Harsh Laws Against Homosexuality Fuel HIV in Asia

Many of us have heard about proposed harsh anti-gay legislation in Uganda that would criminalize homosexuality with the death penalty or life imprisonment. As that law gained steam in the legislature last year, not to mention headlines around the world, it helped fuel several stories about how laws criminalizing homosexuality only serve to spread HIV. Indeed, even the Lancet came out with a study that showed how devastating laws that criminalize homosexuality are on the continent of Africa. More than 30 countries criminalize sex between people of the same gender (particularly men who have sex with men), and as a result, HIV/AIDS rates in those countries have ballooned.

A new study shows that this phenomenon isn't constrained to the continent of Africa. It's also panning out in a very similar fashion in the Asia Pacific region, where 19 countries (just slightly less than half of the countries in the Asia Pacific region) criminalize homosexuality. That's led the United Nations Development Programme to issue a statement drawing the connections between criminalization and the rampant spread of HIV.

"These laws often taken on the force of vigilantism, frequently leading to abuse and human rights violations. Correspondingly, HIV prevalence has reached alarming levels among men who have sex with men and transgender populations in many countries of the region," the statement said. It's kind of like a simple math equation: a (harsh laws) + b (LGBT people) = c (public health nightmare). Yes, a simple math equation, but a deadly one.

The effects of criminalization are profound. We know that harsh laws directed toward LGBT people often send gay people underground, where they are much more likely to engage in risky sexual practices. We also know that when homosexuality is criminalized, it makes the work of public health officials that much harder, given that it creates an environment where people are not quite forthright about their sexuality, and creates cultural taboos and a political unwillingness to accept LGBT people. Not good.

That's why the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM) has come out strong in calling for all countries in the Asia Pacific region to decriminalize homosexuality. APCOM's Shivananda Khan told the AFP that getting rid of laws that negatively target LGBT people would help ensure that "all citizens of a country, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity can access health services."

You can say that again. Public health is never helped when the law forces people underground.