A State by State Advocacy Guide


Category 1: Your state has modernized or repealed its laws criminalizing HIV. CA, CO, GA, IA, IL, IN, LA, MI, MO, NC, NJ, NV, TX, VA, WA

Congrats! If your state is in gold, your state has, at least in part, done the work to update its HIV criminalization laws. This does not necessarily mean that people living with HIV are free from discriminatory, HIV-related prosecutions. It does mean that your state already won at least one fight to update its HIV criminalization laws. Use that fact to your advantage! It is important that both federal and state government to recognize that HIV should not be criminalized and that all people living with HIV across the country deserve to live free from incarceration, state violence, and discriminatory policing – no matter what state they happen to be in. Time for you federal representatives to follow your state’s lead. 

Find out more about how your state has modernized its laws here.

Tell your lawmakers: Our state modernized our HIV criminalization laws to better protect the rights and wellbeing of people living with and vulnerable to HIV. You must do the same on the federal level by passing the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act. 


Category 2: Your state has laws explicitly criminalizing HIV and has not modernized or repealed them. AK, AR, DE, FL, ID, KY, MD, MS, ND, NE, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, WI

Boo! If your state is in maroon, your state has not yet changed its outdated HIV criminalization laws. This means it can still legally discriminate against and prosecute people based on an HIV-positive diagnosis, regardless of their human rights and scientific advancements in the understanding of HIV treatment and prevention. The REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act would be especially impactful for your state. The reports mandated by the Act would issue guidance on how to review, repeal and/or amend your state laws. This will streamline the process of modernization and throw the weight of the federal government behind the demands to repeal or modernize.

Tell your lawmakers: Our state has laws that criminalize people living with HIV meaning that the state is failing in its obligation to protect the rights and wellbeing of people living with and vulnerable to HIV. You must recognize these rights and help push our state to modernization by passing the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act.


Category 3: Your state or territory does not have laws explicitly criminalizing HIV. AL, AZ, CT, HI, KS, MA, ME, MN, MT, NH, NM, NY, OR, RI, VT, Washington D.C., WV, WY

Meh… If your state is in gray, it does not have an HIV-specific criminal law on the books (and it has not repealed or modernized such laws). Importantly, general felony laws and discriminatory policing could still be used to prosecute people living with HIV in your state. In fact, general criminal laws are used to do so in 26 U.S. states and territories.

The reports mandated by the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act would give the federal government the opportunity to point out that, in order to truly eliminate all forms of legal HIV discrimination, states need to address the use of general felony laws against people living with HIV. The REPEAL Act itself would not meaningfully influence the use of general felony laws, but the reports could flag their use as an additional burden on people living with HIV. 

The REPEAL Act is an important step in challenging widespread, institutionalized HIV stigma, which influences policing practices. Even if your state does not use general felony laws to prosecute people living with HIV, it is imperative to support work in other states and on a federal level to eliminate all forms of discrimination against people living with HIV.

Tell your lawmakers: The rights and wellbeing of people living with and vulnerable to HIV in our state are threatened by federal laws that discriminate against people living with HIV. You must support the repeal of these laws and modernization efforts in other states by passing the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act.