42 - Fnaay. October 19 Ie h HAAS GSO - North Shore News homosexuality as risky as smoking? THE FOLLOWING is not for the eyes of Michzel Sherman, Mike Stcele,. Pamela Hansen, J.W. Booth, Bil Schermbrucker and John Dixon, writers of letters to the editor of the News commenting on a Sept. $4 column. Least of all for John Dixon, who is president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and a bud- ding literary critic of mine. A little background: My first piece, a year or two ago, on AIDS and the irrespon- sibility of San Francisco gay Jead- ers when the disease was identified — in which | quoted respectable authorities — Dixon described as **poisonous."" My Sept. 14 column, con- trasting the pompous rhetoric of gay member of Parliament Svcnd Robinson and the “‘dirty-alkin’ 7” (Dixon's own phrase) gay por- nographic prose of Stan Persky, Dixon described as ‘erap.”" By the wav, Persky once cailed cofummst Doug Collins buman siinkbomb."” while kindly rete: - ring fame in prin’ as merely Swwacko. which PF supose ss nicer shan Dixan'’s noartrava af Calins asa niiwi Beth Persky and Dixon teach at Capilano Coil _ impressive to sve real tcudenmics ab work with their equally thoughtful command of logic and language. Another by the way: I'd have thoughi that Dixon, in his lettre defending Persky, might have if only to cover hist — men- tioned an imteresting fact: Persky is a director af Dixon's B.C. Civil Liberties Association. So Md have thought that the BCCLA might be a litde sensitive about on signing his letter as BCCLA president in light of these Persky-Dixon interlocking rela- tionships. That's the BCCLU's business. But let’s move on. | mention the above, and I’ve cut out a lot more, only to point out: My focus began, and has — with difficulty — remained on mate homosexuality as a health issue. (Which is why [ve scarcely ever mentioned female homosex- uality.) So taday we look ata sober 1989 article in a learned journal — a publication for specialists in the field — called Psychological Reports. [t's by Paul Cameron of the Famity Research Institute, Kirk Camerot of Stanford University, and Kay Proctor, University of Louisville. The summary says in part: “Are homosexuals ‘no danger to society’ and is homosexuality ‘compatible with full health?’ °° The authors cite a 1988 article in the British Medical Journal, ‘Homosexuality: Compatible with Trevor Lautens GARDEN OF BIASES Full Health ‘and the findings ot a committee of the (ULS.) National Research Council, which answer these Questions positively, Bur the Cameron study sug- gested something different. Examining the responses to 3.340 questionnaires in five Amer- lcan MetropoHuaen ates. che amthors conciuded thai bisesug and homosexuitds — abour rou: per eencool the population, Bot tie HO mer cone that @ays cigime = 1: more Prequengiy epoca themseives to profogicad favards fee. SAGOMUSOCHIMT: Dest ingestion OF Teves}: 12) exposed themseives sexually to more dif- ferent bodies e.g. more trequenths adnutted Co parucipating in ordics, reported consideribly larger numbers of sexual partners: (3) more frequently reported par- licipating in socially disruptive sex (e.g. deliberate infection of others, cheating in marriage. making obscene phone calls): and (4) more frequentiy reported engaging in socially disruptive aenivities (e.g. criminality, shoplift cheating) . The lone tables produce dismaving testimony: 92 per cent of homosexuals and Gé per cent of bisexuals claimed to have had “oral anal contact’’ — the most delicate way to put an act known in gay circles as rimming.” meaning licking behinds, whieh is the mest delicate way ft can put it; 88 per cent and 61 per cent in group sex; 29 per cent and 14 per centin “urination,” which gays call golden showers’? — that’s urinating on vach others 100 per vent and Y&8 per cencin ‘toral genital sex on male.” which no one who read the repulsive Persky excerpts last month need wonder about. Let's not vet into “handball- ing.”’ Or sex with animals. But it's worth noting — in light of the general claim that sexual assaults on children are mostly by ficterosexuals -~ that the authors conclude that ‘about a third of sexual molestations of children are carried out by practising CRIME ALERT From pase 1 unknown. Break and enter 2500-dIk. Haywood. Entry gained via unlocked, accessible second-storey window; exit via front/side door. Scolen: 28-inch TV, stereo equip- ment, two binoculars, camera, two leather jackets, fur jacket and sitk dress. Value: approximately $5,000. Break and = enter 800-bIk. Anderson. Every room ransacked, drawers dumped and clothes pull- ed out of closets. Stolen: 28-inch TV, stereo speakers, CD player, three telephones, liquor, com- forter, coffee maker, toaster. Vuiue: unknown, Rreak and enter 800-bIk. Evelyn Dr. Entry gained by break- ing glass in basement rear door. Stolen: Technics amp and cassette deck. Value: $560. THEFT FROM VEHICLES 400-bik. Ripple Rd. Stolen: Leather purse, eelskin wallet with assorted credit cards, and prescription glasses. Value: $500. Cypress Bowl. Stolen: purse with wallet, cash and assorted credit cards. Value: $50. ress Bowl. Stolen: purse with keys, assorted credit) cards and cash, Value: $200. Cypress Bowl. purse, celskin credit cards $660. celskin assorted Value: Stolen: wallet, and cash. homosexuals.” That's about cight Limes as many as their proportion in the population, as measured by Cameron and his colleagues. The authors decided — most damning of all? — thar ‘the weight of evidence against the homosexual lifestyle appears to be as cobust as is that against smok- ing.” And they dismiss the argument that social stizmatization ts the cause of nuch homosexual erief. They ask: how can stigmatization account for more bestiality or having sex in order Co infect others, let alone more shoplifting, income tas cheating, and making Obscene phone cails than homosexuals? And they conclude: ‘Almost all of the activines listed in the tables reflect personal choice, and those who so choose bear responsibili- we Hf you've peeked. 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