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HIV, Hepatitis C, banned “gay” blood donors & defamatory claims of “homophobia”

May 4, 2013 by SPCS Leave a Comment

In Australia, about 2,000 people currently living with HIV are also living with hepatitis C.

Figures from the New Zealand Ministry of Health (May 2012) indicate there were 721 people in NZ being treated for hep C in 2009, 578 in 2010 and 478 in 2011.

The NZ AIDS Epidemiology Group reported on 8 March 2012 that in 2011 there were 109 people newly diagnosed with HIV in NZ. Group director of the NZ AIDS Epidemiology Group, Otago University associate professor Nigel Dickson, said that a recent Auckland study had found about 20 per cent of a sample of gay and bisexual men with HIV were unaware of their HIV status.

If such men, unaware that they are infected with HIV and/or hep C, are both sexually active, promiscuous and fail to wear a condom during sexual activity, there is a real risk of both diseases being transmitted to their male partners (and in the case of bisexual men, being passed to both their male and female sex partners). Because the HIV virus is unable to be detected by blood tests until about 3-4 weeks after infection, men who have sex with men (MSM) are prohibited from donating blood if they have engaged in anal sex or oral sex, with or without a condom, at any time in the five year period prior to donating blood.

Data from PHARMAC showed the number of people in NZ receiving subsidised antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV rose from 1348 at the end of June 2010, to 1518 at the end of June 2011. Of those 80 per cent were males, and 20 per cent were females. It was estimated, 1603 people would have been on ART at the end of 2011.

With the recent passing of a bill by the NZ government legalising same sex marriage (SSM), opponents of the bill are predicting a rise in the numbers of people being treated for HIV/AIDS and other STDs prevalent among MSM.

On 1 December 2011 The NZ Herald reported that 3474 Kiwis had been diagnosed with HIV since it first appeared and about 680 of them have developed AIDS and died. Jane Bruning, director of a national support network for Kiwis affected by HIV, was reported as saying that somewhere between 1800 and 2500 people were living with HIV. She said there are hundreds more who have the virus but don’t know it. And others who won’t admit they’re infected (confirming Nigel Dickson’s assessment noted earlier).

Sexual transmission of hepatitis C was thought to be rare but recently there have been increases in the number of transmissions attributed to sex among “gay” men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in Australia, particularly men living with HIV.

These increases have also been reported in numerous locations overseas, including in the United Kingdom, Europe, and North America.

Rodney Peter Croome AM is an Australian LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights activist and academic who currently serves as the spokesperson for the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group, and is National Convenor of the Australian Marriage Equality. He has accused the Australian Red Cross Blood Services of “homophobia” for having a policy that refuses to allow men who have sex with men (MSM) to donate blood. In the light of data provided above it is obvious why it is imperative that Red Cross ignore the fallacious, vexatious and defamatory accusations made by “gay” lobbyists such as Croome.

Further Reading

The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), has produced a website (http://www.thenewdeal.org.au/) designed to provide gay men with information about:

  • sexual transmission of hepatitis C and how to prevent it,
  • testing for and treatment of hepatitis C
  • information about HIV and hepatitis C co-infection.

AFAO President, Willie Rowe, points out why the website is needed: “With the recent increases in gay men getting hep C through sex, it is important they are informed about the risks and what they can do to address them.”

Hepatitis C is a significant health issue in its own right but there are particular health concerns for people living with HIV.

Robert Mitchell, President of the National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA) explains why this information is important for HIV-positive men: “Having both HIV and hep C can have serious impacts on the health of HIV-positive people. It can make treating both viruses more difficult and can also increase the progression of hep C and liver disease.”

