Trump Jr Appears To Further HIV Stigma On Twitter

Donald Trump Jr. (cropped image via Flickr/Gage SkidmoreCC License)

Donald Trump Jr. got some serious pushback on Twitter after a snarky response to a tweet from an LGBTQ news site regarding dating people with HIV.

Responding to a tweet that read, “What you stand to lose by not having sex with people with HIV,” the junior Donald wrote, “Well I can think of one thing.”

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Junior didn’t expound on his intention in his comment, although it is surprising he follows LGBTQ news outlets on Twitter.

But many felt his tweet furthered the stigma associated with people living with HIV.

Ironically, the article in question, by writer David Hudson, explored exactly that kind of discrimination and stigma that affects those who are living with HIV.

“If someone is HIV positive, knows their status, is on effective medication and has consistently had an undetectable viral load, they cannot pass on the virus,” Hudson shared in the piece. “PrEP is also widely available in the US and several other countries to prevent people from acquiring HIV. And condoms are also, of course, widely available.”

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As Instinct has reported many times, current research shows there is no risk of transmitting the HIV virus to others when properly using antiretroviral medications to bring the viral load down to zero, aka ‘undetectable.’

The Centers for Disease Control has publicly announced its support for the campaign that states Undetectable = Untransmittable.

Additionally, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and condoms greatly reduce the possibility of HIV infection.

The Twitterverse criticized Trump Jr. for reinforcing outdated HIV stigma:

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