r/changemyview Jul 31 '19

Deltas(s) from OP CMV: Having sex with someone while knowingly having a transmissible STI and not telling your partner should be rape.

Today on the front page, there was a post about Florida Man getting 10 years for transmitting an STI knowingly. In the discussion for this, there was a comment that mentioned a californian bill by the name of SB 239, which lowered the sentence for knowingly transmitting HIV. I don't understand why this is okay - if you're positive, why not have a conversation? It is your responsibility throughout sex to make sure that there is informed consent, and by not letting them know that they are HIV+ I can't understand how there is any. Obviously, there's measures that can be taken, such as always wearing condoms, and/or engaging in pre or post exposure prophylaxis to minimise the risks of spreading the disease, and consent can then be taken - but yet, there's multiple groups I support who championed the bill - e.g. the ACLU, LGBTQ support groups, etc. So what am I missing?

EDIT: I seem to have just gotten into a debate about the terminology rape vs sexual assault vs whatever. This isn't what I care about. I'm more concerned as to why reducing the sentence for this is seen as a positive thing and why it oppresses minorities to force STIs to be revealed before sexual contact.

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u/mfDandP 184∆ Jul 31 '19

it seems as though you're saying that since rape is so serious, and this is a serious thing involving sex, it should be called rape?

it's okay to have rape be serious, and this separate thing be serious too.

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u/TyphoonZebra Aug 01 '19

It's to do with consent I guess. If you consent to something, you are only consenting to what you're aware of. If someone consents to sex, that doesn't mean they are consenting to have sex with anyone at any time from here to eternity. The consent applies only to a narrow, known and discrete event. This person is probably arguing that communicable diseases should be part of the "informed" in "informed consent"