References

New Zealanders Living with HIV

By Nicky Park. December 1, 2011

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10769971

HIV and Hepatitis Co-infection

Dual Strategies: managing HIV and hepatitis coinfection

http://www.afao.org.au/library/hiv-australia/volume-8/no.-1-hiv-and-hepatitis-co-infection

Hepatitis C New Zealand Treatment Numbers 2009-2010

June 11, 2012

http://hcv.org.nz/wordpress/

NZ HIV infection numbers drop

8 March 2012. By Michael Daly. Fairfax NZ News

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6545845/NZ-HIV-infection-numbers-drops

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnosis_of_HIV/AIDS

http://www.afao.org.au/news/the-new-deal-gay-men-sex-and-hep-c

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Filed Under: Enforcement, HIV/AIDS STIs, Homosexuality, promiscuity Tagged With: AIDS, Australian Marriage Equality, blood donor, Hep C, Hepatitis C, HIV, homophobia, Red Cross, Rodney Croome, Rodney Peter Croome

Australian Marriage Equality, Rodney Croome and Red Cross’s “gay blood ban policy”

April 30, 2013 by SPCS Leave a Comment

In 2008 Rodney Croome, a Tasmanian-based LGBT (lesbian, gay. bi-sexual, transgender) rights activist and academic, accused the Red Cross of homophobia, aligning itself with right-wing hate groups, undermining its own credibility with dodgy statistics, and using scare tactics, with respect to its so-called “gay blood ban policy” (Rodney Croom’s  term). Currently National Convenor of Australian Marriage Equality (pro same-sex ‘marriage’ lobby), he wrote:

Why is the Red Cross undermining its own credibility with such dodgy statistics?

Why is it attempting to use …. “scare tactics”?

Why is it aligning itself with right wing hate groups by adopting their strategy?

Do the Red Cross or influential people within it actually believe that gay and bisexual men are highly and uniformly selfish, irresponsible, promiscuous and diseased?

This is hard to believe given the Red Cross’s firm commitment to humanitarian values.

What we can be certain of is that it’s justifying its current gay blood ban policy using some of the grossest and most offensive myths and stereotypes around. 

Whether the Red Cross is expressing its own groundless fear of homosexuality, or attempting to appeal to that fear in others, there’s only one word to describe the shaky foundation upon which it is building its case, “homophobia”. (ref. 1)

This sort of inflammatory rhetoric is typical of the political agitators from the Australian Marriage Equality lobby.

Background to Rodney Croome’s accusations against the Red Cross of “homophobia”

In August 2008 a  HIV social researcher told an Anti-Discrimination Tribunal hearing in Hobart, Tasmania, that only a small proportion of the gay community engages in risky unsafe sex. Associate Professor Anne Mitchell of Melbourne’s La Trobe University, gave evidence at the hearing of a complaint lodged by Launceston gay man Michael Cain. Mr Cain had complained that the Red Cross discriminated against him by refusing his offer of a blood donation because he had homosexual (anal) sex. He argued screening should be based on the safety of sexual practices, not sexual preference.

Professor Mitchell claimed that gay men who do not practice safe sex are only a small proportion of the gay community. When asked under cross-examination why a study showed more than 86 percent of newly acquired HIV cases were related to male to male sex (MSM), she said it was because HIV had already infected the gay community (ref. 2).

MSM are treated differently to other adults by Red Cross Blood Services because of their well-documented high risk sexual practices involving anal sex. Red Cross will also not take blood from anyone who in the previous 12 months has had a tattoo, a blood transfusion, a body piercing, been in prison, had sex with a prostitute or had a partner with hepatitis B or C.

Senior counsel Jeremy Ruskin, told the hearing that allowing ‘safe’ MSM  to donate blood would be“calamitous” and “catastrophic”. He pointed out that MSM “monogamy is a myth” a finding based in part on a study from New Zealand (ref. 1)

A recent survey of New Zealand gay men, confirming this earlier study and undertaken in conjunction with the NZ AIDS Foundation revealed nearly two thirds of gay men are drug users, and the majority also cheat on their partners, frequently. The survey found that 35% of NZ gay men have sex with between 12 and a hundred different strangers every year, often in circumstances very similar to the gay nightclubs gay writer Eric Rofes documented in his book Reviving The Tribe’  (see ref. 3). The NZ survey found 77% of gay men failed to stay monogamous even for six months! (ref. 3)

In the US, the current guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to permanently ban any male who has had sex with another man (MSM), from donating blood, if the sexual activity occurred in the period from 1977 to the present day.  There is no restriction on blood donation if the last MSM activity was before 1977.

In Canada today, where homosexual activity was decriminalised in 1969, deferral is “indefinite”, for homosexuals attempting to donate blood (i.e. a total ban) as it is in most European countries.

