# AIDS and gays
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 3, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263 "2003-06-03T00:34:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Gjorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gjorp)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/1 "2003-06-03T00:34:27Z")
Why did people once believe that AIDS was a disease confined to gays? And, was it just gay men, or could lesbians also have AIDS?
Was this just a rumour that all the straight men heard and decided to believe because it meant they were safe, as well as some kind of proof for the fundies that God is against homosexuality? Or was there ever any basis in fact for this?
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### Author:  [@\_baby\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_baby_cat)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/2 "2003-06-03T00:36:59Z")
anyone smart these days knows it not only gays who get AIDS but it was unfortunate for the gay people in the past who had to deal with the b.s. oh well what can we do HEY please read my post about aids i really need an answer please.
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### Author:  [@Gjorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gjorp)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/3 "2003-06-03T00:37:48Z")
How’s my syntax, call 1-800-EAT-\*\*\*\*
PS, I’m being clever, not rude.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/4 "2003-06-03T00:39:01Z")
No reasonably intelligent person believed AIDS was confined to gay men, but gay men who engage in unprotected anal sex are more likely to contract AIDS, due to tearing of the skin in the anus during anal sex. The risk of AIDS transmission during hetero vaginal sex is far lower. For that reason, in the 1980s and 1990s, AIDS spread far quicker among gay men than straight men and women. I believe this trend has slowed down, however.
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### Author:  [@\_baby\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_baby_cat)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/5 "2003-06-03T00:42:14Z")
wait wait so if two people who have no aids. have sex. then they have anal sex and the girl bleeds cos the skin tears blah blah she can get aids? but they both dont have aids
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### Author:  [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/6 "2003-06-03T00:43:22Z")
My understanding is that the majority of the first cases recognized as part of a widespread problem in the US (at least on the west coast) were within the homosexual community, and because it seemed at first to be isolated within this specific segment of society, one of the initial terms for it was “gay cancer”.
From [this site](http://www.avert.org/his81_86.htm):
> [@](#):
>
> Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS) was a rare form of relatively benign cancer that tended to occur in older people. But by March 1981 at least eight cases of a more aggressive form of KS had occurred amongst young gay men in New York.
>
> …
>
> Because there was so little known about the transmission of what seemed to be a new disease, there was concern about contagion, and whether the disease could by passed on by people who had no apparent signs or symptoms.10 Knowledge about the disease was changing so quickly that certain assumptions made at this time were shown to be unfounded just a few months later.
The site has some interesing information - you might also look for _And The Band Played On_ for reading material. It provides a history of the AIDS epidemic and looks at how it emerged (primarily dealing with the emergence within US society).
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### Author:  [@lillyflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lillyflower)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/7 "2003-06-03T00:44:09Z")
The reason they felt that it was confined to gays was because there was a large popualtion of gays coming up with the disease. this was because there was more risk of blood and tearing with anal sex. We also know that this it is not true that ONLY gays get it, but they are still at a higher risk, I hope this answers you question 🙂
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### Author:  [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/8 "2003-06-03T00:46:41Z")
All the earliest cases of AIDS were reported in gay men. As simple as that.
The belief that only homosexual men were at risk was held by a lot of medical professionals. I don’t think any scientists ever believed that straight people and lesbians couldn’t potentially contract it, just that the transmission was linked to something in the homosexual lifestyle.
One of the earliest theories concerning AIDS was that it was a syndrome caused by a collapse of the immune system, brought on by repeated exposure to diseases. This theory was based on the fact that this was before the virus was isolated, and all the cases of AIDS were from men with long histories of repeated and prolonged infection with other STDS. Not a surpising corrleation really. People prone to contracting syphillis were of ourse also prone to contracting HIV. People with HIV were also more prone to contracting syphillis.
Another early theory was that AIDS was linked to amyl nitrate abuse. This theory hung on in the medical mainstream even after a viral pathogen was isolated, and some people still believe it.
Remember, it is in no way inconceivable for a disease to exist that can only be transferred via anal sex and blood. The idea that only homosexual men were at any great risk of AIDS wasn’t that ridiculous, and all the early data pointed to exacty that.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/9 "2003-06-03T00:48:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ~_baby cat_~ \*
> \*\*wait wait so if two people who have no aids. have sex. then they have anal sex and the girl bleeds cos the skin tears blah blah she can get aids? but they both dont have aids \*\*
If a person has HIV, having anal sex can be an effective way to pass the virus on to another person, but, Duesenberg aside, if neither person has HIV, having anal sex won’t give either of them AIDS.
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### Author:  [@\_baby\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_baby_cat)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/10 "2003-06-03T01:02:04Z")
oh cos my friend said you can get aids when your blood comes in contact whether you have HIV or not ahhaha
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### Author:  [@\_baby\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_baby_cat)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/11 "2003-06-03T01:04:44Z")
so how did thwe HIV come about then? just some human popped up long ago born with the HIV then spread it to others?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/12 "2003-06-03T01:09:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ~_baby cat_~ \*
> \*\*so how did thwe HIV come about then? just some human popped up long ago born with the HIV then spread it to others? \*\*
There was a theory (I don’t know if this has been confirmed or not) that a version of HIV found in monkeys called SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) may have mutated and crossed over into humans in populations whose members occassionally hunt and eat monkeys.
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### Author:  [@\_baby\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_baby_cat)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/13 "2003-06-03T01:12:11Z")
GODDAMN…why do people gotta eat monkeys and then have intercourse with monkey eaters…now we are all at risk you never know if your partner has HIV and don’t know…gosh it could be you…thanks QED nobody could answer my question but you gave me a good answer for it thanks now my thoughts can flow once more hehe
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### Author:  [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/14 "2003-06-03T01:22:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> GODDAMN…why do people gotta eat monkeys and then have intercourse with monkey eaters
Of course these monkey eaters could justifiably feel the same way about us duck eaters. The number of nasty diseases we’ve contracted form waterbirds is much higher than the number we’ve contracted form monkeys. Unfortunately if you spend time with any animals there is a chance of diseases crossing over.
