Prosecution vs. Prevention?

iCARE an Upper Delaware GLBT Center Education Initiative presents a Community Forum on HIV Criminalization to be held at the UDGLBT Center located at 201 W. Harford St., Milford, PA on Tuesday, October 23rd at 7:00pm.  Michael Weinstein, a leading criminal defense attorney and Pike County District Attorney from 1980 to 1988, said "An important subject; anyone interested in justice and HIV prevention should attend."

This is the first program of the UDGLBT’s new education initiative, iCARE (Increasing Community Awareness through Relevant Education). iCARE will sponsor workshops on various GLBT-related topics.  “We are excited to offer programs that will increase awareness and promote understanding – we believe through education we will dispel misconceptions and create a united community that embraces diversity,” said Patty Tomaszewski, UDGLBT, Executive Director.  iCARE programs are free and open to the public.

The short film “HIV is Not a Crime” will be shown at the event, followed by a panel comprised of:

• Robert Suttle, Assistant Director of the SERO Project (www.seroproject.com), who was convicted and incarcerated in Louisiana for HIV non-disclosure and currently resides in Milford, PA
• Attorney Ronda Goldfein, the Executive Director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania
• Sean Strub, founder of POZ Magazine and the SERO Project, a longtime resident and business owner in Milford. 

The program is open to anyone interested, including families, friends and co-workers of people with HIV.  "This panel of experts will provide a rare insight to the complex issues facing HIV prevention," noted The Rev. Canon Elizabeth Geitz, Author of I Am that Child.

Prior to joining SERO in March, 2012, Robert Suttle was a case manager and prevention specialist in Shreveport, Louisiana, working with young African American men who have sex with men. He served six months in a Louisiana prison for a conviction under Louisiana’s so-called “Intentional Exposure to AIDS Virus” statute.  Suttle’s former partner, with whom he had a contentious relationship, filed charges after they broke up.

Ronda B. Goldfein, Esq., is a nationally recognized advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS and most recently won a major victory against the Milton Hershey school, which had denied a child with HIV admission. In December 2010, she was listed among the top 100 HIV/AIDS activists in the United States by POZ magazine. In 2007, Goldfein was named “Policymaker of the Year” by the Penn Center for AIDS Research, a joint project of the University of Pennsylvania, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Wistar Institute.

Sean Strub, a writer and longtime HIV+ activist created The SERO Project to pursue anti-criminalization advocacy work.  He founded POZ Magazine, co-chairs the North American regional affiliate of the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+/NA) and co-founded the Positive Justice Project.