Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- A particularly bad strain of chlamydia not usually seen in this country appears to be slowly spreading among gay and bisexual men, an infection that can increase their chances of getting or spreading the AIDS virus. Called LGV chlamydia, this sexually transmitted disease has caused a worrisome outbreak in Europe, where some countries have confirmed dozens of cases. Diagnoses confirmed by U.S. health officials still are low, just 27 since they warned a year ago that the strain was headed here. But specialists say that's undoubtedly a fraction of the infections, because this illness is incredibly hard to...

Mr. Finley, left, and Mr. McGee. WHEN informed of their son's decision to take up with Carl Stanley McGee, a lawyer from Alabama, the family of John Huston Finley IV, a Bostonian, was dismayed, but not about the fact he was in a serious relationship with another man. "My parents were far more upset that Stan was a Hilary Clinton-supporting Democrat than they were about us," Mr. Finley said. "I remember them asking Stan a lot of 'coming out' type questions: 'Maybe you didn't have a good Republican experience? Have you told your parents how you feel?' "They were...

WASHINGTON — For more than a decade, gay rights advocates have grumbled about a federal policy that forbids blood donation by men who have had sex with men. They say that the policy, originally intended to keep HIV-positive blood from entering the nation's blood supply, implies gay men are inherently ill and that it prevents healthy people from donating. Occasional protests and talks with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which oversees blood banks, have brought no change. Now, some college students have taken up the cause, and they're taking a new tack. Instead of pressuring the FDA directly, they...