Homosexual Groups Invited to Work to Curb Spread of MRSA     1/22/2008

Washington, D.C. — Because Concerned Women for America (CWA) cares deeply for the health and well being of all Americans, CWA is sending letters inviting the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, GLAAD and Lambda Legal to put aside profound ideological differences with CWA — for the sake of the lives and health of their members — and to call for commonsense steps to help curb the spread of a potentially deadly strain of Staph infection.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA bacteria, is infecting men who have sex with men in major cities at an alarming rate. A study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that “gay” men are 13 times more likely to contract the infection.

The study determined that the spread of MRSA, “among men who have sex with men is associated with high-risk behaviors, including use of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs, sex with multiple partners, participation in a group sex party, use of the internet for sexual contacts, skin-abrading sex, and history of sexually transmitted infections.” But ultimately, the study warned that, “Having male-male sex seems to be a risk factor for [MRSA].”

Dr. Binh Diep, the researcher who led the study, told Reuters, “Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable.” The study found that the “[MRSA] epidemic probably started in San Francisco and has been disseminated by the frequent cross-coastal travel of men who have sex with men.”

Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues, said, “We now have a wonderful opportunity for ideological opponents to come together for the common good. Steps must be taken to keep this MRSA outbreak, which is occurring within certain segments of the homosexual community, from becoming a more widespread epidemic.

“HRC and other homosexual groups have a profound leadership role in their communities and a responsibility to protect their members from behaviorally related threats to their health and well-being. Therefore, these groups should publicly condemn those specific ‘high-risk behaviors’ which this study has concluded are responsible for spreading MRSA among homosexuals.

“We’re asking HRC and other groups to denounce, through word and deed, ‘sex with multiple partners,’ ‘group sex [parties]’ and to actively promote the notion that it is never okay to ‘use methamphetamine and other illicit drugs.’”

“In light of this behaviorally related MRSA outbreak,” said Barber, “we additionally ask HRC and other groups to call on local health agencies to shut down the many bathhouses and sex clubs around the country where men meet for anonymous sex with other men, often multiple partners, on a daily basis. These places create the ‘perfect storm’ for infectious disease, including MRSA.

“Now’s the time for us all to come together,” concluded Barber. “Let’s do what needs to be done to help curtail this regrettable MRSA outbreak.”

For Information Contact:
Natalie Bell
(202) 488-7000
media.cwfa.org

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