"Men for Hire" and "Booty Call": The CDC and Your Tax Dollars     6/18/2007 By Sara Rode Some shocking uses of your money by the CDC. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking for more of your money but using it for purposes anathema to the majority of the American people. Fortunately for American taxpayers, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) is demanding responsible spending from legislators and government agencies. Sen. Coburn's hard work in creating oversight in government spending has revealed some shocking uses of your money by the CDC. The report released by Sen. Coburn, "Oversight Report on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" exposed some obscene uses of federal money. In order to control and prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), CDC used its budget for the following purposes: A transgender beauty pageant in San Francisco that advertised available HIV testing. Funded an event called "Men for Hire" put on by the Stop AIDS Project in San Francisco at which homosexual men learned "seven guidelines for safe and friendly relations with escorts." The speaker, Joseph Itiel, encouraged attendees to hire male prostitutes as a "safe-sex" practice. Funded an event, also put on by the Stop AIDS Project, called "Got Love? - Flirt/Date/Score" that taught participants how "to flirt with greater finesse." Funded events called "Booty Call" and "Great Sex" put on by an organization that received $698,000 in government funds. Gave $1.6 million to an organization that hired a homosexual porn star to appear at an event in a towel and cowboy boots to promote "safe-sex." These examples of CDC projects demonstrate that the organization is not only funding ineffective programs, but actually promoting agendas that are in opposition to its stated "disease control and prevention" purpose. CDC is sponsoring events that foment the spreading of disease rather than those that prevent disease. It is a blatant conflict of interest to fund a beauty pageant that promotes transgender behavior which - despite tremendous political pressure by the transgender lobby - is still considered a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. It is counter-productive to encourage homosexual behavior through seminars that teach attendees how to flirt more effectively, encourage homosexual pornography and advise hiring prostitutes rather than going to "sex clubs." The CDC simultaneously reports statistics that reveal homosexual men as the highest risk group for STDs: "Homosexuals comprise the single largest exposure category of the more than 600,000 males with AIDS in the United States. As of December 1999, 'men who have sex with men' and 'men who have sex with men and inject drugs' together accounted for 64 percent of the cumulative total of male AIDS cases."1 This is an outrageous figure considering that homosexual men account for only 1-3% of the male population, but represent 64% of AIDS cases. The CDC also reports, "Studies of MSM (men who have sex with men) treated in STD clinics show rates of infection as high as 36 percent in major cities."2 Unfortunately, the CDC is combating the spread of AIDS by funding homosexually explicit events and telling participants to use a condom. It does not seem to be working. Matt Barber, CWA's Policy Director for Cultural Issues, found it mind-boggling. "It is the height of irresponsibility and incongruity for the CDC, which is tasked with disease control and prevention, to actively promote and encourage the very homosexual lifestyle which they admit is most responsible for the spread of preventable, and often deadly, sexually transmitted disease," said Barber. "What's next? Is the CDC going to use our tax dollars to sponsor a cigarette smoke-a-thon fundraiser for the American Lung Association? Are they going to encourage people to avoid liver disease by drinking a fifth of Jack Daniels per day? Someone at the CDC needs to be held accountable for this." This mismanagement of federal funds is just the tip of the iceberg. Senator Coburn is committed to exposing fraud and inefficiency within government agencies and foreign aid. He should be commended for his efforts. End Notes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. "Table 9. Male Adult/Adolescent AIDS Cases by Exposure Category and Race/Ethnicity." Reported through December 1999, United States: http://www/cdc.gov/hiv/stats/hasr1102/table9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention. "Need for Sustained HIV Prevention Among Men who Have Sex with Men," November 14, 2000. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/msm.