U.S. HIV/AIDS travel ban officially lifted

In the 17 years since he was diagnosed with HIV, David Swan had to hide his disease from border guards because of a little-known law forbidding people with the virus from entering the United States. 

Yesterday, the Vancouverite and all other non-Americans with HIV/AIDS won part of their battle for equality and compassion when the U.S. officially lifted its 22-year ban.

“It’s a huge relief,” said Swan, executive director at AIDS Vancouver, who concealed the fact he was positive from border guards by hiding his medication in non-labelled bottles.

“There was the fear that you could be found out,” he said. “It (perpetuated) the sense that we had to hide. It made you feel oddly dirty even though you’re not.”

When the law was put in place in 1987, little was known about HIV/AIDS and the prevailing logic was that if infected people were kept out of the country, it would curb the spread of the disease.

Swan said it’s “outrageous” that — given how much is now known about the disease — it took this long to lift the ban.

“The discrimination (was) enforced by a country that’s supposed to be enlightened and understanding. It was simply ignorance.”

Glyn Townson, who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1995 and is chair of the board of directors at the B.C. Persons With AIDS Society, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” the new law will be properly enforced.

“We had a member who is a dual citizen who, on Jan. 2, went to the Huntington border crossing and the border guard said, ‘We have nothing in the manual to say (the law has) changed,’” said Townson.

He said the fallout of the ban is that families have been kept apart and peoples’ career options limited.

Others wound up with criminal records because they were caught lying about being positive — or simply didn’t know about the law — and are now permanently banned from the States.
What will happen to the latter group has yet to be determined.

“This is a very positive move,” said Townson. “But what that is really going to look (like) down the road, we have yet to see.”