The Dangerous Nature of Homosexuality
J. Michael Sharman
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            With the debates heating up on same-sex marriages, we hear a lot from homosexual activists about the need for tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality as a normal way of life.
The Virginia Partisans Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club, for example, says it not only seeks legal recognition of same-sex domestic partnerships, but also: "A compassionate, aggressive response to AIDS and other health issues affecting the lesbian and gay community" and public school "Family Life Education and guidance programs that offer age-appropriate, nonjudgmental information on sexuality, tolerance, homosexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases."[1]
As a community, though, we obviously don't care much for our friends, family and neighbors if we don't let them know that homosexual behaviors are unhealthy and dangerous activities.
HIV/AIDS, of course, is probably the most well known danger, yet as a society we continue to deny that HIV and AIDS are for the most part totally preventable diseases caused primarily by homosexual behaviors.
The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first identified in 1981. Before that time, the malady was just called Gay Bowel Syndrome.[2]
The Centers for Disease Control ("CDC") estimates that from 1981 to 2003, a total of 929,985 cases of AIDS have resulted in 525,060 deaths. The CDC says that today there are at least 1.3-1.4 million persons in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />United States infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.[3]
We can preach tolerance and diversity all we want, but the inescapable fact is that the majority of persons living with HIV in the United States are men whohave sex with men, and the disease spreads primarily by HIV-positive  men having sex with other men and thus exposing new sex partners to HIV.[4]
During a two-year study which ended in December 2002, a total of 2,491 HIV-positive men were interviewed. These HIV-positive men were asked about their sexual activity in the past twelve months. The good news is that 586 (31%) of them reported they were abstinent.
That was the end of the good news.
Nearly two-thirds of the HIV-positive men (1,177 of them) reported having sex with a man during the preceding 12 months. Eight percent reported they had sex with women. The number of sex partners reported by these HIV-positive men in the past year ranged from one to 500. [5]
Primarily because of that ever-expanding pool of people sexually contacted by HIV/AIDS positive men, the number of new HIV infections grows steadily by about 40,000 every year since the early 1990s. Among new cases in 2003, 72 percent were to males and 28 percent to females.[6]
That's how the HIV epidemic continues to spread.
            In addition to HIV/AIDS, acts of domestic violence are a significant health problem for homosexuals. It is estimated that as many as 600,000 homosexuals in a same-sex relationship are victims of domestic violence each year.[7]
            A Radford University study noted that, "intimate partner assault may be more prevalent against gay men than against heterosexual men."[8] And it isn't just homosexual men who  have an increased risk of domestic violence: A review of studies on same-sex domestic violence found that 22 to 46 percent of all lesbians have been in a physically violent same-sex relationship.[9]
            A study published in the February 2006 edition of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence discovered that the increased risk of domestic violence in homosexual relationships ties back into the HIV/AIDS debate.
The study found that 41% of the persons in the study who were in same-sex relationships reported being forced by their partners to have sex. In other words, they were raped. Because of the domestic violence in the same-sex relationship, 28% said they didn't feel safe to ask their abusive partners to use safer sex protection. In fact, up to 32% of those studied experienced abuse as a direct consequence of asking their partner to use safer sex protection.[10]
Being homosexual is about as "gay" as the Gay Bowel Syndrome. The question is whether we as a society have the courage to admit it.

[1] http://www.vapartisans.org/whoweare.html

[2] Kazal HL, Sohn N, Carrasco JI, Robilotti JG, Delaney WE, "The gay bowel syndrome: clinico-pathologic correlation in 260 cases", Ann Clin Lab Sci 1976 Mar-Apr;6(2):184-92 (1976)

[3] Anderson JE, Chandra A,Mosher W. "HIV Testing in the United States, 2002", Advance data from vital and health statistics; no 363. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2005.

[4] "High-Risk Sexual Behavior by HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex with Men ---16 Sites, United States, 2000-2002" Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[5] QuickStats, "Percentage of Persons Aged 15--44 Years Overall Tested for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) During the Preceding Year and Percentage by Number of Sex Partners of the Opposite Sex --- United States, 2002,"

[6] Anderson JE, Chandra A,Mosher W. "HIV Testing in the United States, 2002", Advance data from vital and health statistics; no 363. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2005.

[7] Freedberg, Pauline,  "Health Care Barriers and Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence: A Review of the Literature", J Foren Nurs.  2006;2(1):15-24,41

[8] Owen SS, Burke TW, "An exploration of prevalence of domestic violence in same-sex relationships", Psychol Rep. 2004 Aug;95(1):129-32.

[9] Renzetti, Claire M.; Miley, Charles Harvey. (1996), "Violence in Gay and Lesbian Domestic Partnerships: 2."

[10] Heintz, AJ, Melendez, RM, "Intimate partner violence and HIV/STD risk among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals", J Interpers Violence. 2006 Feb;21(2):193-208.