Text blast falsely claims gay Florida candidate is HIV positive: 'I knew exactly what they were trying to do'

This story originally appeared on Them.A text message falsely stating that openly gay Florida state senator Shevrin Jones is living with HIV is now facing widespread condemnation — and possible litigation, per CBS News. Jones, who currently represents Florida’s 34th district in the state senate, is running in the Democratic primary to represent its 24th district in the U.S. House of Representatives.The text, which was sent under the clearly hateful guise of being sympathetic towards Jones’s alleged HIV diagnosis, claimed it was paid for by Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. The text alleged that Jones was “denied to donate blood to Covid survivor due to testing positive for HIV/AIDS because of his homosexuality. This is not right stand with our Gay community.” The text ended with, “Paid for by Equality Florida,” per Miami CBS affiliate WFOR. Equality Florida says it did not send the text messages and is considering legal action.The text included a link to a 2020 article about Jones not being able to donate blood due to being gay. The Biden administration relaxed these outdated, homophobic rules regarding blood donation from gay and bisexual men in 2023. Jones condemned the texts in an interview with Them, saying he was “disgusted” when he first saw them. “Not simply because someone lied about my health, but because I knew exactly what they were trying to do,” he said. “They were trying to use my sexuality to create fear and shame around me. I am not HIV positive. But I refuse to defend myself by saying, ‘That’s not me,’ and then leave people who are living with HIV carrying the stigma. There is nothing shameful about living with HIV. There is nothing shameful about being gay.” He continued, saying that the texts say much more about his opponents than him. “Not only was I disgusted, I was also disappointed,” he told Them. “I’m human. You look at something like that and realize that someone sat down and