Gay Marriage and AIDS: We Now Know the Connectn - Big Thk

Contents:

• GAY MARRIAGE AND AIDS: WE NOW KNOW THE CONNECTN
• IS AIDS A “GAY” DISEASE?
• GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE VICTORY STILL SHADOWED BY AIDS

GAY MARRIAGE AND AIDS: WE NOW KNOW THE CONNECTN

In light of yterday’s cisn by the Feral District Court San Francis to strike down a ban on same-sex marriage California, why not ask the qutn: How do the legalizatn of gay marriage a particular geographil regn affect the HIV rate there? The speculatn that legalizg gay marriage will lead to more HIV s go like this: Surely, the legalizatn of same-sex marriage is gog to lead to creased tolerance of homosexualy. Increased tolerance might enurage some people to adopt a more active homosexual liftyle.

HIV rat are higher among homosexual men than among heterosexual men, so dog the mental math means surely HIV rat mt crease..

IS AIDS A “GAY” DISEASE?

For example, we n nduct a survey that asks if the followg statement is te or false: “Homosexual behavr is always, or almost always, wrong. By this measure, the Uned Stat, as a natn, is relatively tolerant towards homosexualy, wh 60% of those surveyed rpondg “te”.

Fortunately, we have methods to weigh the issu and keen rearchers who n provi empiril evince on the relatn between tolerance and rearch, which looks at variatns between US stat tolerance towards homosexualy and HIV rat, has found that an crease tolerance signifintly rc the rate of HIV. On the tensive marg, for men who already have an active homosexual liftyle, creased tolerance might make possible for them to ntue that liftyle way that enurag ls risky sex.

This is nsistent wh evince that US stat that are more tolerant have ls high-risk meetg plac and more safe meetg the extensive marg, men who do not have an active homosexual liftyle bee they eher fear the repercsns, or strongly sire to marry and have a fay, might now choose an active homosexual liftyle if there is an crease tolerance or if marriage bans are removed.

GAY MARRIAGE

If the men, on average, behave a ls risky way, we would expect an over-all crease risky sexual behavr among homosexual men bee more risk-adverse dividuals are now part of the this remds me of that old sayg; if you are not part of the solutn you are part of the problem. Gay and bisexual men n take the followg steps to rce their risk of HIV fectn:. There has been some early rearch suggtg that gay men who live stat ndong same-sex marriage are both healthier and happier.

The right to marriage guarante smoother accs to health re through partners’ benefs, said Jim Pickett, AFC’s director of preventn advocy and gay men’s health. “And, time, uld lead to fewer gay kids gettg kicked out of their hom and endg up on the rner of Belmont and Halsted, puttg themselv at risk for HIV jt to get a meal and a bed to sleep . That means a lot to Menard, 54, who remembers g out as gay at age 20 Hartford, Conn., 1978.

GAY MARRIAGE VICTORY STILL SHADOWED BY AIDS

Almost all of the major homophile groups ed to tell that HIV/AIDS is not a “gay” disease. They claimed that should not be associated wh homosexualy any way, shape or form bee this allegedly led to the “stigmatizg and spegoatg” of homosexuals. This assertn was an sential ponent of the refully-engeered mpaign tend to nvce that homosexualy is jt as healthy as heterosexualy.

But as evince piled up, the allegatn that homosexualy and HIV/AIDS were unrelated was no longer fensible, and those who nied the nnectn were creasgly perceived as disnnected om realy.