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A Canadian conservative politician has outraged many of his constituents after making comments comparing unvaccinated people to AIDS patients in the 1980s.
In a recent press conference, Jason Kenney, leader of the right-wing United Conservative Party and the Premier of the province of Alberta, compared the supposed stigmatization of unvaccinated people to the horrifying discrimination and ostracization that AIDS patients experienced in the AIDS epidemic's early years.
Kenney's comments have sparked outrage across Alberta and Canada as a whole. Hear his comments below.
Seeing a lot about Premier Jason Kenney's comments comparing the stigmatization of the unvaccinated to HIV/Aids in the 80's. #ableg \n\nHere's the clip (he was asked about how polarizing the pandemic and the response to it has been):pic.twitter.com/Y5ePcULfva— Jordan Kanygin (@Jordan Kanygin) 1644372051
Kenney said:
"It's never OK to...stigmatize people in that way. In a way it kind of reminds me of the attitudes that circulated in North America in the mid-1980s about people with HIV.AIDS. That there's this notion that they have to be distanced for health reasons."
Kenney's comments came after he was asked about how polarizing the pandemic has been. Kenney, an anti-masker who recently overturned all of Alberta's COVID-19 safety protocols, didn't cite any actual incidents of mistreatment of unvaccinated people.
Rather, he focused on attitudes he's witnessed online, such as people saying they would not feel safe eating in a restaurant with unvaccinated people. Kenney said:
“That sentiment deeply concerns me. Treating fellow people as though they are somehow unclean..."
Missing from Kenney's comments was any acknowledgement of COVID-19 being an incredibly contagious airborne illness that spreads even more easily in confined spaces like restaurants.
Instead, Kenney compared the situation to AIDS, a virus that can only be spread through one's blood coming into contact with an infected person's blood, and the way people with the disease were treated in the 1980s. AIDS patients at that time were routinely fired from their jobs, denied medical treatment, and run out of their homes by acts of arson and other forms of violence.
In short, there is no comparison between AIDS patients in the 1980s and unvaccinated people in the 2020s, but clearly that didn't stop Kenney from saying there was.
As several people on Twitter pointed out, Kenney knows a few things about stigmatizing AIDS patients. During his time as a student at the University of San Francisco, Kenney led the charge for a law that would have barred AIDS patients' same-sex partners from visiting them in the hospital while they were dying.
WATCH: Jason Kenney invited us to look at his record - so we did. Anyone who brags about barring people from saying their final goodbyes to their loved ones in hospital is just not fit to be Premier. \n#ableg #abvotepic.twitter.com/XBNgfGsPCI— Alberta's NDP (@Alberta's NDP) 1553108718
You'd think someone with that black mark on their soul would be able to understand the distinctions between the stigmatization of AIDS patients and people not wanting to share space with people who refuse to take basic preventive measures against a deadly airborne virus.
As David Shepherd, one of Kenney's opposition party colleagues, put it:
“For him to evoke the memory of those who faced very real discrimination because of a disease they could not control – to compare that to individuals who choose not to get vaccinated, frankly it’s unconscionable and the premier should apologize.”
It was a sentiment many people on Twitter shared as Kenney's comments inspired disgust among many Canadians.
Jason Kenney, who proudly kept men from their dying partners during the AIDS crisis, just tried to compare wanting to know that everyone else in the restaurant has also done their part to stop the spread, to discrimination during the AIDS crisis. \n\nI can\u2019t even\u2026 #AbLeg— Kathleen Ganley (@Kathleen Ganley) 1644370421
There is NO circumstance where it\u2019s appropriate to compare the stigma of HIV/AIDS to COVID. We can choose to vaccinate. 2/— Judy McLellan (@Judy McLellan) 1644380993
Nobody chose to get HIV, kenbabe. It\u2019s absolutely ok to stigmatize people who chose to not protect other members of their community by not getting a free vaccine— snurch pastor greg (@snurch pastor greg) 1644384093
CHOOSING not to vaccinate when it\u2019s possible to protect yourself/others is not the same as stigma people (mostly gay men) faced in the 80\u2019s. Its audacious for @jkenney who has not been kind/helpful to the LGBTQ+ community to try to pretend it\u2019s the same #abpoli #covid #LGBTQ 1/— Judy McLellan (@Judy McLellan) 1644380863
Don\u2019t you dare bring up AIDS in your COVID comments, @jkenney, and pretend you\u2019re some sort of human rights defender. We know your record on that. You fought to keep gay people from visiting their dying partners in hospital. Stop.— Janis Irwin (@Janis Irwin) 1644370216
That is easily the most offensive thing Jason Kenney has ever said. #AbLeg— Andrew Ng (@Andrew Ng) 1644370422
The same @jkenney who has a long and sordid history of homophobia and discrimination against the queer community compared the demonization of nonvaccinated Albertans with those demonized during the AIDS crisis.\n\nThis is not a leader, Alberta.\n\n2023 can\u2019t come soon enough.\n\n#ableghttps://twitter.com/janisirwin/status/1491222888048857093\u00a0\u2026— Janis Irwin (@Janis Irwin) 1644371183
One more time. For those in the back. @jkenney is unfit to lead our diverse and incredible province. His smirk in this makes me physically ill. Bragging about keeping gay men from their partners dying of AIDS. Cruel & unusual. #abvote #QueerkidsAB #ImwithRachelpic.twitter.com/HIN7Mno7dv— Tyson Mastel (@Tyson Mastel) 1555420239
Jason Kenney was goading & baiting with his comments on vaccines & AIDS.\n\nPlease take a moment and read this thread.\n\nAnd remember the importance of kindness.https://twitter.com/susanvhthompson/status/1491515209755684869\u00a0\u2026— Sandy Garossino (@Sandy Garossino) 1644451842
My mom kept the newspaper from the day I was born (1985) and recently gave it to me. I found this article in it. THIS is the level of misinformation & stigma that AIDS patients were dealing with, and Jason Kenney wants to compare that with not getting vaccinated? How dare you.pic.twitter.com/sX9Mgazx5b— Aaron Hoyland (@Aaron Hoyland) 1644373115
Kenney has since apologized for his comments.