Findings
San Diego Municipal Code § 52.9500
in effect§52.9500 Findings
The City Council finds and declares:
(a) That the medical condition described as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, commonly known as AIDS, is a deadly disease which has the potential to affect every segment of our City’s population;
(b) That AIDS was first recognized in 1981 by the United States Public Health Service’s Center for Disease Control based on the study of a pattern of unusual illnesses among young, single males reported by the medical center associated with University of California at Los Angeles and New York University;
(c) That AIDS in the opinion of the scientific and medical community is caused by a virus, known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (or in the past, HTLV–III or LAV), which attacks and cripples the body’s immune system and neurological system, thereby leaving the body vulnerable to opportunistic infections, certain cancers and neurological diseases;
(d) That a person afflicted with AIDS suffers a variety of bacterial, viral and/or fungal caused illnesses, cancers, protozoan and neurological conditions which debilitate the body resulting in a high mortality rate within several years after diagnosis;
(e) That the transmission of the virus has occurred through transfer of blood, blood by–products and body organs; through intimate sexual contact; through perinatal contact; or through the sharing of hypodermic needles used in drug injections;
(f) That no evidence exists to indicate the spread of the virus through casual contact, through the air, water or food;
(g) 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, such as mother to fetus;
(h) That a public health danger represented by the HIV virus and its subsequent manifestation as AIDS is caused by the lengthy incubation period during which period an apparently healthy but infected individual may spread the disease to other persons through the transfer of blood, blood by–products, body organs, semen or vaginal/cervical secretions, perinatally or through the sharing of hypodermic needles used in drug injections;
(i) That AIDS has been recognized as a national public health emergency with a large proportion of the cases diagnosed in California;
(j) 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;
(k) That persons with AIDS, or AIDS–related complex (ARC) or in an AIDS–related status (ARS), including persons infected with the AIDS virus who may never show AIDS symptoms or develop the disease are faced with potential discrimination and such potential for discrimination is sufficient to justify a City ordinance to prohibit those discriminatory practices which are not currently adequately addressed by federal and state law.
(“Findings” added 2–22–1988 by O–17031 N.S.)
Source: City of San Diego Office of the City Clerk, San Diego Municipal Code and City Charter (docs.sandiego.gov PDFs)URL: https://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter05/Ch05Art02Division95.pdf#page=1Fetched: 10/28/2026