There was word from Vienna today that a group of about 50 activists staged a die-in and shut down the Canadian booth in the exhibition hall at the International AIDS Conference yesterday.

The protest came in response to the Harper government's ongoing refusal to support safe injection sites and other harm reduction measures adopted by the Vienna Declaration. Harper's delegates refused to sign the declaration on Monday.

"Given that some of the recommendations outlined in the Vienna Declaration are inconsistent with Canada's National Anti-Drug Strategy and current federal drug policy, Canada will not support the document," Charlene Wiles, of the Public Health Agency of Canada, wrote in an email, according to the CBC.

Chanting, "The war on drugs is a war on us! Support harm reduction now," the activists wrapped the Canadian booth in tape and covered it in signs and copies of the Vienna Declaration. 

"Canada has missed an important opportunity to show leadership in the struggle against HIV and AIDS," Canadian harm reduction activist Zoe Dodd said in a press release. "There is overwhelming evidence that harm reduction strategies are effective in combatting HIV transmission. Canadian criminalization of drug use is fanning the flames of the AIDS epidemic."

Xtra's correspondent at the conference, Phillip Banks, says a gay activist from Toronto was expelled from the conference for destroying the Canadian booth's banners.

(Photo by Daniel Grace)  

Rob Ford offered a staged an emotional apology to PWAs May 10, at the home of an Etobicoke gay man, Dieter Doneit-Henderson.

In 2006, Ford opposed funding for AIDS service organizations in Toronto on the basis that “If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you wouldn’t get AIDS probably.” Ford made the comments as a city councillor; now, he is a candidate in the 2010 Toronto mayoralty race.

A Toronto Star writer and photographer were on hand. The Star described the scene as “bizarre.”

Doneit-Henderson was once touted to be the first openly HIV-positive candidate to run in the province. The Star reports that he ran provincially for the NDP in 2007. We took a look at the provincial and federal election results in Carleton Mississippi Mills and haven’t found his name on the ballot.

Photo CC Road Dog, courtesy of Flickr
 

 

As charges related to HIV transmission have multipled and become more severe in Canada, there is an alarming new case in the United States:

An HIV-positive man in Michigan is facing terrorism charges after biting another man in a neighbourhood fight, reports the Michigan Messenger.

"Following the incident, police were called in and after a brief investigation, placed [Daniel] Allen under arrest and charged him with two crimes: aggravated assault, a misdemeanor charge which carries a punishment of up to one year in jail and/or $1,000 fine and assault with intent to maim, a 10-year felony."

But after Allen told the local FOX news station that he is HIV-positive, prosecutors decided to seek additional charges.

"On Nov 2, [prosecutor Eric] Smith's office amended its complaint to add a charge of possession or use of a harmful device," reports the Michigan Messenger. "That law is a 25-year felony and was part of a 2004 package of terrorism laws created by the legislature in the wake of the Sep 11, 2001, attacks."

HIV experts note that it is nearly impossible to transmit HIV through biting. Catherine Hanssens, executive director of the NYC-based Center for HIV Law and Policy, told the Michigan Messenger that the terrorism charges aren't warranted.

"It's just nonsense. It's cowardly. It's the kind of thing that keeps kids [with HIV] out of day care and camps and allows kids [with HIV] to be kicked out of karate," she says. "It's continuing the boogey-man characterization of people with HIV."

Read the Michigan Messenger's full article, including more reaction from HIV experts

(h/t to gay men's health activist Trevor Hoppe, who rightly filed this story under "Fucked Up Bullshit" on his blog)

Read more about the criminalization of HIV on Xtra.ca: 

• Beyond the courts: How do we stop the spread of HIV without dividing our communities?
• Time to stand against the criminalization of HIV
• Finding a way out of the HIV criminalization loop
• Canada's record of criminalization creep
• HIV stigma radiates from behind the bench
• The re-criminalization of queer sex
• First rally on Parliament Hill to protest criminalization of HIV