New Zealand Blood Service Rules

Since 2009, the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) defers males from being blood donors, who have engaged in oral or anal intercourse, with or without protection, with another male, for five years. From the formation of the NZBS in 1998 to 2009, the deferral period was ten years, but was reduced to five years following an independent review of blood donation criteria in 2007-8 which found no significant difference in risk to the blood supply for deferral periods of five years compared to ten years.

The five year deferral period for MSM is on par with the five year deferral period for persons engaging in prostitution outside of New Zealand and people who have resided in a country which has a high (1% or more) HIV prevalence. It also applies to someone who carries HBV, HCV. Females who engage in sexual intercourse with a male who has had sex with another male are deferred for twelve months.

Such ‘discrimination’ against  MSM, certain prostitutes and certain women, is based upon the “high risk” sexual practices they have engaged in. It is justified discrimination based on the need to safeguard the protect the public good.

Reasoning for restrictions

Blood services first and foremost must ensure that all blood received for donation is safe for transfusion purposes. This is achieved by screening potential donors for high risk behaviors through questionaires and interviews before blood is taken, and subsequent laboratory testing on samples of donated blood.

Blood services commonly justify their bans against MSM using the statistically high prevalence of HIV and hepatitis of MSM in population studies.

Risks are also associated with a regular donor testing positive for HIV, which can have major implications as the donor’s last donation could have been given within the window period for testing and could have entered the blood supply, potentially infecting blood product recipients.

An incident in 2003 in New Zealand saw a regular donor testing positive for HIV and subsequently all blood products made with the donor’s last blood donation had to be recalled. This included NZ$4 million worth of Factor VIII, a blood clotting factor used to treat haemophilliacs which is manufactured from large pools of donated plasma, and subsequently led to a natiowide shortage of Factor VIII and the deferral of non-emergency surgery on haemophilliac patients, costing the health sector millions of dollars more. Screening out those at high risk of bloodborne diseases, including MSM, reduces the potential frequency and impact of such incidents. (ref. 4).

Men who have sex with men still are disproportiately affected by the HIV virus and account for nearly half the approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [2012]. But it is a person’s behavior, not their sexual orientation, that puts them at risk say health experts. (ref. 5)

The fact remains that men who engage in anal sex with men (MSM) are considered such a high health risk when it comes to blood donation, that current policies governing suitable donors in New Zealand are unlikely to be altered.

References

Ref. 1

Is the Red Cross homophobic? by Rodney Croome

http://www.rodneycroome.id.au/comments?id=2777_0_1_0_C

Ref. 2.

Risky sex not common: Witness

Tuesday 12 August, 2008

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-08-12/risky-sex-not-common-witness/473278

Ref. 3

http://www.investigatemagazine.co.nz/Investigate/?p=3333

Ref. 4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_male_blood_donor_controversy

Ref. 5

As blood donations decline, U.S. ban on gay donors is examined.

By Jen Christensen CNN. 7 July 2012

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/06/health/gay-men-blood-ban

Further reference

Table 4. Sexual activity-based donor deferral policies in New Zealand
New Zealand MSM oral or anal sex with or without a condom 5 years
Sex for payment 5 years
Sex with IDU, MSM, someone who has received
payment for sex, someone from a country at high risk
of HIV, or someone who carries HBV, HCV
http://www.transfusion.com.au/sites/default/files/Blood%20Review%20Report.pdf

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Filed Under: Homosexuality, Marriage Tagged With: Australian Marriage Equality, gay blood ban, gay blood ban policy, homophobia, MSM, New Zealand Blood Services, Red Cross, Rodney Croome, same-sex marriage

“Homophobia”, “Islamophobia” and the “incendiary comments” of the French Archbishop

April 27, 2013 by SPCS Leave a Comment

American neuroscientist and neo-atheist, Sam Harris, according to a report in The Times (25/04/13)  “has gone as far as to suggest that there can be no such thing as “Islamophobia” – a hatred akin to racism – any more than there can be Christophobia or Conservativophia. He sees the accusation as a way of silencing critics of religion. To him Islam is a dangerous force on the planet today and it is his job to say so.”

If it’s true that “Islamophobia” is nothing more than a meaningless epithet, then what about the epithet “homophobia“?

