Same Protections for Family, Friends Deferred : Supervisors Outlaw Bias Against AIDS Victims

In what supporters hailed as a critical step toward “eliminating AIDS hysteria,” the County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an ordinance to protect people with AIDS from discrimination in housing, business and other areas.

However, an attempt to extend the same protections to family members, friends or casual associates of AIDS patients, as well as to those “perceived and treated” as having AIDS, was deferred for one week because of the supervisors’ concerns that that portion of the ordinance was too ambiguous.

The ordinance, approved unanimously after months of hearings by the supervisors and other advisory bodies, offers civil-law protection to persons with AIDS or those with AIDS-related complex (ARC) who believe that they have been discriminated against in housing, employment opportunities, in business establishments or county buildings. Under the new law, victims of discrimination could seek an injunction to halt the illegal practice and sue for up to three times the amount of actual damages, plus punitive damages and costs.

Dr. Brad Truax, chairman of the San Diego Regional Task Force on AIDS--and who himself has the disease--praised the ordinance as a means “to ward off discrimination and to provide a remedy when discrimination does occur.”

An equally important purpose, Truax added, is that the ordinance “sends an important educational message to the county” that will allow AIDS “to be brought above ground” by helping to dispel misinformation about the disease and how it is spread.

While persons with AIDS are the prime potential beneficiaries of the ordinance, the supervisors stressed that the law, by alleviating concerns over discrimination, also will benefit the public health by encouraging more comprehensive AIDS testing.

Similarly, Supervisor Susan Golding noted that the law could reduce public costs by making it easier for persons with AIDS or infected with the AIDS virus to maintain their jobs and stay in their own homes, thereby enabling them to support themselves rather than relying on public funds.

Most provisions of the law would be effective only in the unincorporated areas of the county, with the exception of the provision outlawing discrimination in county buildings, which would apply countywide. In addition, the board plans to send copies of the ordinance to cities throughout the county in an attempt to persuade those municipalities to follow suit.

Tuesday’s action by the supervisors came against the poignant backdrop of numerous stories about AIDS victims and their acquaintances losing their jobs, homes or suffering other forms of discrimination. The mother of a 7-year-old hemophiliac told of how her son had been asked last fall not to return to a private school that he had attended for several years, while others related their difficulties in obtaining medical or dental treatment.

“A lot of us are dying and it’s real hard to experience discrimination,” AIDS victim Richard Anderson said. “It (worsens) an already tremendous hardship.”

Opponents of the anti-discrimination proposal suggested that the measure was an overreaction to what one characterized as a “minimal . . . problem,” and warned the supervisors that the law could cause persons with AIDS who now live elsewhere to flock to San Diego in the hope of receiving financial damages.

“We may be taking some of San Francisco’s financial problem when we open up . . . like this,” Walter Smizer said.

La Mesa resident Fred Reynolds complained that the section of the law dealing with persons “perceived and treated” as having AIDS, regardless of whether they in fact have the disease, and with those who associate with persons with AIDS was too broad and would prove unenforceable.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room who doesn’t qualify for that,” Reynolds said.

Agreeing with that complaint, the supervisors directed County Counsel Lloyd Harmon to refine and semantically tighten that section of the ordinance for action next week.

Under the ordinance, the provision against discrimination in housing applies to property for sale, lease or rent, as well as to services such as laundry, garbage removal, elevators and ordinary repairs and maintenance.

The ordinance also makes it unlawful to deny anyone with AIDS or the AIDS virus “the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages and accommodations of any business establishment,” including restaurants, stores and hotels.