A bill that would repeal a Maryland law that makes it illegal to knowingly spread or attempt to spread HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, House Bill 0039, had its first hearing before the House Judiciary Committee last week.

Del. Eric Bouchat, a Republican who represents District 5, which includes Carroll and Frederick counties, is co-sponsoring the bill with Del. Kris Fair, a Democrat who represents District 3A in Frederick County.

“I am very proud of Delegate Fair for having the courage to do what is morally right on this subject,” Bouchat said Monday. “The criminalization of a disease due to the ignorance of it in 1989 is overdue for justice. I feel very optimistic about its success.

“Homosexuals have suffered continuously throughout history due to prejudice,” he said. “This bill symbolizes that prejudice and deserves eradication. None of my constituents will feel less safe, once it is reversed and the state’s attorney’s office will focus on the real issues plaguing our communities and this is not one of them.”

Bouchat is a member of House Judiciary Committee, which has yet to take action on the proposed legislation.

The bill was introduced during the 2024 legislative session in Annapolis as House Bill 485 and passed the House, but the three-month session ended before it made it through for final adoption. The last two years the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee reviewed the bill, but took no action on it. This session, Senate Bill 0356 is again before Judicial Proceedings.

“You’ve heard this bill for a couple of years now,” Fair said in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 28. “This bill has actually been heard in one chamber or the other for the last almost 15 years. We are happy to bring this bill forward again. We got it through the House the last two years, and we’re looking to move it through the Senate this year.”

The bill has had a name change.

“Every year for decades now a Baltimore City native Carlton Smith has come down here and pled his case for the HIV Modernization Act,” Fair said. “He has worked tirelessly to defend the rights of people living with HIV across the state. And, is a mentor, and was an incredible shinning light in this movement for decades, and deserves all the credit in the world.

“Sadly during the interim Carlton passed away,” Fair said. “In honor of him, and the fact that he came down here year after year after year, we felt it only appropriate to amend this bill and name this bill after him. It will be officially the Carlton R. Smith Act.”

Smith, who contracted HIV in 1986, was an LGBTQ+ community activist and a founder of Blaq Equity Baltimore. He died May 29 at his Saint Paul Street home in Mount Vernon. He was 61.

Melanie Reese, a member of the Maryland Coalition to Decriminalize HIV, offered her testimony in support of the bill.

“HIV is not a crime,” Reese said. “But the law I am here to change says that it is. In Maryland, HIV is the only virus specifically targeted for enhanced criminal penalties. The (current) law was passed out of fear in 1989, and hasn’t been updated to reflect medical science and treatment advances. It actually discourages people from getting tested and does nothing to change transmission rates.”

The current state law, passed in 1989, makes it a criminal offense to knowingly transfer or attempt to transfer the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. The law was adopted during the AIDS epidemic when little was known about the virus.

Under the current law, it is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three years in prison and a $2,500 fine to knowingly transfer or attempt to transfer HIV to another person, according to The Center for HIV Law and Policy. Any type of HIV exposure, including consensual sex, blood and tissue donation, breastfeeding, and/or needle sharing, can be subject to prosecution.

From fiscal 2000 through fiscal 2020, there were a total of 146 charges and 14 convictions for knowingly transferring or attempting to transfer HIV in Maryland, according to the Department of Legislative Services. Two people were charged in fiscal 2021, four in fiscal 2022 and zero in fiscal 2023.

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