Canadian Blood Services ban

[segnosaur]

Anal sex, most often practiced by gay men

That is not at all true. Anal sex is most often practiced by heterosexual couples. There aren't enough gay men for them to be the ones performing the act most often.

While it may be true that there are more straight individuals who engage in anal sex than gay individuals, that is only due to the fact that hetrosexuals greatly outnumber homosexuals.

Its also misleading. The important thing is not the total number who have engaged in a particular activity, but the chance that a member of a group has engaged in that activity. According to Wikipedia, various (recent) studies have shown that the percentage of heterosexuals who engage in anal is somewhere around 26-40% (depending on the survey). On the other hand, it was found that 58-80% (again, depending on the survey) of homosexual males engage in anal sex.

[segnosaur]

What I've been saying is that they shouldn't be penalizing an entire group for an assumed activity when not all members of the group engage in that behaviour.

The problem with trying to get too detailed with regards to sexual activity is that, well, people's brains are imperfect. We forget things, we forget details, and we attempt to rationalize/justify. If the question is "Have you done activity X" they may think "Well, only once, but it doesn't count", or they may forget about that wild new years party where they got hammered. (And this is not suggesting its only homosexuals that do so... everyone does.)

So, because people's memories are imperfect, they do the best they can... they use a sledgehammer and ban all homosexuals because trying to be more precise just wouldn't work.

Not only does this not apply to quite a few members of the gay community, it completely glosses over the sexual activity of straight people who are equally capable of carrying things like HIV.

You're right... straight people can carry things like HIV. But statistically, they are less likely to. For example, in New York City, approximately 28% of HIV/AIDS cases occurred through male homosexual contact, yet homosexual men make up only 2.5-5% of the population. That means on average a homosexual male is roughly 5-10 times as likely to be infected. Again, I want to stress that this is an average... there are many gay men who are (for example) celibate or in committed relationships who have a zero risk of contracting HIV. But on average HIV is more prevalent in the homosexual community.

http://www.uwec.edu/jolhm/EH4/HIV/HIVWebsite/04CASESTUD.html

If you ask me, theoretically that leaves more people at risk simply because a greater number of straight people have unprotected sex and have STIs.

Which is, of course, is irrelevant. The issue is not the "total numbers" of straight people, it is the possibility that individuals within a group will carry HIV.

Why do I say theoretically? BECAUSE THEY TEST ALL THE BLOOD SAMPLES ANYWAY SO THERE IS NO NEED TO CAST ONE GROUP ASIDE!

You keep repeating the assertion that testing can eliminate many of the safety issues. However, it should be noted that testing is not a panacea for everything. In fact, I believe in the U.S. between 1/450,000 and 1/660,000 donations have the HIV virus, but were not detected during screening.

http://aids.about.com/cs/hivtesting/f/bloodsupply.htm

Instead of asking whether or not someone has had sex with a man, wouldn't it be more prudent to ask whether or not they've had unprotected anal sex?

I've also heard stats (the radio show I sometimes used to listen to had a gay guy come in once a week and answer questions about the community) that say 80% of all sexual acts between gay men is oral and not anal.

It may be true (not sure, since you never provided a reference), but its still irrelevant.

Even if most sexual acts between homosexuals do not involve anal penetration, that doesn't necessarily mean that such acts are not uncommon among men. I've previously posted some statistics showing that homosexual men are rougly twice as likely to have engaged in anal sex at some time as heterosexuals.

[Smallc]

While it may be true that there are more straight individuals who engage in anal sex than gay individuals, that is only due to the fact that hetrosexuals greatly outnumber homosexuals.

Its also misleading.

Ummm, no it isn't. Most often, anal sex is practiced by heterosexual couples. As a percentage of the group, gay men are more likely to practice anal sex. They don't practice it most often.

[capricorn]

The problem with trying to get too detailed with regards to sexual activity is that, well, people's brains are imperfect. We forget things, we forget details, and we attempt to rationalize/justify. If the question is "Have you done activity X" they may think "Well, only once, but it doesn't count", or they may forget about that wild new years party where they got hammered. (And this is not suggesting its only homosexuals that do so... everyone does.)

Good point. Speaking of being human, it's natural not to want to be judged especially in the eyes of strangers. If I engage in sexual activity I think may appear deprived in the eyes of whoever is asking me, I will answer in a way to put myself in the best light possible and not appear too kinky. Another example. It's common for people not to be honest with their doctors with regard to how many cigarettes they smoke per day or how many alcoholic beverages they drink per week. I spoke to a doctor who told me that if a patient tells him he smokes 20 cigs a day or drinks 6 beers a week, he doubles it to get a picture closer to the truth.

[segnosaur]

While it may be true that there are more straight individuals who engage in anal sex than gay individuals, that is only due to the fact that hetrosexuals greatly outnumber homosexuals.

Its also misleading.

Ummm, no it isn't.

Well, I suppose it depends on what the point of your post was.

If your point was to suggest that there is more risk in blood donations from heterosexuals (because the greatest total number of anal sex acts is between heterosexuals (as nicky10013 seemed to imply in one of his posts) then yes it is misleading. (As I explained, the issue is not the total number of sex acts performed in a group, its the chance that any individual has participated in the activity.)

On the other hand, if your point was just to try to correct what you perceive as someone's faulty grammar/wording then it might not be misleading. (Its still a pretty pointless thing to bring up though.)

Most often, anal sex is practiced by heterosexual couples. As a percentage of the group, gay men are more likely to practice anal sex. They don't practice it most often.

Yes and no.

While you are right in that they don't "practice it most often" as a total number of all sex acts by all individuals, I also don't think its wrong to say they practice it most often based on a greater incidence per capita. (i.e. your interpretation is not wrong, but neither was the original poster.)

Either way, as I said, its mostly an irrelevant point... the issue is the frequency of the activity with a group, not the total number of people engaged in the activity.