Posted on 11/21/2003 9:50:23 AM PST by scripter
A Pharmacist's View on Gay Marriage
A few excerpts:
Having worked with AIDS patients and investigational drug studies for HIV at Johns Hopkins Hospital, I feel a lot of compassion for homosexual persons. But as a professional health care provider, I am compelled to educate people with medical facts regarding same-sex marriage.
This is not a "privacy" issue. Gay activists have brought the gay lifestyle into the public square with their demands for "marriage" or "civil union." (The public has not gone into anyone's bedroom; rather, they have brought their bedroom issues out in public.) "Gay marriage" or "civil unions" will give legal protection and government benefits to the gay lifestyle. YOU, the taxpayer, will be paying those government benefits out of YOUR pocket, so you deserve to have an opinion on the subject and you deserve to be informed about facts relating to these same-sex unions...
Although the secular media, Hollywood celebrities, and groups such as PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians & Gays) still might make these claims, the medical community has rejected them. Research has shown that the incidence of a homosexual orientation is closer to 2 to 3 percent of the population. More importantly, several research projects failed to find the "gay gene." [1] As a matter of fact, had they discovered the gay gene, then gay marriage would become a civil right, since it would be scientifically proved that a person has this orientation as an "inborn" trait, something that cannot be changed. [2] The gay gene would be the most important piece of scientific evidence to convince you, the taxpayer, to pay government benefits for the gay lifestyle. Had they found the gay gene, you would have read about it in newspapers and magazines and seen it on TV; you would probably still be seeing it every single day. There would be a "test" for the gay gene, just as there are tests for other genetic traits.
So if there is no gay gene, then what causes a homosexual orientation? Most scientists agree that a combination of factors influence it. [3] Interestingly, many people have changed from a homosexual orientation to a heterosexual orientation with and without therapy. [4] No matter what our orientation, we do choose our lifestyle (which is tremendously influenced by what is permissible and encouraged in our culture.) With all of this research, why is there so much confusion?
Prior to 1973, "homosexual orientation" was listed as a diagnosable mental disorder in the DSM-III-R, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. In 1973, psychiatrists who were members of The American Psychiatric Association took a poll and voted on whether or not to remove "homosexual orientation" from this book of diagnoses. The vote was taken, and by a very slim margin, the vote sided on removing this diagnosis. There was no new information regarding the orientation (i.e., there hadn't been any research to warrant the justification of this action); they simply took a vote. This event initiated the cultural perception that homosexual orientation and behavior is a natural phenomenon and therefore should not be "treated" but should be accepted and even encouraged -- e.g., "out of the closet."
But should the gay lifestyle be encouraged? Health care professionals are familiar with the medical challenges of homosexual men living the gay lifestyle. For you, the taxpayer, to be willing to pay government benefits for gay marriage or civil unions, you should consider what lifestyle your tax dollars will be supporting...
Disease spread in gay/bisexual men is especially problematic because this lifestyle almost always includes multiple sexual partners. More partners means more disease. (Remember, condoms offer little or no protection against the spread of many diseases.) In addition, homosexual men living the gay lifestyle have a higher rate of depression, pornography use, alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide. [11,12] We all need to be compassionate toward those men trapped in this unhealthy lifestyle. But legitimizing homosexual marriage or civil unions will undoubtedly encourage experimentation in this lifestyle. From a medical and ethical perspective, this will have tragic consequences for individuals as well as society...
In recent years, the media has influenced public opinion about the gay lifestyle with emotion, but not with facts. When was the last time you read about the negative consequences of the gay lifestyle, including current epidemiological information about HIV or AIDS in the U.S.? Homosexual women do have different issues from homosexual men. This letter limits the discussion to men because the obvious public health threat from the lifestyle of gay men provides legitimate reasons for taxpayers to form an educated opinion against gay marriage and civil unions...
This is not a "privacy" issue. Without prompt action, YOU, the American taxpayer, will be paying for government benefits for gay marriage or civil unions out of YOUR pocket. Exercise your voice on this issue facing our country right now. Gay activists have used emotion and intimidation to distract us from the facts, and they are depending on taxpayer ignorance or apathy toward this situation to accomplish their goal. We will all live with the consequences of what happens with this issue...
Redefining Marriage Away ( http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_3_redefining_marriage.html )
"... But what really sticks in homosexual activists' craw is Donnie McClurkin, who, they say, on "The 700 Club" "has accused gay Americans of trying to kill our children." Mr. McClurkin, an accomplished gospel singer and author, overcame homosexuality himself. He knows firsthand the devastation, especially among young men, of homosexual sex. So he's more than mildly alarmed at the prospect of activists in schools presenting homosexuality as a normal, healthy activity. Hundreds of thousands of young men have died and many are now taking dozens of pills daily to stave off the effects of HIV-AIDS, hepatitis and other sexually transmitted diseases.
McClurkin's own story is worth hearing. Molested by an uncle when he was a youngster, McClurkin fell into homosexual behavior, but was delivered of this temptation by the grace of God.
Here's the synopsis from McClurkin's book, "Eternal Victim /Eternal Victor":
Remembering and recounting the ordeals of his early childhood, Donnie McClurkin resurrects feelings of hurt and pain that had long been forgotten. He causes himself to reveal the scars of healed wounds, explain how it happened, how he endured and how he and his family came out delivered and victorious. This truly personal testimony by one of Gospel music's favorite artists, shares his tremendous compassion for those who have not received their healing for their hurts, as well as those who are still in the midst of their personal struggles – especially the children.
From the moment he neglected watching his 2-year-old brother only to see him toddle into the street and be tragically killed by a speeding car, to the extreme sexual violation of an uncle who took advantage of his childhood innocence, to his bout with homosexuality, McClurkin candidly recounts the steps he took to turn his life from a victim to a victor.
