Florida man kicked out of city basketball league for being HIV+

Dakota Basinger of Kissimmee, Florida, is just a guy who wants to play basketball.

In the middle of a city rec center basketball game, a city employee told Basinger he wasn't welcome in the league due to his recent HIV diagnosis:

Mr. Basinger told WKMG that once inside the other room, the city employee asked, “Are you HIV-positive?” Basinger says, “I was like, 'Yeah, why?' And he was like, 'Well, you're no longer allowed to play in the game, in the league.' They said they don’t want other people getting it."

Basinger told the Orlando Sentinel, “I feel humiliated and discriminated against. I felt horrible walking out of that gym.”

His mother, Lisa Basinger, is furious. She told the Sentinel, “I couldn’t believe it. I explained to them that they needed to educate themselves on HIV and that you cannot transmit HIV through spit or casual contact.”

One of Basinger’s teammates, 20-year-old Gustavo Delemaza, said that Basinger’s diagnosis, “didn’t really bother me at all. You can’t catch HIV by playing ball. It’s not contagious that way.”

The city has since issued a statement apologizing for the action and inviting Basinger back to the basketball league.

Read more at ClickOrlando.