After 22 years, the biennial
International AIDS Conference will return to the United States in
2012.
The six-day summit has drawn in recent
years about 25,000 HIV/AIDS researchers, medical professionals,
activists and policy makers. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton announced the decision to bring the conference to Washington
in 2012 during a White House event on the eve of World AIDS Day.
During the event, Clinton's
condemnation of laws that criminalize being gay drew applause.
“We have to stand against any efforts
to marginalize and criminalize and penalize members of the LGBT
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] community worldwide. It is
an unacceptable step backwards on behalf of human rights, but it is
also a step that undermines the effectiveness of efforts to fight the
disease worldwide,” she said.
“Hosting the International AIDS
Conference in the United States is an important opportunity for the
United States,” Ambassador Eric Goosby, the U.S. Global AIDS
Coordinator, said
Monday in a post at the White House blog.
“Welcoming conference attendees to
our nation's capital will allow America to demonstrate our ongoing
commitment to ending the HIV pandemic both in the United States and
around the world. Given that the conference is fundamentally a
research conference, holding this event in such close proximity to
the National Institutes of Health and other U.S. Government research
facilities will also, hopefully, expand the level of scientific
disclosure between our scientists and researchers from around the
world,” he added.
Hosting the conference inside the
United States was previously unrealistic due to the U.S. restriction
on visits by HIV-positive foreigners. The Obama administration,
however, has lifted the HIV travel ban. The new rule goes into
effect on January 4.
Immigration
Equality, a group that advocates on behalf of LGBT immigrants,
said the ban took a heavy toll on the U.S.
“The United States has paid a heavy
price, in terms of its reputation in the scientific community,
because of its antiquated policies on HIV-positive immigrants and
visitors,” Steve Ralls, director of communications for the group,
told On Top Magazine in an email.
Secretary Clinton's “remarks
yesterday show how quickly the end of a prejudicial policy can bring
about progress, and how swiftly our country can right immigration
wrongs,” he added.