COUNTYWIDE : County Expected to Outlaw AIDS Bias
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is expected to pass a law that would prohibit discrimination against residents with AIDS or other life-threatening illnesses.
The supervisors have voted 3 to 2 to give preliminary approval of the law, despite protests from several speakers at a July 16 hearing that the ordinance would “open the flood gates” for people with acquired immune deficiency disease to come to Ventura County.
Supervisors Vicky Howard and Maria VanderKolk said they could not support the ordinance.
Its anti-discrimination provisions would protect the housing and employment rights of people infected with AIDS or the HIV virus, as well as those afflicted with other diseases such as hepatitis B or cancer.
It would also make it illegal for businesses to deny services to residents and would protect their rights to county services and educational programs.
A final reading of the law will begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the County Government Center in Ventura.
Meanwhile, opponents of the law say it will draw too many people into the county who have the HIV virus.
Health officials said there have been 227 reported cases of AIDS in the county, with 158 deaths reported as of mid-June. Officials also estimate that as many as 2,000 people in the county might be infected with the HIV virus.
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