An AIDS conspiracy theory that gay men are spreading the disease to heterosexuals in order to "normalise" it is alarmist, extreme, and easily disproven by looking at HIV infection figures, says the AIDS Foundation. The theory was outlined recently in New Zealand by imported US lesbian activist Tammy Bruce, speaking to a largely Christian gathering at the Christchurch Town Hall, which was run by Maxim Institute volunteers. AIDS Foundation executive director Rachael LeMesurier says Bruce's statements are not borne out by the epidemiological evidence of the disease. "HIV's rapid spread throughout Africa, Asia, Russia and, now, the Pacific, has been almost entirely due to heterosexuals infecting heterosexuals and this has been the case for the history of the epidemic," she says. "It is also worth noting that in countries where some infection of heterosexual women by gay or bisexual men has occurred, this has largely occurred in countries where homosexuality is illegal, oppressed and strongly discriminated against, forcing homosexual men to marry and deny the truth of their existence." The HIV virus in New Zealand has stayed largely within the gay male community. "It has only begun to spread in the heterosexual population because of heterosexuals returning home after being infected through heterosexual intercourse overseas, and because of new migrants unknowingly bringing the virus in and transmitting it here." LeMesurier says Bruce decries so-called homosexual activism despite the fact she has benefitted from it. "It's also worth noting that in New Zealand, where gay men have achieved the protection of human rights legislation and the benefit of enlightened government that supports health initiatives like the needle exchange system, the Prostitutes Collective and the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, gay and bisexual male transmission to heterosexual women is almost unknown."