Openly gay Florida state senator Shevrin Jones has condemned a false campaign message sent to voters claiming he is living with HIV, accusing those behind it of weaponising both his sexuality and HIV stigma for political gain.
Jones is seeking the Democratic nomination for Florida’s 24th Congressional District, where he hopes to succeed retiring US Representative Frederica Wilson. If elected to Congress, Jones would become Florida’s first openly gay member of the US House.
But just days before the 18 August Democratic primary, voters in the district received a text message falsely claiming Jones had been prevented from donating blood because he had tested positive for HIV.
The message also falsely stated it had been paid for by LGBTQ+ advocacy organisation Equality Florida, which has endorsed Jones. Equality Florida has categorically denied any involvement and says it is considering legal action to identify those responsible.
Jones has made clear that the allegation about his HIV status is untrue.
“I am not HIV positive, but I refuse to defend myself in a way that stigmatises somebody else,” he told Florida public radio station WLRN.
“Because there are people in our community who are living with HIV every single day. HIV is not something to be ashamed of.”
Old footage used to fuel a new smear
The text linked Jones’ name to footage from 2020, when he was prevented from donating convalescent plasma after recovering from COVID-19.
At the time, US Food and Drug Administration guidance imposed a three-month donation deferral on men who had sex with men.
Jones was therefore turned away because of the donation rules in place at the time — not because he had tested positive for HIV.
The FDA has since abandoned the blanket deferral targeting gay and bisexual men. Current guidance uses individual, risk-based questions for prospective donors regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
The misleading use of the old footage is especially notable because a similar tactic was deployed against Jones during his successful 2020 campaign for the Florida Senate.
‘They weaponised it for political purposes’
Jones said the latest attack was disturbing not simply because it made a false claim about his health, but because it relied on longstanding stereotypes linking gay men with HIV.
“What somebody did here was they took an old dangerous stereotype about gay people and HIV, and they weaponised it for political purposes,” he told WLRN.
That distinction matters.
Living with HIV is not a source of shame, and modern treatment means people with HIV can live long, healthy lives. Effective treatment can also reduce the amount of HIV in the blood to an undetectable level, at which point it cannot be sexually transmitted — commonly expressed as U=U, or Undetectable = Untransmittable.
For LGBTQ+ communities, attacks of this kind risk reinforcing stigma not only against one political candidate but against everyone living with HIV.
Jones reflected that concern in his response, refusing to distance himself from people with HIV simply to defend himself politically.
Equality Florida condemns ‘disgusting attack’
Equality Florida has also strongly denounced the messages and confirmed that it did not send or pay for them.
“This is a disgusting attack against a public servant who has poured his heart and soul into his community,” spokesperson Brandon Wolf said.
The organisation said the message exploited “HIV and anti-gay stigma” while fraudulently using Equality Florida’s name. It has consulted outside legal counsel about identifying those responsible and pursuing potential legal remedies.
Wolf said the text appeared designed to turn Jones’ identity as a gay Black man into a political liability.
Other politicians in the race have also condemned the attack.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert called it a lie that was “evil, hurtful” and needed to stop, while local leaders including Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava have publicly denounced the messages.
HIV stigma remains politically potent
The incident illustrates how decades-old misconceptions about HIV can still be exploited for political purposes.
Although HIV can affect people of any sexuality or gender, gay and bisexual men have historically been particularly affected by both the epidemic itself and the stigma surrounding it.
That history is also closely connected to discriminatory blood-donation policies. For decades, US rules excluded or restricted gay and bisexual men from donating, regardless of their individual circumstances. The FDA moved to individual risk-based screening in 2023, removing questions specifically targeting gay and bisexual men.
For rainbow communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, the attack is a reminder of why challenging HIV stigma remains essential.
Political debate can and should scrutinise candidates’ records, policies and qualifications. Using someone’s sexuality — or falsely assigning them an HIV diagnosis — as a weapon does something very different: it reinforces stigma against an entire community.
Jones’ response has sought to turn that tactic on its head.
“There is nothing shameful about living with HIV,” he said. “There is nothing shameful about being gay.”