[For a detailed analysis of the term “homophobia” see https://www.spcs.org.nz/2007/the-term-homophobia-its-origins-and-meanings-and-its-uses-in-homosexual-agenda/]

Times contributor, David Aaronovitch, makes it very clear that he believes that “homophobia” is a real and meaningful term.  He criticises the Archbishop of Lyons (France) for likening homosexuality to incest and declaring that “[The French] Parliament has decided to change the meaning of the word “marriage”. Aaronvich calls such comments “incendiary talk aimed at preventing non-Catholics from enjoying equal rights” and has, in his view “helped to create an atmosphere of homophobic violence.”

“Homophobic” violence is presumably caused by “homophobia” – literally meaning “irrational fear (phobia) of homosexuals”. However, “gay-rights” activists are now admitting that the word “homophobia” does not mean this when they apply it to describe a person. They claim it is merely a neutral descriptive term to apply to all those persons who oppose the claimed “human rights” of homosexuals such as “rights” to get married and thereby share in all the benefits bestowed by the state on those heterosexuals who are married, and is not a term of abuse. This claim is disingenuous. Anyone who has tried to express their views opposing “gay marriage” or raise concerns over claimed “gay” adoption “rights”, are regularly howled down by homosexuals as being “homophobic”.

If Sam Harris is correct that there is no such thing as “Islamophobia”, and Aoronovich does not dispute this, then on what basis should we accept the claim that “homophobia” means anything at all. Aaronvich asserts that violence against homosexuals is fuelled by “homophobia” and then blames the honorable Archbishop for contributing to “homophobia” by his alleged “incendiary” comments.

The term “homophobia” is an oxymoron. Those opposed to same-sex ‘marriage’ – including the estimated 1.4 million French who marched against the bill in March, are clearly not fearful of homosexuals.

To suggest crimes committed against homosexuals can be blamed, even in part, on the Archbishop’s statements or to any arguments voiced by those objecting to same-sex ‘marriage’ legislation, is without any basis. If radical elements such as French neo-Nazi skinheads infiltrate a genuine family-friendly protest, to commit crimes, then mainstream participants from pro-traditional marriage groups cannot be  blamed for such crimes.

If Islam, as Harris asserts, is indeed “a dangerous force on the planet today” then one can understand why he states that “it is his job to say so”. He rejects the accusation that in doing so he is “Islamophobic”.

In New Zealand our rights to freedom of expression, involving the rights to expression of robust opinion, is preserved in section 19 of the Bill of Rights 1990. If a person expresses the view that ‘HIV/AIDS is a dangerous threat to mankind and is linked clearly to the promiscuous lifestyle of many homosexuals and the unhygienic use by drug-addicts of  needles’, homosexuals will accuse him of being a “homophobe”. If a person expresses their genuine belief, whether based on the Bible or Koran or not, that marriage is between a man and a woman; why do homosexuals label them “homophobic”.

Sam Harris’ words in relation to “Islamophobia” apply equally well to the use of “homophobia” by homosexuals.  The accusation is used by homosexuals as a weapon – a way of silencing critics of the case for homosexual ‘marriage’.

It is certainly queer reasoning that would attempt to prove that white is black and black is white; by the use of invective!

Source

The Times 25 April 2013

Leave off prof. Let the devout do their thing. By David Aaronovitch

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/davidaaronovitch/article3748011.ece

 

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Filed Under: Homosexuality Tagged With: Bill of Rights Act, David Aaronovitch, homophobia, Islamophobia, Sam Harris

Topless Vatican protesters – “In gay we trust” – Video Link

January 22, 2013 by SPCS Leave a Comment

Four women went topless in St. Peter’s Square to protest the Vatican’s opposition to gay marriage as he delivered his traditional prayer from his studio window overlooking the piazza … Protester and protest spokeswoman Inna Shevchenko, a “Ukrainian Feminist”, told a reporter on camera:

“Today we go with a message to the Pope to shut up his mouth and not to give his advices [sic] to those people who decide to legalise gay marriage. Today we are here to possess [sic] [protest] against homophobia”.

