The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) officer Quinn Tivey, 35, writes about carrying on the late actress’s legacy of advocacy for those with HIV and AIDS. Elizabeth Taylor’s grandson is Quinn Taylor.
“My grandmother started the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation thirty years ago to help people with HIV and AIDS and those who were already infected. I’m proud to see ETAF continue her legacy by educating policymakers, raising public awareness, dispelling myths, and eroding stigma and fear in the fight against HIV/AIDS, even though this is an ongoing battle. Grandma would undoubtedly appreciate this effort as well. ”.
Currently, the “HIV Is Not A Crime” program of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, in association with Gilead Sciences, focuses on modernizing criminal laws and punishments that currently target people with HIV.
These unfair laws serve as roadblocks to advancement by encouraging stigma and discrimination. With the correct drugs, HIV-positive individuals can become non-transmittable due to undetectable viral levels.
Despite this, persons with HIV are accused of crimes and treated like criminals in more than 30 states. Furthermore, conviction is unnecessary in most HIV-related proceedings in these states if there is no evidence of transmission or malicious intent.
Women, including transgender women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Other People of Color), low-income communities, sex workers, and migrants, are among the groups disproportionately impacted by criminal HIV laws. Black men are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white men, accounting for roughly half of all new HIV infections.
The work being done through the “HIV Is Not A Crime” project would have made Grandma extremely pleased. Grandma had a brave and adventurous life, standing up for what she believed in.
She would never capitulate in the face of pressure and never embrace the status quo if it didn’t feel right. Old rules passed decades ago out of fear and stigmatization of HIV-positive people have not been updated to reflect contemporary science.
