World AIDS Day Speaker names the criminalization of HIV/AIDS as Viral Apartheid
As we mentioned in a previous posting, there was a World AIDS Day event at the downtown campus of GVSU.
The event featured two speakers, but we were only able to hear part of the presentation by Todd Heywood who entitled his talk, Viral Apartheid.
Todd himself has been HIV positive since 2007, is a senior reporter for the American Independent News Network and a leading reporter on HIV/AIDS, with emphasis on the policy aspects of HIV/AIDS.
Heywood spoke about the two types of criminalization those with HIV/AIDS and the historical factors, which have contributed the social marginalization of people with HIV/AIDS. Todd talked about Michigan law and federal law both and gave some specific examples of how these laws impact people with HIV/AIDS.
Heywood spoke about how there is still a tremendous amount of ignorance and misinformation about the virus, despite it being with us in the US for roughly three decades. The independent reporter mentioned a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, AIDS at 30, which reflects the attitudes and opinions of American about HIV/AIDS.
We were not able to stay for the bulk of the presentation, but we were able to do a short interview with Todd, before he addressed a crowd of roughly 70 people in the Eberhard Center at the downtown GVSU campus.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 
Todd Heywood is so, so impressive and knowledgeable….I found this interview really fascinating. The low rate of testing in this country is shocking; I have a close friend who is an activist and tells me that only a third of adults here have ever been tested for HIV, even though tests are accessible and usually free or low-cost.
Thanks for doing this interview. Viral Apartheid is not too strong a term for what is happening in terms of the punitive nature of the way HIV is addressed here.