MEMPHIS, Tenn. — OUTMemphis is part of a new lawsuit filed by the ACLU and the Transgender Law Center against Tennessee over the state’s Aggravated Prostitution statute and related forced sex offender registration requirements.
The lawsuit, on behalf of OUTMemphis and four Jane Doe plaintiffs, argues the Aggravated Prostitution statute targets those living with HIV with harsher punishment and forcing them to register as ‘violent sex offenders’ for the rest of their lives. They claim it singles out people living with HIV, which is a protected disability, and ignores the availability of protection methods available.
The Aggravated Prostitution statute was passed in 1991 as HIV was still at the front of the nation’s mind. It enhances sex work charges from misdemeanors to felonies based on HIV status.
The lawsuit says Tennessee does not have a comparable law for other infectious diseases, even if more transmissible than HIV. It claims the statute violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as due process and a prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
The lawsuit asks the courts to strike down the statute and the associated lifetime sex offender registration requirement as discriminatory.
“People convicted of Aggravated Prostitution must spend years in prison and then register as violent sex offenders for the rest of their lives – meaning they cannot access the housing, employment, healthcare and community life that they need to get back on their feet,” said Molly Quinn, executive director of OUTMemphis, which is the state’s oldest and largest service provider for LGBTQ+ people. “This statute solely targets people because of their HIV status and keeps them in cycles of poverty, while posing absolutely zero benefit to public health and safety.”
"The results are predictable: Black women are the targets of this archaic, unscientific law – many of whom are simply trying to secure food, a place to sleep, or a way to meet their basic needs,” said Alexis Agathocleous, deputy director of the National ACLU’s Racial Justice Program.
“HIV stigma is becoming a thing of the past, and it’s time for state law to catch up,” said Quinn. “OUTMemphis fights so that queer people are free to live in safety, with dignity, and we believe everyone deserves that regardless of their HIV status.”
Read the full complaint at: https://www.aclu-tn.org/plaintiffs-file-federal-suit-overturn-tennessees-aggravated-prostitution-statute/.