Ban on gay blood donors upheld by panel

[Ben Kenobi]

And what makes it even more bizarre is the whole stigma against gays in so many minority and underprivileged communities which lowers the % of gays who are open about it (hence the whole down-low brother concept). That the % of minority homosexuals is understated as a result is probably very much true but there are no indications that minorities are more likely to be gay.

It fits the data. Explains the higher incidence of HIV transmission to black women vis a vis white women.

No need to dodge around trying to explain why 40 percent of HIV transmissions among gay men are black.

If 10 percent of all men are black, and they make up half the gay men, then this is a 5x greater incidence rate.

[Ben Kenobi]

According to revised data (Brazilians are 25% white and Australians 90% white) and Ben's unassailable logic minorities are in fact 6.7x as likely to gay.

Sounds about right. Would explain how they present around 50 percent of AIDS cases among gay men.

[Al B. Sure!]

It fits the data. Explains the higher incidence of HIV transmission to black women vis a vis white women.

No need to dodge around trying to explain why 40 percent of HIV transmissions among gay men are black.

If 10 percent of all men are black, and they make up half the gay men, then this is a 5x greater incidence rate.

Are you saying black men are more likely to be gay or more likely to contract HIV?

[Asher]

Are you saying black men are more likely to be gay or more likely to contract HIV?

It doesn't matter, gay people have HIV in Ben's world.

[Al B. Sure!]

The problem is you have communities that tend to not like condoms (Hmm... I wonder why CATHOLIC Hispanics aren't fond of condoms! ) (hence why pregnancy out of wedlock and all STD's are more common in minority communities).

And let's consider the racial aspect... what do you suppose is the rate of interracial homosexual activity? I would not be surprised if gay Black men are predominately having sex with other Black men (many of whom are NOT openly gay and are also having sex with women). Of course the rate of transmission will be high because they're having sex within the community primarily. It's being magnified. That doesn't mean there are more gay men at all. Just more gay men with HIV because they're more likely to have unprotected sex within the community.

[Ben Kenobi]

Are you saying black men are more likely to be gay or more likely to contract HIV?

Both.

[Ben Kenobi]

Just more gay men with HIV because they're more likely to have unprotected sex within the community.

Unlikely to explain a 5x higher incidence rate.

[Al B. Sure!]

Both.

Are you serious? Black men are more likely than White men to be gay? What are you smoking? By what mechanism?

When it comes to open-ness, it's the opposite. Black men are far more likely to hide their homosexuality than White men. This is a well-known cultural phenomenon. But there's a long way from admitting that the statistics underrepresent homosexuality in minority communities to stating that Black men are more likely to be gay.

[Al B. Sure!]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629114536.htm

Black gay men have less choice when it comes to sexual partners than other groups and, as a result, their sexual networks are closely knit. These tightly interconnected networks make the rapid spread of HIV more likely. In a study1 looking at social and sexual mixing between ethnic groups in men who have sex with men, H. Fisher Raymond and Willi McFarland, from the San Francisco Department of Public Health in the US, show that social barriers faced by Black gay men may have a serious impact on their health and well-being.

Black gay men are the least preferred of sexual partners by other races. Black men are perceived to be riskier to have sex with, which can lead to men of other races avoiding Black men as sexual partners. They are also perceived as less welcome in the common social venues of gay men in San Francisco. As a result, Black men are three times more likely to have sexual partners that are also Black, than would be expected by chance alone.

[Ben Kenobi]

Are you serious? Black men are more likely than White men to be gay? What are you smoking? By what mechanism?

Don't know. Black men, despite being 10 percent of the American Population report half of the HIV transmission. If the rate of homosexuality is as it is in Brazil, it would explain the incidence.

When it comes to open-ness, it's the opposite. Black men are far more likely to hide their homosexuality than White men. This is a well-known cultural phenomenon.

Are you suggesting that because they hide their homosexuality that it means it's not there? It would mean that it would seem to be less among the black community but the reality would be far different.

[Ben Kenobi]

Black men are perceived to be riskier to have sex with

Your quotation confirms my argument. If the average black man is more likely to engage in sodomy, then he'd be more likely to also have HIV. This would explain the perception.

[Al B. Sure!]

Perceptions are rarely true, especially when you add in underlying racist attitudes. And if the perception becomes self-fulfilling (as seems to be the case here) it does not mean the perception was originally correct.

And do you know how HIV spreads? It's not about engaging in sodomy! It's about having sexual relations (gay or straight) with someone who has already contracted the disease. You do realize you could have insane amounts of glorious gay sodomy with men who don't have HIV and you'll never contract the disease.

[Heraclitus]

But I agree with Asher, gay people in long term monogamous relationships should absolutely be able to donate blood.

+1

[Al B. Sure!]

Hey maybe Ben just doesn't know how HIV spreads. Maybe he was taught it was God punishing the sodomites. Hopefully, he's reading up on wikipedia now.

[Heraclitus]

If 10 percent of all men are black, and they make up half the gay men, then this is a 5x greater incidence rate.

I haven't read your other posts. This one makes me not want to read any of them ever.


Ben.

AIDS is not God's curse over gay people.
AIDS is an STD.
People who are promiscius and engage in more risky forms of sex get more STDs.

End of story.


There may be a slightly higher rate of STDs in the Black population due to closeted gays, but I doubt this very much. Diferences in STD rates are not a good reason to think there is a greater proportion of gay Blacks than Whites.

For example one of the reasons for higher HIV rates in some African countries is the practice of dry sex which makes women more vonureable to infections. Just a different practice in a diffrenet cultural context. No gays involved.