| Quote:
Originally Posted by OhDear 
In this article, the sexual practices of the gay community are cited as those with greater risk. Both oral and anal sex are cited as what these young people are turning to in lieu of "vaginal sex"...
Do you agree that gay practices are of a higher risk for disease?
The article is saying that the riskier sexual practices are oral and anal sex.
That is the only kind of sex that gay people can engage in using their very own bodies, both being of the same sex. And if it is riskier sex for heterosexuals to engage in oral and anal sex, would it not stand to reason that it is also riskier for same sex couples to engage in as well?
. . . The mainstay of sexual practices within the gay community were cited. Reasonably, I could "and" together the fact that anal and oral sex were cited and anal and oral sex are the mainstay of sexual acts in the gay community.
It has been repeated over and over again here that the sexual practices of gay people are not of any higher risk than the sexual practices of straight couples. And yet here in this article, even when heterosexuals make use of anal and oral sex, it is stated as a fact that those particular sexual practices put young people at greater risk of STDs.
It is reasonable to conclude then that those same practices protected here ad nauseum in hundreds or thousands of posts by the gay members of the DTT are putting them and their community at a higher risk too. And since they cannot resort to vagina/penis sexual acts, they need to realize from the article cited that they too are in need of re-education concerning the safety of what they do. For their own sakes.
Now this is in the gay forums as appropriately requested, it is not about the sexual practices of heterosexuals, be they monogamous or promiscuous.
OhDear
| Dear OhDear,
I do not have the time or energy to read all the posts in this thread. I will give you my take on your original post. This is for you, and not intended to be a contribution to the ongoing debate in this thread. If the points I make have already been made by others, then I apologize for wasting your time.
I have three main points:
First, you have failed to take into account the condom factor. Among forms of sexual contact without a condom, the most risky behavior is anal sex, followed by vaginal intercourse, with oral sex being the least risky of the three (although still risky).
So in essence, you are correct in stating that anal sex is riskier than vaginal intercourse but incorrect about oral sex being riskier than vaginal intercourse. However, this study does not explain WHY gay men are at more risk of contracting HIV/AIDS than heterosexual people. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the decision not to use a condom, the decision to have multiple sexual partners, and the decision to engage in riskier sexual behavior in general. Many studies have been done on this topic and they overwhelmingly point to the social stigma that society places on homosexuality as the major factor leading to all of these poor judgements. If you would like to read some of these studies, I will definitely post the references for you.
Secondly, what about lesbians? You stated, "That is the only kind of sex that gay people can engage in using their very own bodies, both being of the same sex." So what is your explanation of the health risks for lesbians? Or are we simply disregarding half of the gay population in this argument?
Lastly, You did not state the purpose of your post, nor an argument based on the information you put forth. Yet it seems that you are implying that homosexuals should not engage in anal sex because anal sex is riskier than vaginal intercourse. I don't think I need to do much arguing to point out that people do a lot of risky things, and just because a behavior is riskier than another behavior does not mean that it should be avoided.
Here's a thought for you: Who engages in healthier sexual behavior? A man who has had sex with dozens of women without a condom? Or a man who has only ever had sex with one man, his partner, and never uses a condom? Whose behavior is riskier?
Last edited by deekers79; 05-15-2008 at 06:51 PM.
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