Conservatives Fear Gay Outcry Downplays Superbug Infections
Pastor Dale Morgan
Conservatives Fear Gay Outcry Downplays Superbug Infections*
By
Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Jan. 25 2008 08:51 AM ET
A recent medical report about a new superbug infection spreading among
sexually
active gay men has riled the gay community who fears another episode
of the HIV/AIDS stigma.
"The way they keep targeting gays as if gays alone are responsible for
it, it's like HIV/AIDS all over again," said Colin Thurlow, 60, who is
gay and lives in San Francisco, according to The New York Times. "And
we're sick and tired of it."
A study, released last week by researchers at the University of
California at San Francisco, showed that men who have sex with men are
"many times more likely than others" to acquire a new variety of staph
bacteria – also known as MRSA USA300 – that is highly resistant to
antibiotics.
Gay men's health advocates have criticized the media and conservative
Christian groups for singling out the gay community when reporting on
the study, calling it stigmatizing and homophobic.
Several news publications released dramatic headlines including an
Australian newspaper's "Flesh Eating Bug Spreads Among Gays" and some
have called it "the new HIV." And conservative groups have cited the
study to affirm "homosexual behavior is unhealthy," as stated by Peter
LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth.
The conservative Concerned Women for America, however, rejected the
accusation that they were calling this a "gay disease."
"They're saying that we're saying that this is the new HIV ... gay
disease," said Matt Barber, policy director of Concerned Women for
America, on Thursday. "We never said that. We simply reported what
this study has reported – that there's an outbreak among certain
segments of the homosexual community," he added.
The highest concentrations of infection by the so-called superbug were
found in and around San Francisco's Castro district. The study
estimated that 1 in 588 residents living within the Castro
neighborhood 94114 ZIP code area is infected with that variant. Also,
men in AIDS clinics in the city who had a history of having sex with
men were about 13 times more likely to be infected than other
patients.
CWA announced this week it will be inviting homosexual groups to put
aside ideological differences with CWA and work together to help curb
the spread of the potentially deadly strain of staph infection.
Other Christians, however, do not agree with the approach of CWA and
other conservative groups to this issue. Dr. Warren Throckmorton,
professor of Psychology at Grove City College, wonders why the groups
aren't also targeting the porn industry, spring break activities and
mardi gras considering MRSA is also being spread by heterosexual
contact.
While Throckmorton believes it's good to give warning to groups at
greater risk of infection, he said the latest study to him is "just a
warning about sexual purity" in general.
Referencing a comment made on his blog, Throckmorton said, "When you
single out one group, the unintended consequence is people in other
groups would say 'it's not a health hazard for me' when it's the
behavior that's the issue, not the social group identified with."
While MRSA has been around for years, staph infections had never been
linked to sexual activity until last year. And the latest study found
a new variant of the bacteria spreading rapidly among this particular
population of gay men in San Francisco.
The scientists did not address the cause of the increased risk among
gay men, but suspect that sexual risk behaviors, such as multiple sex
partners, sex parties and illicit drugs, play a significant role. Up
to 40 percent of infections in the study occurred in the buttocks and
genitalia.
They said they are "very concerned" about a potential spread of this
strain into the general population since the drug resistant microbe
can spread through casual skin-to-skin contact in addition to sexual
contact. Reports of the bug are also turning up in Boston, New York
and Los Angeles.
But following the homosexual outcry, authors of the study are
expressing regret for any information being misrepresented despite
overarching concern for the public's health.
"We deplore negative targeting of specific populations in association
with MRSA infections or other public health concerns," said a
statement released by the San Francisco university.
Dr. Henry Chambers, one of the report's authors and a professor of
medicine at the university, said they were looking at this case from a
scientific point of view "and not projecting any political impact,"
according to the NY Times.
But some conservatives expressed concern that gay political activists
would place political correctness over the health of their own
community and they say follow-up media stories are now downplaying the
findings.
"This is a clear example of politicizing science," said Bob Knight,
director of the Media Research Center's Culture and Media Institute.
"From what I've seen so far the media are not reporting the full story
and they're allowing the gay activists to beat the drum again."
"The news is still so filtered through a pro-homosexual viewpoint that
the public doesn't know the extent of the epidemics," he added.
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins also raised concern
saying, "Unfortunately, homosexual activists are more likely to view
the study through the lens of political correctness, which could blind
them to the level of inherent risk of certain behaviors with serious
implications for them and the community at large."
While gay activists have denounced the conservative groups for zeroing
in on the gay community, CWA's Barber said they are not focusing on
people who identify as homosexual but instead focusing on the
behaviors that the study focused on.
"We lament the disease and the negative consequences of this lifestyle
(high-risk behaviors)," said Barber. "We're commanded to be the salt
and the light and share the truth with people not because we're
against you but because we care for you."
Scientists say soap and water may be the most effective way to prevent
skin-to-skin contact transmission, especially after sexual activities.