This post is from Lena Shapiro, who is working with the Immigration Equality communications department this summer.

The Immigration Equality legal team worked, for years, for an end to the United States’ ban on travel and immigration for people living with HIV. Our attorneys helped to lead the effort to get rid of the law, which created “stigma and exclusion” and, in many cases, deterred travelers and immigrants from getting the proper medical care they needed. Late last year, those efforts proved a success, as President Obama ended the ban. The reversal was a big step forward in ending discrimination and in furthering the rights of people with HIV.

This month, the UNAIDS publication Outlook offers an article looking at Immigration Equality’s work on the issue. UNAIDS reports that, across the country, the new laws are providing tens of thousands living with HIV with options they’ve never had before, and taking a strenuous weight off their shoulders.

“Mark Taylor,” who is profiled in today’s article, is an HIV-positive Canadian man who has now received his permanent residency card. John Newman, a Canadian and a former teacher recently profiled in The New York Times, was forced to leave the US when he found out he had HIV. With the new policy, he can return now, too.

As Outlook also reports, it’s not only the US taking strides in the right direction—China too recently repealed their travel bans on those living with HIV. In South Africa, rules limiting the work of HIV-positive military members were defined as “unconstitutional.” And while there have been great leaps towards equality, fifty-one countries’ restrictions on the travel and stay of those with HIV still remain in effect.

Even within the victories of the last year, there’s still work left to do. Yet it’s undeniably heartening to hear stories like the ones told in by UNAIDS today.

To read the full report, just click here; the article begins on page 106.

Additional questions or concerns? Our legal team has put together a pamphlet, which is also available online.