They were afraid I'd get it. I'm a lesbian. No case of HIV has ever been proven to be passed from woman to woman through sexual activity alone, as far as I can tell (i.e., if they did pass it there was another risk factor present as well, such as intravenous drug use). I've heard the same thing from many Mormons about HIV/AIDS being a "gay disease" and God's punishment for being gay. So since straight people pass it to each other almost as often (as often? not sure) as gay men do...I guess lesbians are The Lord's Chosen Holy Ones? It's OK to be gay in God's mind, as long as it's two people without penises? And He in His almighty goodness only punishes the ones with penises with His Holy AIDS?

Mormons sure are stupid.

Obesity and depression are Mormon diseases....

Boy that is just plain ignorance on the part of your parents!

Yeah, I sent them a fact sheet from the CDC. They refused to read it.

And that is pretty much why they are still Mormon - refusal to read about the facts they wish to ignore.

Ignorance and stupidity is spread rampantly by people like your parents.


You're fine just the way you are.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2013 10:45PM by wine country girl.

Stinks. Sucks.

As an Infectious Disease doc who treats HIV, I can provide some insight.

First, HIV was most likely "caused" if you will buy the bushmeat trade in Africa. SIV (Simian immunodeficiency virus) infects monkeys and at some point mutated sufficiently that it gained the ability to infect humans. The first human victims of HIV were those who ate infected monkeys. They likely died a mysterious death, long before there was enough of an outbreak in humans to lead to investigation. The sudden outbreak of a mysterious immunodeficiency syndrome among gay men promted a fury of scientific investigation that ultimately identified the HIV virus as the cause.

Second, there are risks of HIV acquisition that vary by orders of magnitude depending on the type of sexual activity. By far the highest risk is receptive anal intercourse, followed by insertive anal intercourse. Receptive vaginal intercourse is third. Oral sex has much lower risk than any of those. The choices of forms of sexual expression chosen by couples determine the risk, and of course monogamous couples would have very low risk regardless, unless someone is cheating, using IV drugs (or got blood products before 1980) which is another topic altogether. Lesbians do not engage in anal sex (artificial playthings do not count), and there is no statistically significant risk of HIV associated with female homosexuality. Heterosexual couples in which one is positive and one is negative are just as likely to have a transmission with anal sex as a homosexual male couple. A homosexual male encounter involving oral sex has risk, but nowhere near as much as anal intercourse.

Third, the presence of additional STD's makes a difference. Any form of intercourse, whether anal, vaginal or oral has a much higher risk if there is an ulcerative lesion. Herpes and syphilis both cause lesions that have been shown to shed HIV virus in great numbers in HIV infected persons. They also facilitate uptake of the HIV virus in HIV negative persons.

Fourth, promiscuity and sex mixed with alcohol and drug use where partners are less likely to discuss disease status and use protection increase the chances in engaging in high risk behavior. Those situations occur in both heterosexual and homosexual situations.

Guess what Molly . . . PEOPLE HAVE SEX! The religious right needs to get over this notion that gays caused HIV. They are its most vulnerable victims, but they did not cause it.

And don't get me started on the epidemic among the hemophiliacs due to Ronald Reagan's policy of turning the other cheek to the "gay disease."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2013 01:00AM by story100.

I think another major reason why AIDs has traditionally been common among homosexuals is the same reason they have been inflicted with so many problems with other STDs. The problem is societal rejection of their orientation. This forces a good number of them to hide their sexuality, to the point that many of them marry women or engage in long term phony heterosexual relationships. Because they are in these fake relationships, where they hide their orientation even from their spouse, or especially from their spouse, it is far to risky for them to engage in long term monogamous relationships with a gay partner, less they be discovered. Instead, they engage in short term one night stands, where they find a stranger at a hook-up spot, and engage in anonymous gay sex.

By creating a society that is more open to homosexuals, we create opportunities for homosexuals to develop more meaningful long term relationships, thus discouraging the hook up culture, and cutting down on risky sexual practices. In time, by allowing gays to share in the same values that we encourage in straight couples, we should see a dramatic decrease in STDs, not only among the gay culture, but among all groups overall.

Of course if an adult chooses to engage in more risky sexual behavior that is their own business, and their own choice, so long as it is with a consensual partner.

Yes, it's known among my acquaintances that there is an LDS man in my general area who is married with a full quiver of children and having unprotected receptive anal sex with men on the down low. He's real, I've seen his photos. That, my friends, is a disturbing situation.

Please tell his wife. Please. Someone needs to anonymously tell his wife and if there are pictures incriminating him, she needs to have them given to her. She could die, she could pass hiv to her babies... She deserves to be told.

Apparently he got caught recently. He's back at it but they know to watch him. Horrible situation.

What about a male contracting it from a female in vaginal sex?

