Politics
Gay Iowa man denied relief under HIV-criminalization law
Court rules Rhoades could have infected partner through unprotected oral sex

The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that a gay Iowa man was at risk of infecting his partner through unprotected oral sex. (image via wikimedia).
A gay HIV-positive man in Iowa was unable Wednesday to obtain relief from his conviction under a state HIV criminalization law because he received unprotected oral sex while withholding his HIV status.
In a 3-0 ruling, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled Nick Rhoades is ineligible for post-conviction relief because he may have transmitted HIV to his sexual partner in 2008 through oral sex. Judge Richard Doyle wrote the opinion.
“Sexual intercourse may be committed through oral sex, and oral sex is a well-recongized means of transmission of HIV,” Doyle writes. “The person exposed to HIV need not become infected with the virus in order for the infected person to be prosecuted under section 709C.1(4).”
In 2008, Rhoades had a one-night-stand with Adam Plendi. After meeting online at Gay.com, Rhoades went to Plendi’s home in Cedar Falls and the two had consensual sex. Rhoades received unprotected oral sex, and then the two had protected anal sex in which Plendi was the receptive partner. Rhoades is HIV-positive, but didn’t disclose that information to Plendi, who wasn’t infected by the encounter.
After later learning that Rhoades is HIV-positive, Plendi contacted the police, who charged Rhoades with criminal transmission of HIV. Under advice from his attorney, Rhoades pled guilty to the charges and was given the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and classified as a sex offender. Several months later the court reconsidered the decision, suspended Rhoades’ prison sentence and placed him on supervised probation for five years.
In March 2010, Lambda Legal on behalf of Rhoades applied for post-conviction relief, arguing his attorney who advised him to plead guilty had failed to inform him of the specifics of the statute. Rhoades contended he didn’t violate the law because the anal sex was protected and during oral sex he didn’t intend to ejaculate.
In December 2011, the district court denied the application. The court of appeals decision on Wednesday affirmed that denial.
“[T]hat Rhoades may not have ejaculated during the unprotected oral sex is irrelevant,” the decision states. “Here, the minutes of testimony unequivocally establish Rhoades engaged in unprotected oral sex with A.P., and consequently, Rhoadesās claim that he did not ejaculate provides no support to his argument there was a lack of a factual basis regarding the ‘intent element’ of ‘intimate contact.’ We therefore conclude a factual basis existed to support Rhoadesās plea of guilty.”
The general consensus of research indicates while HIV infection through unprotected oral sex is possible, it’s extremely unlikely. According to the website for theĀ Minnesota AIDS Project, the risk of HIV transmission is very low because the mouth is an unfriendly environment for HIV.
“Saliva contains enzymes that break down the virus and the mucous membranes in the mouth are more protective than anal or vaginal tissue,” the website states. “There are a few documented cases where it appears that HIV was transmitted orally and those cases are attributed to ejaculation into the mouth.”
The website for the Centers for Disease Control says “it is possible” to infect someone with HIV through performing or receiving oral sex and there have been a few reported cases of transmission, but it’s a less common mode of transmission than anal and vaginal sex.
Christopher Clark, Lambda’s senior staff attorney, said his organization is “extremely disappointed” because the conviction is the result of “a misinterpretation of the plain language of the statute.”
“Someone who engages in safe sex, as Nick did, does not have the intent required to support a conviction under Iowa’s law concerning the criminal transmission of HIV,” Clark said.
Clark said Lambda is reviewing possible options with Rhoades in the aftermath of the ruling, which includes a potential appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.
According to Lambda, 39 states have HIV-specific criminal statutes or have brought HIV-related criminal charges, resulting in more than 160 prosecutions in the United States in the past four years. The laws have been criticized for creating a disincentive for HIV testing and potentially discouraging the disclosure of HIV status.
Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Director for Lambda Legal, said the court decision demonstrates the harm of HIV-criminalization laws.
“This decision is another example of how our outdated perceptions of and misunderstandings about HIV are still driving public policy, leading to horrifying criminal penalties for the person living with HIV, even in situations where no harm was intended or actually occurred,” Schoettes said.
Sean Strub, a native Iowan andĀ founder of POZ Magazine, said the court decision is based on “misconceptions” over HIV transmission.
“There’s never been a documented, proven case where HIV was transmitted throughĀ analĀ sex from someone known to have an undectable viral load, let aloneĀ oralĀ sex as was under consideration in this ruling,” Strub said. “It hasn’t even been established for certain that HIV isĀ everĀ transmitted through oral sex, even when a person has a detectable viral load, except when there are open sores or other extreme circumstances.”
Legislation is pending before the Iowa Legislature that would modify the state’s HIV criminalization law. It passed the Iowa State Senate Judiciary Committee last year by an 11- 2 vote with bi-partisan support. Strub said he’s hopeful in this next legislative session the bill will pass and be signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad.
Politics
George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case
Judge: ‘You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.’

Disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty last year to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
āMr. Santos, words have consequences,ā said Judge Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. āYou got elected with your words, most of which were lies.ā
The first openly gay GOP member of Congress, Santos became a laughing stock after revelations came to light about his extensive history of fabricating and exaggerating details about his life and career.
His colleagues voted in December 2023 to expel him from Congress. An investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee found that Santos had used pilfered campaign funds for cosmetic procedures, designer fashion, and OnlyFans.
Federal prosecutors, however, found evidence that “Mr. Santos stole from donors, used his campaign account for personal purchases, inflated his fund-raising numbers, lied about his wealth on congressional documents and committed unemployment fraud,” per the New York Times.
The former congressman told the paper this week that he would not ask for a pardon. Despite Santos’s loyalty to President Donald Trump, the president has made no indication that he would intervene in his legal troubles.
Congress
Democratic lawmakers travel to El Salvador, demand information about gay Venezuelan asylum seeker
Congressman Robert Garcia led delegation

California Congressman Robert Garcia on Tuesday said the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador has agreed to ask the Salvadoran government about the well-being of a gay asylum seeker from Venezuela who remains incarcerated in the Central American country.
The Trump-Vance administration last month “forcibly removed” Andry HernĆ”ndez Romero, a stylist who asked for asylum because of persecution he suffered because of his sexual orientation and political beliefs, and other Venezuelans from the U.S. and sent them to El Salvador.
The White House on Feb. 20 designated Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, as an āinternational terrorist organization.ā President Donald Trump on March 15 invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which the Associated Press notes allows the U.S. to deport ānoncitizens without any legal recourse.ā
Garcia told the Washington Blade that he and three other lawmakers ā U.S. Reps. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) ā met with U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador William Duncan and embassy staffers in San Salvador, the Salvadoran capital.
“His lawyers haven’t heard from him since he was abducted during his asylum process,” said Garcia.
The gay California Democrat noted the embassy agreed to ask the Salvadoran government to “see how he (HernĆ”ndez) is doing and to make sure he’s alive.”
“That’s important,” said Garcia. “They’ve agreed to that … we’re hopeful that we get some word, and that will be very comforting to his family and of course to his legal team.”

Garcia, Frost, Dexter, and Ansari traveled to El Salvador days after House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) denied their request to use committee funds for their trip.
“We went anyways,” said Garcia. “We’re not going to be intimidated by that.”
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on April 14 met with Trump at the White House. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) three days later sat down with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who the Trump-Vance administration wrongfully deported to El Salvador on March 15.
Abrego was sent to the countryās Terrorism Confinement Center, a maximum-security prison known by the Spanish acronym CECOT. The Trump-Vance administration continues to defy a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ordered it to “facilitate” Abrego’s return to the U.S.
Garcia, Frost, Dexter, and Ansari in a letter they sent a letter to Duncan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday demanded “access to” HernĆ”ndez, who they note “may be imprisoned at” CECOT. A State Department spokesperson referred the Blade to the Salvadoran government in response to questions about “detainees” in the country.
Garcia said the majority of those in CECOT who the White House deported to El Salvador do not have criminal records.
“They can say what they want, but if they’re not presenting evidence, if a judge isn’t sending people, and these people have their due process, I just don’t understand how we have a country without due process,” he told the Blade. “It’s just the bedrock of our democracy.”

Garcia said he and Frost, Dexter, and Ansari spoke with embassy staff, Salvadoran journalists and human rights activists and “anyone else who would listen” about HernĆ”ndez. The California Democrat noted he and his colleagues also highlighted Abrego’s case.
“He (HernĆ”ndez) was accepted for his asylum claim,” said Garcia. “He (HernĆ”ndez) signed up for the asylum process on an app that we created for this very purpose, and then you get snatched up and taken to a foreign prison. It is unacceptable and inhumane and cruel and so it’s important that we elevate his story and his case.”
The Blade asked Garcia why the Trump-Vance administration is deporting people to El Salvador without due process.
“I honestly believe that he (Trump) is a master of dehumanizing people, and he wants to continue his horrendous campaign to dehumanize migrants and scare the American public and lie to the American public,” said Garcia.
The State Department spokesperson in response to the Blade’s request for comment referenced spokesperson Tammy Bruce’s comments about Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador.
“These Congressional representatives would be better off focused on their own districts,” said the spokesperson. “Instead, they are concerned about non-U.S. citizens.”
Congress
Goodlander endorses Pappas’s Senate bid
Announcement puts gay congressman on the path to securing his party’s nomination

U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) on Thursday announced she will not run to represent her state in the U.S. Senate, endorsing gay U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas’s (D-N.H.) bid for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, putting him on the path to secure the Democratic nomination.
“We are in the fight of our lifetimes right now, of a moment of real crisis and challenge,” she said. “I feel humbled and grateful to so many people across our state who have encouraged me to take a look at the U.S. Senate, and after a lot of thought and conversations with people I love and people I respect and people who I had never met before, who I work for in this role right now, I’ve decided that I’m running for re election in the House of Representatives.”
When asked by a reporter from the ABC affiliate station in New Hampshire whether she would endorse Pappas, Goodlander said, “Yes. Chris Pappas has been amazing partner to me in this work and for many years. And I really admire him. I have a lot of confidence in him.”
She continued, “He and I come to this work, I think with a similar set of values, we also have really similar family stories. Our families both came to New Hampshire over 100 years ago from the very same part of northern Greece. And the values that he brings to this work are ones that that I really, really admire. So I’m proud to support him, and I’m really excited to be working with him right now because we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Today in Salem @MaggieG603 tells @WMUR9 she is not running for U.S. Senate & endorses @ChrisPappasNH #NHPolitics #NHSen #NH02 #WMUR pic.twitter.com/W2CMrhRuIC
— Adam Sexton (@AdamSextonWMUR) April 17, 2025
“Maggie Goodlander has dedicated her career to service, and we can always count on her to stand up to powerful interests and put people first,” Pappas said in a post on X. “I’m so grateful to call her my friend and teammate, and Iām proud to support her re-election and stand with her in the fights ahead.”
Earlier this month, former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, announced he would not enter the Senate race, strengthening the odds that Democrats will retain control of Shaheen’s seat.
-
Federal Government4 days ago
HHS to retire 988 crisis lifeline for LGBTQ youth
-
Opinions4 days ago
David Hoggās arrogant, self-indulgent stunt
-
District of Columbia4 days ago
D.C. police seek help in identifying suspect in anti-gay threats case
-
Virginia4 days ago
Gay talk show host wins GOP nom for Va. lieutenant guv