Anti-gay McHugh notes the same misreporting that I saw

Timothy Kincaid

October 5th, 2010

Dr. Paul McHugh is not a friend of our community. Long an anti-trans activist, he wrote an amicus brief in support of the Proponents of Proposition 8 in which he claimed that homosexuality cannot be defined.

But McHugh wrote a letter to the editor of the Baltimore Sun in which he noted the same misreporting of a study on HIV prevalence that I discussed here last month.

Sexually transmitted diseases proliferate among men and women who have multiple sexual partners. If the recent measure of HIV infection among Baltimore’s gay men was restricted to those who frequent “gay” bars and clubs, then it will overestimate the prevalence of HIV in Baltimore because it will not include those gay men who are not seeking extra partners (“Baltimore leads in HIV infection in gay men,” Oct. 2). The prime public health message to the people in any community seeking to reduce STDs, including HIV, is and has ever been, “If you are sexually active, have few and preferably only one sexual partner.”

McHugh is correct both in his analysis of the numbers and in his recommendation for the best way to avoid contracting sexually transmitted infections. It’s a pity that his anti-marriage efforts are in direct contradiction to his observation.

Dan

October 5th, 2010

“Extra partners?” Is McHugh implying that everyone who frequents gay venues has a partner and is seeking to cheat on them?

Priya Lynn

October 5th, 2010

I agree Dan, that seems to be what he’s saying although I suspect it is the case that men in relationships who go to gay bars are more likely to be seeking extra partners than men in relationships who do not go to gay bars.

Timothy Kincaid

October 5th, 2010

Dan,

McHugh means “sexual partners” not “life partners”.

Priya Lynn

October 5th, 2010

Just because a couple doesn’t consider themselves “life partners” doesn’t mean there can’t be cheating going on.

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