Bill would revise Tennessee’s decades-old law targeting HIV-positive people convicted of sex work

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A proposal advancing in the Tennessee legislature would stop requiring lifetime registration as a violent sex offender for anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV. Currently, Tennessee is the only U.S. state with such a statute, and it’s being challenged in federal court by LGBTQ and civil rights advocates. They argue the law stems from a decades-old AIDS scare and discriminates against HIV-positive people. Tennessee’s Senate Judiciary Committee agreed Tuesday to advance a measure that would drop the mandatory sex offender registration for those convicted of aggravated prostitution. The U.S. Department of Justice called in December for the state to repeal the measure, saying it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.