Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!samsung!uunet!ora!ambar
From: jdravk@speech2.cs.cmu.edu (Jeanette Dravk)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: ACTIVISM: AIDS Misinformation In _Ms._ Article
Message-ID: <1991Mar8.140713.5260@ora.com>
Date: 8 Mar 91 14:07:13 GMT
References: <1991Feb21.170731.12466@aero.org>
Sender: ambar@ora.com (Jean Marie Diaz)
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 72
Approved: ambar@ora.com

In article <1991Feb21.170731.12466@aero.org> jfh@rpp386.cactus.org (John F Haugh II) writes:
>
>It is counterproductive to state that the Gay and Bi community is not
>primarily responsible for the spread of AIDS since case histories
>indicate that AIDS is transmitted to heterosexual women far more
>frequently by bisexual men than another other sexual transmission
>vector.  It is not "biphobic" or "homophobic" to repeat what these
>medical histories tell us.  And while it is "risky sexual behavior" that
>causes the spread of AIDS, anecdotal evidence shows that homo- and bi-
>sexual men are far more sexually active, and practice far more "risky"
>sexual behavior than heterosexual men and women.  While published
>evidence is sparce on the subject, no contradictory anecdotal evidence
>has ever been heard by this writer.


A note on this .. I recently (i.e. last Wednesday) attended a seminar
on AIDS here in Pittsburgh ... The first speaker (who's name I forget,
but is the head of a major AIDS research group -- I can find it for
those interested) gave a very interesting presentation which showed
the following (rough, again, I can check exactness) statistics:

1.  on a _worldwide_ (as opposed to U.S. only) basis, 60% of all cases of
    the HIV virus are transmitted by exclusively heterosexual people.

2.  the older gay male community has pretty much stabilized in number of 
    cases, with the three major groups of _rising_ cases being young gay men,
    college students, and again, heterosexual couples.
    [Caveat:  no-body is trying to get any statistics at all for lesbians, and
	I've yet to see any kind of statistics for bisexuals -- male or female]

>Thus it should be clear to the reader that, as a community, bi- and
>homo-sexual men are primarily responsible for the sexual transmission of
>AIDS to the straight community due to their wonton disregard for the
>transmission of traditional STDs, which could not help but aggrevate the
>transmission of AIDS, which was a then unknown STD.  

Have you been to a college campus lately?  Talk about wanton disregard
for safer sex!  The figures I've seen are _scary_!

>The statistically ignorant reader may wish to counter this argument by
>pointing out that heterosexuals are now seeing the largest increase in
>AIDS cases.  Yet with so much of the homosexual population infected, it
>stands to reason that a predominately uninfected population group is the
>best place for new infection to occur.  And yet, when infection does
>occur via sexual transmission, far more often than not, the source of
>that disease can be traced back to the Bi or Gay community with little
>effort.

>In conclusion, the generalization of the bisexual community as being
>primarily responsible for the sexual transmission of AIDS to
>heterosexual women is justly deserved as the evidence clearly shows that
>the vast majority of gay and bisexual men have no regard for the
>transmission of any sexual disease to their partners.  Although death is
>always a tragedy, these men have no regard for their own health or the
>health of those around them.  These are not innocent victims of
>unforeseen consequences.  They justly deserve the stigma associated with
>their thoughtless actions.

Well, since this is a topic that interests me, and heaven knows I
don't want to be statistically ignorant -- would you mind posting the
list of the sources for all of your facts stated here?

Thanks!

j-

just my $.02 worth

-- 
#*#*#*#*#*#	Transient Creature of the Wide, Wild World	#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

   "Time is not linear to me, it is a nebulous web of existential freedom."