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### Author:  [@\_baby\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_baby_cat)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/15 "2003-06-03T01:24:48Z")
WELL as long as i and all of u and everyone else dont eat monkeys or civet cats or that sorta stuff and practise safe sex then we will be good
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### Author:  [@Omar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/16 "2003-06-03T01:29:50Z")
Can trolls get AIDS?
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### Author:  [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/17 "2003-06-03T01:33:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> as long as i and all of u and everyone else dont eat monkeys or civet cats or that sorta stuff… then we will be good
Not at all. So long as we eat or live with any animals we are at the same risk. Monkeys and civets are far less of a risk for pathogen crossover than are pigs and ducks. We should perhaps be eating only civets and monkeys and abstaining form pork and chicken.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/18 "2003-06-03T01:37:52Z")
Besides what has been noted, that being that a.) AIDS was first diagnosed in gay men (don’t forget that Haitians and IV drug users were identified early on as at-risk groups also) and b.) anal sex, probably more common in gay sex lives than in straight, is an effective means of transmission, one must also consider that the ~decade between Stonewall and the recognition of AIDS was what I’ve heard gay activists call the “Why don’t we do it in the road?” epoch of gay liberation. Gay culture of the 1970s wholeheartedly embraced random, promiscuous sex and I have little doubt that this was a factor in the rapid spread of the syndrome in the gay population.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/19 "2003-06-03T01:40:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Omar \*
> \*\*Can trolls get AIDS? \*\*
I dunno, but I know remarks like that can get you in [trouble](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=147332) around here.
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### Author:  [@TSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSO)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aids-and-gays/179263/20 "2003-06-03T02:03:49Z")
…that AIDS originally showed up in an African community as a mutation of the monkey immuno-deficiency (sp?) virus.
I also was a young straight college student in the 80’s who thought that AIDS was a disease of the gay community. As a professional musician, MANY of my friends succumbed to AIDS - all gay men. The bottom line, though is this - you are at a TREMENDOUSLY higher risk if you involve yourself in the following activities -
\*sex, often and with multiple partners of whom you don’t know their sexual history.
\*Especially rough sex, as the virus is passed through the blood stream most easily, with other fluid systems being possible transmitters but much less likely. Anal sex would fall into this category.
\*You are a habitual or frequent intravenous drug user in which needles are shared amongst a group of people.
Not to stereotype, but the combined above scenarios are basically a description of the “desired lifestyle” of the many gay musicians and theater folk with who I worked and was friends with (at least in the 80’s).
In contrast, we learned that -
\*You could not catch AIDS from contact, sneezing, kissing or most other forms of contact.
\*the AIDS virus itself could not live outside of a host organism (or at least outside a host medium, such as blood or serum) for more than a few seconds, so you could not catch it from toilet seats or other normal instruments or objects.
\*Sex (and rough sex even more so) was basically the only way to catch it if you didn’t do drugs, and if you were into monogamy with a non-infected partner, you were at very little risk.
So…a straight, non-drug using musician who was saving it for marriage to another with similar values was not overly worried about AIDS, while my “hard-partying” gay friends were beginning to drop like flies, much to our horror.
And so that is how AIDS began life in America as the “gay disease”. Much of the above is still valid information for today, and you can see why the minority religious right was tempted to latch onto it. It seemed to prove that “clean living” and a value system that lined up with theirs in the areas of sexual behavior gave one a metaphorical vaxination against AIDS, while those that engaged in activities long shunned by the religious community were falling victim to a disease that would at first have appeared designed to target that community.
However, now because of the length of time in which we have lived with AIDS, other avenues have developed in which the disease is being transmitted -
\*Before AIDS was widely understood or the public made aware, AIDS was introduced to the blood supply, and infections were occuring during operations that utilizes the blood bank.
\*Those who once active in the gay community who were harboring the Virus made a switch and accidently gave it to those who would call themselves hetero (no flaming please - this is not a statement about folks “giving up homosexualtiy” per se. I state this simply because I know personally two friends who contracted AIDS in this way. Call them “Bi”, I guess)
\*And of course, intravenous drug use crosses all kinds of barriers, both sexual and social.
So know, AIDS has spread more into the hetero community than it was at the first appearance of the disease. Even so, the disease is still MUCH more prevalent in the gay community. IN the 90’s much time and effort were spent to dissassociate the disease with the gay community for two reasons - to avoid the unfortunate stereotyping and horribly bigotted attitudes that arose and were mentioned by and earlier poster, and also as a service to the public in the interest of health - you COULD catch AIDS if you were straight and were not careful. It reminded me of the 70’s-80’s ad campaign that tried to get people beyond the idea that Venereal Diseases were not just for “Bad, slutty types” but that anyone was at risk. I remember it had this HORRIBLE theme song that played during the commercial “VD, is for EVERYbody, not just…” an that’s where I can’t remember the words (Someone please fill in the rest!). I remember walking around the house as a 7 year old singing that at the top of my lungs and my mom telling me “STOP SINGING THAT SONG. Don’t EVER sing that song again!”
Despite the succesful and needed ad campaign for AIDS, the disease is still mostly prevalent in the gay and drug user communities. I’ve probably known 15 people who have died from it in the last 10 years, and all of them gay men. My wife (also a professional musician) and I have bourne much sadness due to the inability of science and medicine to control this disease.
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