A Christian fundamentalist pressure group has again gone on the attack against GayNZ.com, the NZ AIDS Foundation and what it sees as "the unhealthy and unnatural practice of sodomy". "The growing popularity of 'bare-back' sex among the promiscuous homosexual community, often involving recreational drug taking, and the high-risk health factors involved, mean that homosexual and bisexual men who indulge in the unhealthy and unnatural practice of sodomy, must be confronted by health officials with their responsibilities under the law," the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards' new press release advises. The tiny but very outspoken fringe group have a lengthy history of linking homosexuality with paedophilia, pornography and diseases, unrelenting slurs against New Zealand's openly-gay Chief Censor, and warning the nation against the Labour Party's 'Homosexual Agenda'. "Sadly, despite significant taxpayer funding, the NZAF has failed to avert the rapid rise in HIV infections in New Zealand," the statement announces. "The infections are overwhelmingly among the homosexual community whose lifestyle it and GayNZ.com succour and champion." The lengthy press release urges GayNZ.com and the NZ AIDS Foundation to support the classification of HIV as a notifiable disease "in order to stem the epidemic in New Zealand". They want all those diagnosed with HIV to be required by law to disclose information to health officials on all those they have had sexual relationships with over the three-month period prior to testing, so that contact tracing of those at possible risk can be carried out and given tests and medical assistance if required. HIV+ people would also be required to disclose to all sexual partners of their positive status even if they use a condom. "Severe penalties should be imposed on those who fail to comply with the law," the Society advises. The Ministry of Health is considering a Public Health Bill to replace legislation from 1956, looking at a range of STIs and notification including syphilis, Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and HIV. GayNZ.com understands the Bill may be read in Parliament early in 2008, and interested groups will then be invited to prepare a submission and appear before any select committee looking into changing the status quo. "First and foremost in our concerns around this issue is the continued stigma and discrimination that HIV positive people continue to face, and we wish to ensure that any discussion or potential legislation around this issue is conducted with the utmost sensitivity," responds the AIDS Foundation's Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier. Body Positive's Co-General Facilitator Bruce Kilmister agrees, pointing out that if notification of HIV becomes required by law, the information can be used against HIV+ people. "Body Positive is strongly against HIV becoming notifiable. We see it as a backward step that will further impede people presenting for HIV tests, because of their perceived fear of disclosure. For example, HIV+ people appearing on a medical health list could be blocked from certain jobs, says Kilmister. "If it is made notifiable, then the very least the Ministry can ensure is that a coded system is used, thus ensuring the protection of individuals from those who have access to the medical health computer system." The Society for Promotion of Community Standards also accuses the AIDS Foundation of giving homosexual and bisexual men false confidence prior to their new rapid HIV testing, "by claiming that provided they used a condom in all anal sex over the eight-week period prior to the test, then a negative test result can be relied on confidently. This is patently false." The Foundation's rapid testing system is one of the most reliable in the world, as certified by the World Health Organisation, Le Mesurier responds. "With regards to the 'window period' where an HIV diagnosis may not show up in a test, we always advise anyone coming to test in our centres that a negative result will need to be followed up with a second confirmatory test in three months time. "We keep all our clients fully informed about risk. Everyone being tested is given strong advice and encouragement to use condoms and lube whether in the window period or afterwards," she says. "To say that NZAF is giving gay men 'a false sense of security' by telling them to use condoms is akin to saying the Ministry of Transport give people a false sense of security by telling them to use seatbelts." Abstinence messages have been proved by scientific research to be ineffective for preventing STIs and pregnancies, she points out.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 4th November 2007 - 12:14pm