Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Longtime AIDS activist focuses on criminal-justice system
by Matt Simonette
2016-06-01

This article shared 1950 times since Wed Jun 1, 2016
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


For Megan McLemore, a longtime activist and attorney with the New York-based Human Rights Watch ( HRW ), the HIV epidemic in the United States is being fueled by the epidemic of mass incarceration.

But McLemore, a senior researcher in HRW's Health and Human Rights division, has contended that the criminal justice system is largely absent from local and national conversations about HIV prevention and treatment.

"If you look at the [National HIV/AIDS Strategy] for example, you'll see about housing and violence, for example, but you'll see very little about criminal justice," she said.

McLemore has focused her work on prisons and HIV/AIDS for several decades.

"I've always focused in my career on prisoner's rights and the rights of the most vulnerable people," McLemore added. "The HIV part came in when, in the '80s, I got involved as a volunteer in various community groups. Then I worked with some friends of mine who were working on a documentary on the global AIDS crisis in the late '90s and early 2000s. We really focused on the fact that the AIDS drugs were not getting to sub-Saharan Africa even though they were already in Europe and the United States. When I got to Human Rights Watch, they were looking for a consultant to work on HIV in prisons, so my background was right."

McLemore said that she began her work with prisoners when she was in law school. "This is a population that has been so marginalized that it is literally invisible," she said.

Her current work goes beyond focusing on long-term prisoners. Rather, she's most concerned with people who are cycling in and out of the jails on minor drug offenses, sex-work charges and other low-level offenses. De-criminalizing such offenses, according to McLemore and her colleagues, is essentially HIV prevention.

"They're going in and out of jail very regularly, and that interrupts their ability to adhere to HIV medication, and if they don't already have HIV, it raises somebody's risk of becoming HIV-positive," she said. "The instability that it causes in people's lives causes disruptions as they relate to housing—the evidence is vast how housing is key to HIV prevention."

Even an arrest can be significantly disruptive, McLemore added. "So we're looking at the entire spectrum, from an arrest, to cycling through the system and having a criminal record. We're trying to step back and look back at how the criminal justice system in the United States is influencing the epidemic. There's growing evidence that, at every stage, it's very harmful."

The work requires a multi-level approach to engage the different facets of the system, she said. "A few months ago I released a report on HIV services in Louisiana jails. So there's an entire document now that has Human Rights Watch recommendations having to do with keeping people out of jail in first place. So now I'm going to be deeply engaged in that report for the next few years with the Department of Public Corrections, with the Department of Public Health, with the Governor's Office. It's leading by leading and strategy by strategy."

HRW and partner organizations wrote a letter about the National HIV/AIDS Strategy's failure to address criminal justice issues. "I'm beating the same drum, but I'm beating it at different venues and different targets," McLemore said, adding that administration officials were at least responsive.

"We met with them and they agreed to look at them for the next version of the strategy. We continue to meet with CDC people and having ongoing discussions about it," she added. "The road to HIV prevention leads through the criminal justice system for all these vulnerable populations."

McLemore will be in Chicago Monday, June 6, speaking first at a brown-bag presentation, "35 Years on the Frontlines: Local, National and Global HIV/AIDS Prevention," at AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ), 200 W. Jackson St., 13th Floor, at noon.

Jim Pickett, director of advocacy for AFC will also speak along with Erik Glenn, executive director of Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus. Kim Hunt, executive director of the Pride Action Tank, co-host of the event, will moderate. The program is free, but all guests must RSVP to Jackie Thaney at jthaney@aidschicago.org . Guests should bring ID and allow time for security entrance procedures.


This article shared 1950 times since Wed Jun 1, 2016
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies
2024-03-15
Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece
2024-03-14
Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist David Mixner dies at 77
2024-03-12
On March 11, longtime LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist David Mixner—known for working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign but then splitting from him over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)—died at age 77, The Advocate reported. ...


Gay News

Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit
2024-03-11
On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...


Gay News

"X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards
2024-03-11
After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...


Gay News

WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor
2024-03-08
Hanania Ben-Shimon—the gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recently—published a post in which he pleaded that his ...


Gay News

Court blocks Texas attorney general's demand for PFLAG data
2024-03-01
From a press release: AUSTIN, Texas—Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexel on March 1 blocked the latest effort by the Texas Attorney General's Office to persecute Texas families with transgender youth, temporarily haltin ...


Gay News

WORLD Canadian politics, Australian murders, Finnish study, 'Anatomy'
2024-03-01
Canadian conservatives are divided over an anti-trans policy that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed down in her province, The Guardian reported. The policy includes a ban on hormonal treatment, puberty ...


Gay News

Appeals court allows Ind. ban on gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-01
On Feb. 27, a federal appeals court in Chicago allowed Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care to go into effect, removing a temporary injunction that U.S. District Court Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued last year, ABC News ...


Gay News

Ghana parliament passes harsh anti-LGBTQ+ bill
2024-02-29
On Feb. 28, Ghana's parliament unanimously passed a controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill that has been condemned globally. The so-called Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act, which was introduced in the parliament in 2021, not only criminalizes ...


Gay News

PASSAGES Trailblazing judge and attorney Patricia M. Logue passes away
2024-02-26
The Honorable Patricia Logue ("Pat" to her friends, Trish" to her family) was a brilliant lawyer, a trailblazing jurist and a hero to the LGBTQ community. Pat's legacy includes numerous landmark cases she litigated over her ...


Gay News

Federal jury finds man guilty of killing trans woman in landmark case
2024-02-24
In a groundbreaking case, a federal jury in Columbia, South Carolina found Daqua Lameek Ritter guilty of killing transgender woman Dime Doe after deliberating for almost four hours, The State reported. It is the first time ...


Gay News

Unprecedented Alabama Supreme Court ruling undermins access to family-building healthcare, GLAD responds
2024-02-23
--From a press release - Feb. 23, 2024 (Boston) — Today, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) issued the following statement from Polly Crozier, GLAD's Director of Family Advocacy, on the Alabama Supreme Court decision ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.