Since 2010, HIV-positive sex workers in Tennessee have been required to register for life on the state's sex offender registry. However, under a lawsuit settlement released last week, Tennessee officials have agreed to reverse course and begin notifying affected individuals that they can now be removed from the registry.
In 1991, Tennessee passed an "aggravated prostitution" law, making it a felony to sell sex while being knowingly HIV-positive. In 1995, when the state introduced a sex offender registry, those convicted of aggravated prostitution were forced to register. However, things got worse in 2010, when the crime was reclassified as a "violent sexual offense," meaning that those convicted would face lifetime registration.
Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee, arguing that the law unfairly targeted HIV-positive individuals, who are classified as having a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"Unlike Prostitution, which is a misdemeanor, Aggravated Prostitution is a felony that requires lifetime registration as a 'violent sex offender,'" the complaint states. "This drastic difference in treatment turns solely on HIV status and is so unmoored from medical facts as to punish sexual encounters that pose no risk of HIV transmission."
Being placed on a sex offender registry makes finding employment and housing incredibly difficult. Even though "aggravated prostitution" refers to consensual sex between adults, affected registrants are barred from working or living within 1,000 feet of a school, playground, or park, in addition to other onerous restrictions.
"There are many other chronic and manageable infectious conditions prevalent in Tennessee, but none are subject to such draconian and counterproductive punishment," the complaint states. "That individuals living with HIV are treated so differently can only be understood as a remnant of the profoundly prejudiced early response to the AIDS epidemic."
In February, Tennessee legislators voted to remove aggravated prostitution from the state's definition of "sexual offense" or "violent sexual offense," and allow affected individuals to apply for removal. That change went into effect at the start of this month. However, as part of a lawsuit settlement reached last week, Tennessee officials will take an additional step: They will send letters informing individuals placed on the registry for HIV-positive sex work that they can now request to have their names removed.
Unfortunately, neither the settlement nor the legislature's changes to Tennesee law remove aggravated prostitution as a crime altogether.
"This settlement is one step towards remedying those harms by addressing the sex offender registration," attorneys from the ACLU and the Transgender Law Center in a statement said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. "However, as aggravated prostitution remains a felony, our legal team will continue to fight to overturn this statute and ensure that no one in Tennessee is criminalized based on their health status."
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