I am dating and living with a younger man and his parents just found about my status. They were not happy with us living together in the first place but now it is not OK at all. His parents threatened to disclose my status to all the people I work with. What are my legal rights to prevent this disclosure?

Hello,

Unfortunately there isn't too much you can do legally to prevent your boyfriend's parents from leaking this information at your workplace. If your employer discriminates against you because of your HIV status, you would then have a legal case. However, at the present time, all you have is a set of hateful and clueless potential future in-laws.

Certainly the first thing I would do is try the rational approach. You, your boyfriend and the evil parents should sit down for a heart-to-heart talk. Your boyfriend should do most of the talking. Address the parents' fears and concerns. Hopefully the parents' threats will never be realized. If necessary, your boyfriend could become rightfully indignant and make his own threats of damage to his relationship with the parents if they disclose your HIV status at work.

Good luck!

Dr. Bob