[Physicist]

It's odd that this sort of argument should have any currency among conservatives.

Just about any statement you can make about homosexual intercourse defying the design of the body can be made about smoking tobacco, and yet conservatives are the main champions of smokers' rights.

I'm sure many posters will say that the perils of smoking are well publicized, while the perils of homosexuality are not. That's wrong, however: far and away, the number one health threat from homosexual intercourse is AIDS, and that is very well publicized. Any other health problems which are specifically due to homosexual intercourse are minor compared to AIDS, or to the problems caused by smoking.

Any health problems caused by either activity are the result of free and yes, well-informed choices made by the sufferers. Laissez-faire, I say.

[netmilsmom]

Could you please answer post 46. I know you can.

[NCSteve]

Laissez-faire, I say.

Your comparison has no merit in the context of this article. Smokers do not ask for special rights to be granted them by the government. In fact, smokers are going quietly into the ranks of second-class citizenship. You don't see them filing Federal lawsuits when they are refused service in a restaurant, when an apartment building manager won't rent to them, or when insurance companies charge them higher premiums.

I, for one, could care less what people do with one another to get their jollies. However, homosexuals have launched a highly coordinated and well-funded effort to "normalize" their behavior in our society and in our law. They have succeeded in tilting the scales substantially in their favor. Articles such as this one do significant damage to their argument and are a welcome change to the standard fare of PC pablum from the scientific community on this issue.

[grey_whiskers]

Just about any statement you can make about homosexual intercourse defying the design of the body can be made about smoking tobacco, and yet conservatives are the main champions of smokers' rights.

The *context* is different.
Smoking is physiologically addictive; but you can safely satisfy
the need to expel semen by using your own hands and a bucket of bleach.
There is also the question of economics--tobacco companies
make a lot of money and pay beaucoup taxes; the companies were well established long before the health risks of smoking were established.

Finally there is the synergistic effect of smoking and
the "typical American diet" (unknown before the turn of the century).

Any other health problems which are specifically due to homosexual intercourse are minor compared to AIDS, or to the problems caused by smoking.

Nonetheless there are other major health problems clustered
within the male homosexual community, such as hepatitis and tuberculosis;
these may be seen as secondary epidemics piggybacking upon AIDS.
Or dare I call it "barebacking?"

[radicalamericannationalist]

The smoking example is fallacious. Your lungs are made to take in air. The anus is not designed to have things going in it.

[Antoninus]

That's wrong, however: far and away, the number one health threat from homosexual intercourse is AIDS, and that is very well publicized. Any other health problems which are specifically due to homosexual intercourse are minor compared to AIDS, or to the problems caused by smoking.

The day that health insurers are allowed to ask if someone is "gay" and hold it againts them the way they do with smokers, is the day that I'll say that your comparison is legit.

Smoking is a gross abuse of the body. As a conservative, I recognize that people are still going to do it. However, conservatives also believe that people ought to be responsible for their own bad decisions and not expect the rest of society to pay their way. And I do not believe that there's any right to smoke--just as I don't believe that there's a right to sodomy.

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

Probvlem is, that many homosexual acts ened up causing diseases that are pertinent to the gay community. From there they invariably spread via bisexuals. This is well documented.