They don't listen when you give them facts either. I have a TBM friend who keeps commenting that the Church's stand on oral sex was so inspired, because oral sex gives you cancer. (I don't think there is a 'stand' but anyway ...)

I explained to her about HPV and that's what could cause the cancer - not having the oral sex.

But it's like I said nothing because she'll come back with it again. Oral sex causes cancer. *sigh*

Thankyou, story100, while I considered myself fairly well read on this subject I learned a lot from what you said.

When oh when is society and the so called Church, going to GROW UP when it comes to sex?

The way I see it, is if it is between two consenting adults, and is responsible (EG no unwanted pregnancies and no passing on of STDS) , whose business is it anyway, but the two people involved? Of course cheating when you have promised to be exclusive involves a third person and is another matter, but otherwise, lets all just get OVER it!

We gay people take the rap for other stuff too: earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, riots, plagues, wars, etc.

Lucky, we off set all that by excellence in interior design, cosmology, and wedding planning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2013 12:50AM by PapaKen.

And girls' basketball and softball coaching. :)

Even back in my TBM days, I despised people saying that AIDS was God’s “punishment,” and for years, I have been saying if AIDS is a sign of God’s displeasure, lesbians must be God’s favorite people.

When I was in high school there was a AIDS bike ride. I wanted to go. My dad would not let me cause "if people have AIDS it is there fault, they shouldn't be having sex!" The guy who invited me to go asked if I had permission. I told him no, cause my dad is anti-AIDS. He said, "yeah, we all are, thats why we are going to this." The look on his face was priceless when I clarified that my dad was anti-people who have AIDS.

That is so ignorant. I heard some surprising things from my TBM brother about sexually transmitted diseases. He didn't feel that he needed to get tested for STD's, because he wasn't the one who cheated before he and his ex divorced. I had a heck of a time explaining to him that there is no magical STD fairy that only comes around to people who cheat. It's a health issue that affects everyone who is sexually active, faithful or not. I couldn't convince him. That may explain why he believes in abstinence over sex education in schools though, if the STD fairy also comes to people who have sex before marriage.

I think there is something about Mormonism that really breaks people.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2013 08:15PM by Makurosu.

I didn't think people still believed that homosexuals caused AIDS, but there is no doubt they led to the spread of AIDS more than any other group of people. But once people were educated on how it was spread, there has still been a select group of people who still have unprotected anal sex, and the majority are homosexual men. You didn't start the fire, but throwing gas on it didn't help your cause.

"My" cause? I'm not a gay man, I'm a lesbian. Lesbians are responsible for the LEAST number of new HIV infections. It's actually statistically negligible. And also, HIV is transmitted primarily now from mother to child, and can be transmitted through breast milk, blood (transfusions or needles), or any form of unprotected sex. Also, I'd say that there's no "cause" here, for gay men OR women. The issue is incorrect medical info.

Exactly. Per the CDC, the largest growing group of HIV patients is heterosexual women of color.

I wonder what 'gas' they threw on the fire?? /snark

How can your parents believe that!?
So I guess by their Mormon logic, there must be a very high percentage of gay men and lesbian women in African countries. (Roll eyes).

Late to the thread, and I know you know this, but AIDS is not caused by homosexuality.

A homosexual couple that where neither partner has the HIV that causes AIDS can have all the homosexual sex acts they desire and as long as they keep it between themselves will never get AIDS.

STDs are pretty straight forward. Even a virgin can have HIV.

Religion is not the solution to STDs. Institutional ignorance can be the problem, much more so than the solution.

Yes, I do know this, but it should be repeated as often as possible, since apparently MANY PEOPLE DON'T. Crazy world.

One of the other posters above got it right with the link that was posted. In developed countries like the US, the largest group of those who spread AIDS are gay men. That's just statistically true and not even an opinion. If the gay men here don't want to go to the CDC web-site and do a little research, I am not here to tell them they should do that or to tell them 'I told you so' after they catch AIDS. I'm going to have to get a little graphical here to explain why it's the gay men who spread this disease at a rate far above the rest of the population. For as long as the human species has existed, the survival of our species has depended on the female's immune system being able to withstand having intercourse without contracting diseases. Sure, they can always get diseases from intercourse, but there is some built-in immunity that offers some natural protection to their reproductive areas. Their body parts are also designed to stretch more to accommodate this type of penetration. The rectum is not designed to function this same way. It splits open and bleeds from nothing more than the insertion. Even if no blood is visible, there are ruptures during anal sex that cause vulnerability to HIV. The human immune system offers no special immunity protections there either. Semen simply mixes with blood and the infection goes directly in to the blood stream. Although a woman can catch AIDS from intercourse, many do not become infected, even when having intercourse with an infected male during unprotected sex. Another fact has to do with the number of partners that many gay men have. The average hetrosexual male is limited by the number of willing female partners that they can find who will consent to have sex with them. Some gay men will have literally hundreds, even thousands of anonymous partners. I found it hard to believe what I read about the gay bath houses in San Franscisco and the unrestricted number of sexual encounters that take place in many of them.