Better shut him up, all right. And anyone else who dares to challenge the idea that homosexuality is as normal, healthy and good as apple pie.
Homosexual activists cannot win the theological debate, nor will medical science, biology, history or common sense support their deadly, tragic and changeable behavior. So they are reduced to accusing their opponents of "hatred" and silencing those brave enough to speak about the consequences of sexual anarchy on children, the family and society.
Their latest gambit is a federal "hate crimes" bill, passed recently by the Senate, in which 18 Republicans joined the Democrats. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act, sponsored by Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore., was an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill, which passed the House without any "hate crimes" language in it.
The word on the Hill is that as soon as conferees are appointed to reconcile differences in the two versions, pro-homosexual Congressmen will introduce a motion in the House to instruct the conferees to accept the Senate "hate crimes" language. Even if the House were foolish enough to pass such a measure, the conferees still could leave the "hate crimes" amendment out of the final version. But homosexual activists could crow that the centerpiece of their campaign had reached critical mass in the U.S. Congress.
If Americans don't want to see "thought crime" invade the nation's legal system, they had better get on the phones to members of Congress. This kind of dangerous bill succeeds when cowardly congressmen think nobody is looking.
The only way homosexual activists can persuade America to validate and enforce their agenda is to suppress the truth about homosexuality. The Rev. Earle Fox, who himself was silenced at the Episcopal ceremony at which openly homosexual bishop Gene Robinson was consecrated, put it this way in a recent letter to the Washington Times:
Honest science and godly love are at one with each other. The aim of homosexual-rights advocates has nothing to do with honest love – it is the public justification and total acceptance of homosexual behavior. If possible, they will coerce this acceptance by so-called hate-crime laws.
But they have sold the public a pig in a poke because they (very understandably) do not want the public to see what it is buying. There has never been a candid, mutually respectful public discussion of the real issue – homosexual behavior – because homosexual advocates cannot afford to discuss such self-destructive behavior in public, and conservatives are almost universally too prudish to do so ...
When that discussion finally happens, as it will, the jig will be up for public acceptance of homosexuality.
So it makes sense for "gay" activists to press for muzzling speakers who might give America a glimpse of what their agenda is really all about. The most invisible people in America are the people who have overcome homosexuality. The "ex-gays" are such a threat to the false, "born-that-way" paradigm that they must be kept off stage.
Sheri Dew and Bishop Keith Butler are threatening enough, but Donnie McClurkin is living proof that lives can be reclaimed from tragic sexual detours.
No wonder they are going to such lengths to keep him out of the limelight..."
Thanks, EdR! Good to see you, great info and comments, as usual.
ItsOurTimeNow, looks like a pinger. I used to sometimes (as you know!) ping the list to an existing already pung thread when new info or discussion happened. I think this post deserves a read by those on the list.
People *really* need to get riled up. I'm p*ssed about the "hate crimes" addition - and to think it was co-sponsored by the wretch Kennedy and the so-called Republican Gordon Smith churns my gut.
Checkout the story here: Rare infection may be risk to gay men in US
The article states: Dutch authorities found that a large number of the men recently infected with LGV had participated in sex parties and unprotected anal intercourse in the year before getting sick.
And, unfortunately: Many also were infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids.
Yet another reason to discourage homosexuality (behavior), especially in our youth.
Mother Nature and Darwin continue work overtime to removed these maggots.
Thank you for this excellent resource. It's invaluable.
The thing about this is, If HIV/AIDS didn't phase the sodomites then this won't phase them either. With the new antibiotic resistant "superbug" viruses out there it's only a matter of time until they bring about something devastating enough to take a toll large enough that the CDC orders a quarantine.
How are they going to do that? How do they deside who's a homosexual and who's not? They are playing with Pandora's box.
I have a rather large update to post (version 1.2), but the formatting becomes an issue with such a large document on FR - I'm trying to create a work-around.
That's a good point. I would hope hearing about the health hazards might slow them down a little, but as you said, if AIDS didn't...
BTTT
BTTT
BTTT
‘Not a simple answer’ for desert’s syphilis problem
"In the year since health officials warned of a growing syphilis problem here, the alarming but easily curable disease continues to overrun the Coachella Valley.
Despite a year of education and testing efforts, Palm Springs alone has a syphilis rate of 81.8 per 100,000 people in 2003, twice the rate of the nation’s No. 1 city for syphilis, San Francisco.
As of the end of August, 73 cases were reported in Riverside County, compared with 78 during the same period in 2003. In both years, most of the cases were coming from the Coachella Valley.
The disease, health officials say, is being spread in the desert almost exclusively by gay men, many of whom are also HIV-positive.
"We’ve considered it being at epidemic levels since 2002," said Barbara Cole, director of disease control in Riverside County and the lead official on the valley’s syphilis outbreak...
Something happened
Syphilis in the United States was in decline across the board in the 1980s and 1990s. According to the CDC, syphilis occurred mainly among heterosexual blacks in the South and in large cities in the 1990s. The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases declined substantially among gay men as a result of a decrease in risky sexual behavior as fears of HIV and AIDS spread.
Then something happened, at least in gay communities. Syphilis started popping up again. First there was an epidemic in the Seattle area in the late 1990s. Then an outbreak in Southern California.
Today, health officials say there is a syphilis problem in several American cities with substantial gay populations -- San Francisco, New York and Atlanta...
The question is why? There are many theories, but no definitive answers.
One of the most common is that gay men have begun engaging in risky sexual behavior because they’ve grown tired of the safe sex message, or are no longer concerned about AIDS..."
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