Thread by @PatrickStrud

Phillip Lee MP, who’s just defected to the Lib Dems says his attempt to block HIV+ people from coming to this county was a “Public health issue not an equality issue.”

This is a man who does not understand HIV.

First of all, people on effective treatment pose ZERO threat of transmission to others.

Second, here’s why HIV is an equality issue.

Shall we look at whom HIV disproportionately affects?:

Women
Gay, bi + trans people
POC
People on low incomes
People from low income countries

Next, let’s look at what HIV does to people.

First there’s discrimination.

In multiple countries, you can be fired for having HIV, or barred from various jobs. Many countries do not let even tourists in. Numerous countries imprison ppl for unintentionally passing the virus on.

Then there’s ostracism, social rejection, familial rejection, domestic violence and stigmatisation for being HIV+. This leads to isolation which is in itself a health risk.

HIV begins with inequalities + then exacerbates them through discrimination + rejection.

There’s more:

There is the array of health inequalities affecting people with HIV.

The virus causes most to be unwell. It causes disability. In the UK, HIV is classed as a disability.

Untreated, the virus attacks the brain and can organically cause depression. Mental illness is higher.

All those health inequalities then form a feedback loop of discrimination + disadvantage, compounding the original inequalities.

So in the end, HIV isn’t just *an* equality issue, but the ultimate spotlight on inequality.

Phillip Lee MP’s assertion is ludicrously uninformed.