My biggest concern in your case is that you could catch HIV through sex with someone who is involved with a bi-sexual male. As a lesbian, you're probably pretty safe if you stick to just women who don't have sex with men.

If two consenting adults agree to actions that spread AIDS at a significantly higher rate in the population than most others, political correctness may dictate that they be allowed to do it. Putting aside what the church says about the sinfulness of sodomy, the act of spreading diseases because of irresponsibility and ignorance is just plain immoral behavior. When you look at government statistics from the CDC website, it's clear that if not for the gay male factor, the people with AIDS would die off faster than the disease could spread if not for the actions of gay men who continue to spread it much more than any other group. Many of them seem to think that AIDS is spread through a lack of funding to find a cure.

So next comes the part where the gay people on here attack what I've just said and call me prejudice and other names. Just like the Mormon testimonies and the ingrained mis-truths that create them, some people just won't research enough to find the real truth based on objective research. They'll believe what they want to believe and the AIDS epidemic will never be quite over.

What? As a lesbian, I'm having sex with people who are with bisexual males? Isn't that more of a concern for straight people? As a straight person, you're much, much, much more likely to spread HIV than I am statistically. (Gold star dykes are my specialty, by the way.) You have some really, really strange ideas about gay sex. Why would I be more likely, as a lesbian who has sex with other lesbians, to have sex with someone who has sex with bisexual males? No lesbians I know sleep with women who have sex with any men. Because they sleep with other lesbians. That would be much more of a concern for STRAIGHT WOMEN. Who have sex with MEN. Including bisexual ones.

I'm not even going to get into the rest of it because I can't even handle it right now. But I had to at least comment on that strange assumption. I'm not sure why that would be a concern for any lesbian at any time. Also, once again, sex between women (even those who have had sex with bisexual men) has NEVER BEEN PROVEN, even once, ever, to be able to cause someone to contract HIV in and of itself. So even if I had rampant sex with a woman who slept with an HIV positive bisexual male, it'd be virtually impossible for me to contract it from her through sex alone. So again, that's an issue for straight people.

Also, have you met straight men? Are you a straight men? Almost every straight man I know is obsessed with anal sex. Look at any porn ever. I guess they're using their bodies in a lot of "unnatural" ways too.

I agree with you. You're probably most safe just having sex with other women. Even if that segment of the population is the fastest growing for AIDS as some claim, it's still insignificant compared to the spread of AIDS from gay men, or even hetrosexuals.

I am a straight man and am not obsessed with anal sex (never done it, not interested in it). Most porn is geared toward entertaining very sexually repressed people and is so fake. In real life, things don't go the way that is portrayed in porn most of the time. Like every time you have sex, this music comes out of no where and starts playing. I wasn't saying what is natural or un-natural in the post above, just pointing out the source of the disease. As a lesbian, you're pretty safe. No assumptions about the gay community here. I know little about it and probably never will.

No one claims that. I just looked it up and there were two differing opinions about the fastest growing segment of the population with HIV/AIDS: 1) people over 50 (all people), and 2) 18-24-year old heterosexuals.

As you can see, the highest risk factors for "women who have sex with women" include sex with men and intravenous drug use. I think that your comment about bisexual men was meant to be directed towards women who have sex with women--which primarily describes bisexual women, not lesbians.
http://womensenews.org/story/health/030313/lesbians-face-unique-set-aids-risks#.UeVNslWnapg

Also, lesbians are far more likely than heterosexuals to be monogamous, statistically. So I guess I should write a post claiming that one of the main problems with heterosexuals is their inability to be as monogamous as lesbians, and that if they could just stop having so many partners and engaging in high risk behaviors like vaginal intercourse, there were be far fewer new HIV infections? Because that's actually true, too, and I'm sure you wouldn't take too kindly to that.

I was responding to your claims about the body not being "made" to perform anal sex. I really don't care about your personal sexual desires. You associated anal sex with gay men, and I'm saying that many, many straight people have anal sex on a regular basis.

Yes, this is true.

Not reading your scriptures every day leads to doubts

Doubts open the door for satan to get in

Satan gives you impure thoughts

Impure thoughts lead to masturbation

Masturbation leads to homosexuality

Homosexuality leads to HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS leads to death

Dying while living in a depraved, intravenous drug-using, homosexual relationship (as all lesbians are) sends you straight to spirit prison and eventually to the telestial kingdom

If only you'd just read your scriptures every day.. :(