Do more gays have A.I.D.S. then straight people?

[jerryskid]

I realize it is stereotypical but it is a good argument against any anti-homosexual. Please dont take this as stereotypical and discriminatory.

[sangha]

1. I'm pretty sure

that the main route for new transmissions is heterosexual sex. In fact, I think women are getting it more often than men, but I could be wrong.

Try Google

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. Statistics...

<http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/aidsstat.htm>

[Yupster]

9. Thanks for the stats

Very interesting.

What's with the huge percentage of AA's getting AIDS? Four times more AA women than white women when there are six times more white women than AA women. What's the explanation for that?

[dogonarug]

12. HIV & AIDS

There is an important distinction between HIV & AIDS. An AIDS diagnosis according to the CDC is... CD4 T cell counts of 200 or less (normal, between approx. 600-1500) low T cell counts mean the immune system has less capacity to fight off infection(s) Any count above 200 is considered to be an HIV infection (the disease progresses from HIV to AIDS) To answer your question why African American Women are the leading group for AIDS diagnoses...simply because many of them cannot afford the very expensive antiretroviral drugs that keep the viral load levels low, thus minimizing the damage to T cells and the immune system. This is also true in general for many in minority groups who don't have health insurance(estimated fewer than 35% of diagnosed HIV positive people are currently on these drugs in the US) The HIV virus is a BLOOD BORNE PATHOGEN!!(can be transmitted through blood products, i.e. blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk) if you have blood, you are vulnerable if you are exposed! Do not believe the media who BTW cannot even get the terminology right (mostly I suspect due to the fact that AIDS just sounds more ominous) Humans with blood are all at risk...some, such as the sexually promiscuous and IV drug users are at higher risk. Education about protection(condom use, abstinence etc.) and methods of transmission are less likely to find it's way to minority groups... and less likely to be practiced for various reasons. It doesn't help that there is so much misinformation and confusion about the subject. Sorry to rant...just pisses me off when I hear lies and statements from the media which lead to questions like the subject of this thread! We should have all been informed properly by our Government about this disease by now! Instead Bush has gutted the office of AIDS and Arnold has his sights on the CA ADAP program (AIDS drug assistance program) There are many who won't make it through 4 more years of the present administration.

[slinkerwink]

3. no, MORE straight people have AIDS than gay people do

after all, it's god's punishment on those damned straights for having premarital sex. :eyes:

[TheBigDemo]

4. No, but a larger percentage of Gays do.

India and Africa have huge rates of HIV infection. There is probably more straight people with AIDS then there are Gay people. Minority women are the fastest growing group that is contracting the virus. African, Hispanic, and Indian (India) women in particular. It is so sad. :(

[aquart]

5. Where?

Africa is being destroyed by heterosexual contact.

[jerryskid]

6. The u.s.

who is being killed more

[FDRrocks]

7. killed more? n/t

[jerryskid]

8. Sorry

Im not exactly sure of your lingo please explain.

[FDRrocks]

11. I thought you meant the U.S.

is being 'killed more' by AIDS than Africa. Is this true.

[meg]

10. Lesbians have the lowest rate

if that is part of your question.

[lojasmo]

13. in 2002

154,000 persons in the US contracted HIV through non-homosexual contact. 134,350 contracted it through male to male homosexual contact. There is a chart here on the CDC's website.

aids is a different thing, having to do with CD4 counts and opportunistic infections in HIV infected people. I won't look up death rates for you, try googling "aids death rates demographics"

[dogonarug]

15. The TV still says...

That if you are heterosexual...don't sweat it too much, still a "gay" disease. Those numbers say the opposite. The idea that a virus could determine sexual preference is sensational!
Just last week one of those "according to experts"(local news) reports claimed that the warning to heteros back in the beginning of the epidemic to also be careful was just to alarm the public sufficiently and keep everybody on their toes...but now, new info suggests that the virus is extremely hard to acquire through hetero contact...the bullshit implication is,if you have straight sex, not to worry... I would like to see the numbers of straight HIV infected people who became infected because they incorrectly assumed they weren't at risk.

[Solar]

14. gay men used to have the highest rate

Gay men used to have the highest infection rate because that is where the disease started out. The infection rate for gay men has gone down because everyone realized how dangerous it is and started awareness and safe-sex campaigns.

The infection rate is now highest for AAs because they are usually the most sexually active. HIV/AIDS was once thought of the disease that 'only gays get', so many heterosexual partners didn't think they needed to worry about it.

[ringmastery]

16. having unprotected sex

is like playing russian roulette.

It's a dangerous world out there.

[Brian_Expat]

17. The right wing says HIV in the US is a "gay disease". . .

. . . but if you look at the numbers, it's primarily a black and latino disease. 50% of people with HIV don't know they have it, and the vast majority of those are inner-city Latinos and African Americans. As a result, a strong majority of new cases of HIV are amongst inner city minority communities.

This sorta blows the old conservative arguments about gays being "an elite white group" out of the water. If you accept the (incorrect) conservative premise that "HIV is a gay disease," you also have to accept the premise that a large majority of homosexual men are inner-city blacks and latinos. You also have to accept the notion that lesbians aren't homosexual, since they have the lowest HIV rate of any group of people.

[noonwitch]

20. The right wing wants to blame it on gays

In the 80s, when AIDS was first named and talked about, it started out as primarily a gay man's disease. The Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons at the time thought that all people found to be HIV+ should be quaranteened.

What the spread of HIV proves is that human beings, gay or straight, are more promiscuous than we like to admit.

[dpibel]

18. Could you translate this into standard American English?

Edited to delete the part that would make me go read the special warning before I could post again

From your feigned apologies for your completely unintended "stereotypical and discriminatory" remarks, I must assume that you believe the answer to be "gays, of course."

If that is the case, how do you believe this is a good argument "against any anti-homosexual?"

If you were to actually come right out and state the premises for your question, rather than engaging in ambiguity, you might actually get some information, assuming that was your interest.

[Brian_Expat]

19. Another fast-growing HIV-positive group. . .

. . . elderly people (over 65). The infection rate amongst seniors is soaring at an amazing rate. Most of the senior cases are heterosexuals.

[kiahzero]

21. Homosexual men > straight men > straight women > homosexual women

It's about promiscuity, not sexual orientation. To put it more glibly:

It's not who you're fucking, but how many people you fuck.