U.S. HIV+ Travel Ban Repeal Possible?

HRC has sent out a media advisory about a possible repeal of the United States HIV travel and immigrantion ban. Joe.My.God has a good article on the legislative ploy to attach the repeal legislation by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) to a bill by Senator Joe Biden and Senator Richard Lugar that funds President Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

The United States is one of only 13 countries that ban HIV+ people from visiting or immigrating. The others: Armenia, Brunei, China, Iraq, Qatar, South Korea, Libya, Moldova, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Let's hope this ploy does better than attaching the Matthew Sheppard Act to that defense appropriations bill did. A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives last August, but remains in committee.

I'd be shocked if this bill becomes law, but it is good to see that our friends in the Senate are making the effort to expose this horrendous public policy, and possibly change it now instead of waiting until after January 2009.