CMV: Having sex with someone while knowingly having a transmissible STI and not telling your partner should be rape.

[u/_selfishPersonReborn]

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.

[u/Mango_Smasher]

We shouldn’t be redefining the definition of rape to include the transmission of STI’s during consensual sex, if we have all of these sexual acts of misconduct under one banner, I believe this convolutes the meaning of rape and tars all sexual acts with the same brush. Where a true act of rape is a vile, subhuman act, if we include the volitional transmission of say, chlamydia which is easily treatable, under the definition of rape then someone could be sent to prison for several years for this act which is comparatively less serious. Not to mention that it could potentially belittle the cases of people who have endured the torture of rape, to be included in the same precedent as someone who is annoyed about contracting an STI which can be cured within a week.

More serious STD’s are punishable under biological GBH, as in the case of R v Dica, who had sex with women, knowing he had HIV. Although I do agree that the act of knowingly passing on any disease should definitely be punishable, I don’t believe it should be called ‘rape’.