I gave blood this week, but it is. To do it, I had to give up all forms of sex for a year. The reason: I’m gay. With what we know today about the disease, it’s a stupid reason. In 1985, in the early days of the AIDS crisis, the United States Food and Drug Administration recommended that men who had sex with other men be prohibited from donating blood indefinitely. This policy made sense at the time. In the decades since, the nation has made enormous progress against the virus. What was...

New stats show alarming rise in drug abuse, HIV/AIDS infections ATLANTA — Fulton County’s rate of opioid overdose deaths was more than double the national average in 2014, newly released figures show. And the county — which contains most of the city of Atlanta as well as some of Georgia’s most affluent suburbs — had a higher rate of HIV diagnoses than all but one of 28 large cities studied, according to statistics released last week by the Big Cities Health Coalition project. Fulton’s data were used because the county, not the city, collects the area’s health information, which is...