A Gay Cruising Site Defends Itself (Over HIV “super-strain,” )

The manager of Manhunt.net on the HIV “super-strain,” unsafe sex, crystal meth, and corporate—and personal—responsibility.

The news that a New Yorker had contracted what appears to be an especially fast-acting, medically impervious form of HIV put the three-year-old gay-personals site Manhunt.net on the front page of the Times, and on the defensive. Along with AOL chat rooms, the popular site was repeatedly cited as a place where men arrange to have sex with other men (although the actual site, or sites, where this man met some of his “hundreds” of unsafe-sex partners while bingeing on crystal meth, has not been named by authorities). Jacob Bernstein spoke with Stephan Adelson, Manhunt’s general manager, a 42-year-old former Episcopalian monk and ex–Disney World hotel manager, about the site’s reputation as a virtual bathhouse.

Is the man with the HIV “super-strain” a Manhunt member? I don’t know anything about that. But the minute we heard about it, we contacted the Department of Health and the CDC.

How did you hear the news? I saw an article in the paper, and I sent an e-mail to my contact at the CDC, requesting any official information. There’s been no reference to this Website.

How many people use the site? We have close to 300,000 active members nationwide and 30,000 in New York State.

What are you doing to stop the spread of HIV? Right now we work with fifteen departments of Health. And there are more than 50 community-based organizations on the site that have the ability to do partner notification. GMHC joined in September. It’s been difficult because we’re a sex-positive site. Most of our users go on with the intention of meeting for sex. That can be an obstacle with some organizations.

How does notification work? If you go to a clinic and you test positive for an STD, they ask whether you’ve met men online. If you say Manhunt.net, the group will log on and anonymously let [your] partners know that they may have contracted an STD. Last year, there was a person who came in contact with around 30 other people. The numbers can be large.

But would you let these groups target users who are advertising their interest in unsafe sex? No. I just don’t think that’s an effective way to facilitate change. We had an organization that was contacting people who had barebacking [having anal sex without a condom] in their profiles, telling them about a new rapid HIV test.

And we were inundated with complaints. Do you ever feel personally responsible about the unsafe sex enabled by your Website? It all boils down to personal choice. We believe that people have the right to PNP [“party and play,” or to do crystal meth and have sex] or not to PNP, to use condoms or not use condoms. What we hope is that people will back up their choices with responsible behavior. We provided an empty site and our customers have filled it. But the majority of them don’t PNP or bareback.

Still, there does seem to be an awful lot of irresponsible behavior on the Internet. Why is that? The Internet is a great vehicle for like-minded people to get together, whether it’s to collect trading cards or do crystal meth. If it’s not a dating Website like Manhunt, it could be a bulletin board like Craigslist or it could be something new that hasn’t been created yet. But there’s no going back.

probably like groups here in America are funding them too

WHO IS FUNDING HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS IN CANADA?

The Canadian Taxpayer

It seems that Canadian taxpayers, whether they like it or not, are generous funders of the homosexual activists.

The homosexual lobby group, EGALE, (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere), attributes generous financial support from the federally funded Court Challenges Program, which in turn is funded solely by the federal Heritage Department. EGALE refers to these two government agencies as its "Platinum" supporters. But that's not all, Status of Women Canada also contributes to EGALE, as does the National Film Board, which recently completed a film in support of same-sex marriage. All this funding comes from the pockets of Canadian taxpayers.

Where would EGALE be without this support? Certainly not before the courts on a regular basis, seeking, from the obliging judges, legal recognition and privileges, such as benefits for their relationships, and legal sanction by "marriage" of their partnerships.

Also, where would the activists be without the Liberal government's political support of these activists? The Liberal government stacked the House of Commons Justice Committee with homosexual sympathizers in order to pass NDP Svend Robinson's motion against appealing the bizarre decision of Roy McMurtry's Ontario Court of Appeal (see REALity, July/August 2003, "The Sordid Story of How the Same-sex Marriage Issue was Manipulated in Canada," p.4). In 2003, the government completely reversed its policy from opposing same-sex marriage to total support of it, and the current Minister of Justice has stacked the Supreme Court of Canada with the hard-line feminist supporters, Judges Abella and Charron, to ensure that its own political agenda in support of same-sex marriage be approved. Further, the Liberals pushed through Parliament the notorious Bill C-250 that amends the Criminal Code to give special protection from so-called "hate propaganda" on the grounds of sexual orientation. This amendment will effectively shut down public debate on the homosexual issue and infringe freedom of religion and speech in Canada.

Homosexual activists have been successful on the political scene and in the courts only because of the unconditional support they receive from the Liberal government and its funding agencies.

Unions

With the funds they receive from compulsory union dues, Canadian unions are financially backing homosexual activists, and are also granting them special benefits and recognition in their collective agreements. EGALE lists as its "Gold" supporters, the following unions:

Canadian Auto Workers Union
BC Teachers' Federation
Canadian Union of Public Employees
Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario
Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Media Guild
Health Sciences Association of BC
SE-UQAM (Le Syndicat des employees and employés de l'Université du Québec à Montréal
Public Service Alliance of Canada - Local 00042

Other Supporters

Also, "Gold" supporters of EGALE include the formerly religious but now very social institution, the United Church of Canada; two corporations: IBM (International Business Machines) and Canada Digital Collections.

