Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (SF) - WEDNESDAY August 24, 1988 Edition: FINAL Section: NEWS Page: A10 Word Count: 277
Greg Lucas, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Deukmejian has not said whether he will sign the measure, but its proponents say that it is very different from two AIDS anti-discrimination bills that the governor vetoed in 1986.
Sponsored by the California Medical Association, the bill is intended to promote voluntary HIV testing by assuring people who test positive that they will not be discriminated against.
California law already prohibits discrimination against people infected with the HIV virus but sponsors hope that reaffirming the protection will encourage more voluntary testing.
An aide to the bill's author, Assemblyman John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, distinguished the bill from two measures vetoed by Deukmejian in 1986, which were carried by Assemblyman Art Agnos, now mayor of San Francisco.
Agnos' bills would have prohibited job and housing discrimination against those with AIDS, not people who merely test positive for the virus.
Deukmejian said in his veto message that there is no reason to single out AIDS sufferers for special treatment and no evidence they are being discriminated against.
Of Vasconcellos' bill, Tom Beermann, a spokesman for Deukmejian said, "The governor has not seen (it) and has not taken a position yet." Deukmejian has until October 1 to act on the bill.
Also yesterday, the Assembly unanimously sent to the governor a bill that would close down homosexual bathhouses in an attempt to slow the spread of AIDS. When the spread of AIDS became widely known in the early 1980s, many cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, closed homosexual bathhouses.
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