The New York Post e-Edition

Pol aims to ‘cuff’ sex cops

Bill would nix HIV law

By RICH CALDER Rich Calder

A Queens pol said Saturday she plans to push a bill that would no longer make it a crime in New York for AIDS patients and others with known sexually transmitted diseases to have sex with others.

“This archaic part of New York’s Public Health Law belongs in the trash heap of history, and I urge my colleagues in Albany to support this bill in the upcoming legislative session,” Democratic Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas (pictured) said Thursday on World AIDS Day as she announced her effort to repeal the 76-year-old law.

“New Yorkers living with HIV . . . already face barriers to accessing the care and support they need, and criminalizing them for sexual behavior only perpetuates racial inequities and stigma rather than combat transmission,” she added in a statement. The bill has yet to be introduced but is already getting pushback.

“The last time I checked, HIV is still a transmissible disease,” Assemblyman Jarett Gandolfo (R-LI) told The Post. “Common sense dictates that the person you’re [having sex with] should know if you are HIV-positive, so they can decide if they are comfortable with it.”

Under current law, a person with a known STD can be charged with a misdemeanor for having sex and spend up to a year behind bars.

The state statute doesn’t specifically address cases where people with STDs disclose their medical status to partners or use protection.

However, disclosing medical history first typically is enough to negate criminal liability.

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2022-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/281930252008491

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