Health News and Information

Most states also have laws that protect the citizens of that state against discrimination on grounds of handicap. Whether HIV infection is included in a state’s definition of handicap depends on the state: the laws that apply to people with HIV infection, needless to say, vary from state to state. The state laws against discrimination on grounds of handicap are often different from the federal laws. Some people with HIV infection find it useful to pursue claims of discrimination under either federal or state laws, or under both.     (Note: Some laws use the word handicap; others use the word disability. The two words mean the same thing.)     In general, state laws against discrimination govern such issues as your right to public accommodations, your right to housing and employment, your right to confidentiality, and your medical rights.     Your right to public accommodations-Public accommodations are more important than they sound. A public accommodation is any place open to and serving the public. Exactly which places are defined as public accommodations vary from state to state: some states include doctors’ offices, for instance, and some do not. Depending on the state, then, public accommodations can include schools, doctors’ offices, hospitals, hospices, barber and beauty shops, nursing homes, funeral homes, public transportation, restaurants, and hotels. Any place defined as a public accommodation cannot discriminate according to race, sex, creed, color, or (depending on the state) handicap. In most states, AIDS is defined as a handicap. In some states, having HIV infection but not AIDS may also be defined as a handicap.     Although all laws governing the right to public accommodations are similar, they will differ in detail according to the state. In some states, for instance, beauty shops are not allowed to treat someone with a contagious disease, and since HIV infection is contagious, those states could conceivably bar a person with that virus from a beauty shop. This is, however, an obviously unrealistic use of the word contagious, since the type of exposure that occurs in beauty shops carries no risk of transmitting HIV.     To find out the laws in your state, ask a lawyer. Lawyers can also draw up wills and help sort out problems with the Social Security system and with insurance companies.     Another source of information about discrimination is an agency called, in some states, the state human relations commission. In other states, it is called the state civil rights commission. If you think you have been denied public accommodations because of your HIV status, file a complaint with the state human relations or civil rights commission, and they will investigate. You will not need a lawyer to file a complaint. You will, however, need to be a pest, because agencies move slowly. You also need to remember that filing such a complaint will involve giving up the confidentiality of your HIV status.*198\191\2*