Show LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AIDS Letter Misses k i t the Point Claims a t 1 Student Student t To The Editor In response to Sarah L. L Metzger's letter concerning homosexuals and AIDS I feel she is missing the point The primary means of exposure to HIV involves engaging engaging f ing in hi unprotected intimate ultimate sexual relations with an infected infect- infect 4 ed cd person from blood or blood products or by sharing j i infected drug needles The precise reasons gay and bisexual bi al men were among the first affected in the United States are areV V r not yet understood To date there is IS no adequate theory to explain why gay men were the first to contract the disease and it is possible that causation will never be established Capitalizing on the fear surrounding ding the virus people on the political and religious right are using AIDS to their gay anti-gay crusades They charge gay men with causing the problem by overindulging in immoral sexual activity calling AIDS just retribution and Gods punishment for fora a sinful and despicable lifestyle Though lesbians as a of group have one of the lowest incidences of the syndrome homophobic attacks are directed against them as well Yet as more and more knowledge about AIDS surfaces medical researchers and lesbian gay activists claim that it is inappropriate to link this or any other disease with any anyone one specific ethnic regional or cultural group They make the point that Africans and sexual gay men are about as much to blame for causing AIDS as American Legionnaires are for causing Disease blacks are for causing sickle-cell sickle anemia or women are for causing Toxic Shock Syndrome Viruses have no sexual sexual sexual sex sex- ual preference and this holds true for HIV as well Blumenfeld and Raymond Metzger stated that she made no comparison of homo homosexuals to pedophiles or gang-bangers gang but I disagree In her previous letter she made that comparison clear by making a point that all of these lifestyles have negative effects on our lives as well as future generations If this comparison was not made and I did in fact misinterpret h her r previous letters letter's conclusion then why were statements about pedophiles and gang-bangers gang included in a letter about homosexuality Nikki Stuart Calder Graphic Design Major |