Los Angeles Municipal Code § 45.80 STATEMENT OF POLICY.
SEC. 45.80. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
After public hearings and receipt of testimony, the City Council finds and declares:
That the medical condition described as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and commonly known as AIDS is a deadly disease which has the potential to affect every segment of our City’s population.
That AIDS was first recognized in 1981 by the Federal Center for Disease Control based on the study of a pattern of unusual illnesses among young, single men reported by the medical center associated with UCLA within our City.
That AIDS in the opinion of the scientific and medical community is caused by a virus, known as HTLV-III or LAV, which attacks and cripples the body’s immune system, thereby leaving the body vulnerable to opportunistic infections.
That a person afflicted with AIDS suffers a variety of virus and/or fungus-caused illnesses which debilitate the body resulting in a high mortality rate within three years after diagnosis.
That the spread of the virus has occurred through the exchange of bodily fluids, i.e. blood, blood by-products, or semen, between individuals.
That no evidence exists to indicate the spread of the virus by casual contact.
That medical studies of family groups in which one or more persons have been diagnosed with AIDS show no spread of the virus other than through sexual intimacy or through the exchange of blood (mother to fetus).
That the virus can thrive only in favorable conditions, and cannot exist for a significant period of time outside the body, and can be protected against by the application of regular practices of hygiene, such as the use of chlorine in swimming pools or spas and the use of household bleach when washing garments or cleaning contaminated surfaces.
That the public health danger represented by the virus and its subsequent manifestation as AIDS is caused by the lengthy incubation period during which period an apparently healthy individual may spread the disease to other persons through the exchange of blood, blood by-products, or semen.
That AIDS while recognized as a national public health emergency has been concentrated in urban areas with our city representing the third highest number of cases reported within a local public health jurisdiction.
That AIDS in the opinion of the scientific and medical community will continue to increase at a high rate within our city for the foreseeable future.
That AIDS by its nature has created a discrete and insular minority of our citizens who are afflicted with a seriously disabling condition whose ultimate outcome is fatal.
That the persons afflicted with AIDS represent a segment of our population particularly victimized due to the nature of the disease and to the present climate of misinformation, ignorance and fear in the general population.
That discrimination against victims of AIDS and AIDS related conditions exists in the City of Los Angeles.
That persons with AIDS or AIDS related conditions are faced with discrimination in employment, housing, medical and dental services, business establishments, city facilities, city services and other public accommodations;
That such discrimination cuts across all racial, ethnic and economic lines;
That such discrimination poses a substantial threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community;
That the existing state and federal restraints on such arbitrary discrimination are inadequate to meet the particular problems of this City.