Immigration and Nationality Act discriminating gays?

In the early years of AIDS, when many people thought a deadly disease dubbed "the gay cancer" might be transmitted via drinking glasses or doorknobs, Congress added HIV to the list of infections that could prevent a foreign visitor from entering the country.

Nearly two decades later, as the international Gay Games begin in Chicago this weekend, the law still bars any HIV-positive foreigner from visiting the U.S., whether it is to play basketball, attend a business meeting or stand up in a family wedding.
"The ban serves absolutely no scientific purpose," said Patricia Mail, president of the American Public Health Association "Our country has a long record of discrimination [against gays] and this is just one more example. ... This is strictly about politics."

The Immigration and Nationality Act denies visas to anyone with "a communicable disease of public health significance," and HIV was placed in that category in 1987. Only a handful of countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, have a similar policy regarding people with HIV.

Over the years, such mainline organizations as the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization have opposed the rule, saying there is no good reason to bar the HIV-positive from entering the country temporarily. Unlike infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV is not spread by routine contact.

"Because of the way it's transmitted, [HIV] simply poses no threat to public health," Mail said.
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Other than social conservative leaders, who insist that admitting infected tourists would accelerate the spread of disease, it's hard to find supporters of the policy. Abner Mason, a gay Republican appointed by former President George H.W. Bush to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, said he wanted to hold a conference on the topic but "could not find anyone who could defend it."