U.S. eases HIV travel rules for Gay Games
The U.S. government has eased immigration restrictions for noncitizens with HIV to attend the Chicago Gay Games this summer.
By approving a designated-event status for the Gay Games VII Sports and Cultural Festival, set for July 15-22, the United States allows HIV-positive athletes and spectators to apply for a single-entry B-2 travel visa from U.S. consulates.
The visa, valid July 8-28, will be issued on a special form instead of being placed permanently in the person's passport, and no questions about HIV status will be asked at the port of entry. This is significant because it protects visitors' privacy and prevents them from having to lie about their HIV status to attend the Games, said Kevin Boyer, co-vice chairman for Chicago Games Inc.
"Not only does the wavier send an additional welcome to people with HIV and their partners, it increases the number of registrants, so there are practical as well as moral benefits," Boyer told the PlanetOut Network.
Designated-event status is granted by the federal government for the Olympics and for large conferences, and was granted for the Gay Games in New York in 1994. Though it is routinely given for such events, it is not an easy process. Organizations such as the Gay Games must work closely with the Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Justice and State departments over many months.
Pushed through by Republicans in Congress, a statute in the Immigration and Nationality Act barring people with HIV from entering the United States has been in effect since 1993.
Without receiving a blanket waiver from the U.S. federal government, people with HIV coming into the country are required to disclose that they have a "disease of public health significance." Once the status is disclosed, they are forever denied entrance to the country, even for a short visit, without applying for an exemption.
"If you do disclose your status, and you can show you're coming for a legitimate purpose and provide proof of insurance, you may be granted entrance, but there's no guarantee," said Victoria Neilson, legal director for Immigration Equality. "Whether 'legitimate purpose' can be simply a trip to Disneyland is not so clear. So the vast majority of short-term visitors lie about their status."
"Obviously the law itself is discriminatory, does little to prevent the spread of HIV and harms all citizens of the world by helping to form a climate of fear around a disease that is not easily spread, is easily avoided and is treatable," Boyer said.
The law also puts such a burden on organizers to apply for a waiver that most of them try to avoid bringing HIV-positive people to their conferences, according to Dr. Frenk Guni, director of international affairs for the National Association for People with AIDS. As an example, Guni cited the arduous process of enabling participants to come to the World AIDS Conference in Toronto in June.
The conference will attract many HIV-positive participants who must change planes in the United States, he told the PlanetOut Network. Canada is far more lenient in allowing visitors with HIV to cross its borders, but many travelers with stopovers in the United States would normally require visas just to pass through the United States for a few hours.
After lengthy negotiation, an agreement between Canada and the United States was reached: Visitors will be forced into special holding areas at the U.S. port of entry until they board their planes to Toronto, Guni said. "They will be basically quarantined at the airport, whether or not they have HIV, just because they're attending an AIDS conference. This is simply barbaric," Guni said.
This world is such a controlling place sometimes just let the gay guys play there damn sports