To view the videos illustrating the extreme tactics of some within the “gay”rights movement see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXQtrOl7_mw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=IEGECK0Ec2o&feature=endscreen

For a scholarly analysis of the term “homphobia” see the SPCS article:

The term ‘Homphonia’: Its Origins and Meanings, and its uses in the Homosexual Agenda

https://www.spcs.org.nz/2007/the-term-homophobia-its-origins-and-meanings-and-its-uses-in-homosexual-agenda/

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Filed Under: Homosexuality, Sexual Dysfunction Tagged With: gay marriage, homophobia, homosexual agenda, Inna Shevchenko

Father worries over son’s exposure to Rainbow Youth Inc. “alternative sexuality education package”

July 8, 2012 by SPCS Leave a Comment

Rainbow Youth Inc. – [a registered charity that received $105,931 in government grants/contracts in the last financial year] – has delivered an “alternative sexuality education … package” to 14 and 15-year old school students promoting “gay marriage”, that worries the father of a school boy (his son) who attended it. Two presenters identified themselves as lesbians and said that they were attracted to “transexual girls”. (Fairfax NZ News Story 8 July 2012 below).

A father is concerned his son attended alternative sexuality education classes at school that explored ideas like transsexuality without his knowledge or permission.

However the Rainbow Youth organisation’s education coordinator stands by the presentations, sayings its education package has been evaluated and is backed up by research.

Earlier this year Rainbow Youth presented two one-hour sessions to the 15-year-old’s class. Auckland-based Rainbow Youth provides “support, information, advocacy and education for queer young people” and has been delivering education workshops for more than 10 years.

One presentation was about gender and sexual identity and the other addressed issues such as homophobia and bullying.

The teenage boy said two of the presenters introduced themselves to the class as lesbians, one who was attracted to transsexual girls, while the third said he had been a woman attracted to women but became a man “with a vagina”.

The teenager said the first lesson was “OK” and the message was that there were multiple gender identities. But he felt the second lesson was “quite weird”. It looked at homophobia and how society treated people labelled as “other”.

The class heard two of the presenters’ coming-out stories, including how one had grappled with discrimination and deciding if they were male or female. “[The transsexual speaker] was saying things like, ‘it’s legal to have a physical relationship with your cousin but it’s illegal to have gay marriage’. And things like, if you’re really homophobic you usually turn out gay.

“I think they were trying to say that being gay is all good but to me and quite a few of the people in my class, it came across like they were saying ‘it’s great and you guys should follow on with it’.”

His father assumed, “rightly or wrongly”, that sex education would be more generic and mainstream not “the weird and wonderful of the world’s sexuality”.

“I don’t think that is the right thing to be exposing 14 and 15-year-old kids to.”

Rainbow Youth’s education coordinator Priscilla Penniket said the organisation went into schools by invitation, and demand for presentations were at capacity.

She estimated they were involved with 30 of Auckland’s almost 200 high schools. The idea behind the presentations wasn’t to challenge students she said, but to follow three teaching frameworks: critical thinking, self reflection and the coming-out narratives that personalised a theoretical idea.

Asked if students ever reacted badly she said, “Depending on the high school there’s varying levels of homophobia which can sometimes be really [emotionally] unsafe for the volunteers coming out who are telling their story.”

She denied volunteers were encouraging homosexuality, or saying homophobics were gay. Penniket said research had proven that when people were overly homophobic it was often because they were hiding something such as their sexual identity or the identity of someone they knew.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Fairfax NZ News Story – ‘Rainbow’ class worries father. By Imogen Neal

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7242226/Rainbow-class-worries-father

Note:

Rainbow Youth Inc. was registered as a charity (Reg. No. CC24284) with the Charities Commission on 13 May 2008. In an average week it has two employees working full-time and one part-time. A total of 110 hours of paid work is engaged in by its three employees on average, each week. Its total gross income for the financial year ended 31 March 2012 was $137,873 and it spent $138,012 on wages over this same period. Its deficit for 2010/11 was $137,873. (Source: www.charities.govt.nz)

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Filed Under: Sexual Dysfunction, Sexuality Tagged With: alternative sexuality education, discrimination, homophobia, homophobic, Homosexuality, Priscilla Penniket, Rainbow Youth, Rainbow Youth Inc, registered charity, sex education, sexual identity, transexual, transsexuality

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