"Girls Go for the Gloves"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Girls Go for the Gloves"

Advocate (08/13/92) No. 609, P. 55
Califia, Pat

Abstract: Although lesbians are a low risk group for HIV infection, many believe they are not at all at risk. Risa Denenberg, a nurse practitioner who volunteers at New York City's gay and lesbian Community Health Project (CHP) conducted a small study of lesbian's beliefs about the transmission of HIV and found that one fifth said they would not have sex with an HIV positive women or weren't sure they would. Most of the respondents said they protected themselves by reducing their sexual activity, rather than by using gloves or dental dams. According to health educators, one of the biggest problems is the myth that lesbians are the lowest-risk group for AIDS. The Centers for Disease Control, which omits lesbian sex from the list of risky behaviors for HIV infection, uses the classification "IV-drug user" for a lesbian who had risky sex with other women and shared needles, rather than identifying her as a lesbian. New York City educators Rebecca Cole and Sally Cooper reported in their paper entitled, "Lesbian Exclusion from HIV/AIDS Education: Ten Years of Low-Risk Identity and High-Risk Behavior," written for the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) that "most women's AIDS organizations, large AIDS service providers, and longtime HIV counselors have seen cases in which female-to-female transmission has occurred.

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