Not to be out-distanced on this score is the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). During the Gay Pride celebrations in Toronto during the week June 20 - 27, 2004, President and Chief Executive Officer, John Hunkin, hosted a reception on the top floor of the bank's Toronto tower. Homosexual rights activists mingled with the wealthy and influential movers and shakers of Ontario including recently elected Ontario Conservative leader, John Tory, who is in support of same-sex marriage.

In his remarks at this reception, Mr. Hunkin stated in part as follows:

CIBC also has a long history of supporting the Gay & Lesbian Community.
In the mid-1990s, for example, CIBC made same-sex benefits available to its employees well before employers across Canada were legally obligated to do so. By that time, I was head of CIBC World Markets, and we had already implemented same-sex benefits for our employees before it was offered throughout the rest of the bank.
CIBC also had an opportunity to play a role, albeit a small one, in the legal battle for same-sex marriage. As the employer of Joe Varnell and former employee Kevin Bourassa, we are pleased that as they embarked on their legal challenge to the common law definition of marriage, they received the support, encouragement and flexibility they needed from managers, colleagues and specialist groups at CIBC. Through the courageous efforts of these two individuals, they became the first legally married same-sex couple - in the world
… I'm proud that CIBC was able to provide support to their efforts.
CIBC has also been a major donor to a number of L-G-B-T [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] related organizations over the year.
We've also worked to sensitize the workplace and create an inclusive environment for Transgender employees.
CIBC has also been a proud part of the community. For the past two years, our employees have marched under the CIBC banner at Toronto's Pride Parade.

The CIBC, by its own admission, therefore, is not merely accepting homosexuality as a matter of so-called "equality" in the workplace, but is actively promoting, both financial and morally, the homosexual agenda, including same-sex marriage. All Canadians who bank at the CIBC should know where some of its profits are being directed.

Asper Foundation

The list of EGALE's sponsors also includes the Asper Foundation, sponsored by the Asper brothers, owners of CanWest publications, whose empire includes the National Post. According to its Web site, the Asper Foundation was established in 1983 to develop major initiatives in culture, education, community development and human rights, locally and internationally. Although the Web site does not specify to which organizations the Foundation has made donations or the amount of each donation, it confirms that the total donations in "the recent past" total over $103 million.

Where do conservative organizations such as REAL Women obtain their funding? Only from the pockets of our supporters - individual caring members of the public, who are deeply concerned about the direction in which our country is heading.

In today's liberal (left-wing) climate, there is an uneven playing field in which to express our views. Our views, however, are probably representative of those of the majority of Canadians. (See enclosed pamphlet, "The Silencing of the Conservative Voice in Canada?")

In this regard, there are two actions we must take at this time:

CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce)
The CIBC President, John Hunkin, self-righteously believes that the position of the bank in support of same-sex marriage is acceptable to a majority of Canadians. It is not. Please let Mr. Hunkin know that his support for the homosexual agenda is deeply offensive to pro-family Canadians, many of whom are customers of his bank. Please write to:

Mr. John Hunkin
President and CEO
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
CIBC - Head Office
Commerce Court
Toronto, Ontario M5L 1A2
Fax: 416 360-5271

John Tory, Ontario PC Leader
At the time of Mr. Tory's election as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, the homosexual lobby group, EGALE, congratulated Mr. Tory on his win and thanked the Ontario conservatives for choosing a leader who supports their cause (Globe and Mail, Sept. 20, 2004).
When John Tory was elected on September 18, 2004 as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, he stated that he believed the party was ready to rally behind him. He is wrong.
Mr. Tory has thrown his support behind homosexual activists and their cause of same-sex marriage.
This issue is the mark on which social conservatives draw the line. As a result, Mr. Tory should not have the support of social conservatives, the bedrock of the party. Social conservatives should treat him with disdain and distrust as they did his predecessor, Ernie Eves, unless he adjusts his position on the issue. Will they contribute money to bring down the party's debt of $8.5 million? Mr. Tory will have to rely on his homosexual supporters to assist him. The latter, according to Statistics Canada in a report released in 2003, in its first survey to include a question on sexual orientation, found that there was a total of 316,800 homosexuals in Canada, or approximately 1% of the population. In Ontario, according to this Stats Canada report, homosexuals/lesbians total 107,200 individuals.
In the June 2004 federal election, in spite of the Liberal party's scare ads against the Conservatives, 24 Ontario seats went to the Conservatives. In total 1,592,724 votes were cast for Conservative candidates. This is a sizeable portion of Ontario voters who maintain conservative values.
Placating social conservatives by proposing less volatile social conservative policies on other issues will not alter the situation.
By throwing his lot in with the homosexual activists to the detriment of society and the social conservatives within his party, Mr. Tory has detrimentally affected his electoral chances. He has definitely split his party over the homosexual issue, and social conservatives should not rally behind him unless there is a significant change in this stance.
Please write to Mr. Tory and let him know your views on this matter and the political dangers that he has created for himself and his party.

Mr. John Tory
Leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party
c/o PCRS
Room 200, North Wing
Main Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto, ON M7A 1A8
Tel: 416 325-7272
Fax: 416 325-3810

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