The "Gay" Superbug and the Big Smear

Five days after writing a story about a study that suggested that a new "gay disease" was threatening to kill us all. And swallowing it hook, line and petri dish. The New York Times now says it isn't a gay disease after all.

And so do the people who did the study....or the BIG SMEAR.

“We deplore negative targeting of specific populations in association with MRSA infections or other public health concerns,” it concluded. Dr. Henry Chambers, one of the report’s authors and a professor of medicine at the university, said he was surprised by how the report had been spun.

As for the idiot researcher, Bien Diep, who had breathlessly declared that if the infection ever spread to the "general population" it would be "unstoppable." Well he's backtracking too.

Mr. Diep, 29, said on Friday he regretted not being more thorough in communicating his research to reporters. He said that the term “general population” was part of medical jargon used in the report, which did not translate well.

“It’s really meant to be used to mean all inclusive, including the men-who-have-sex-with-men population,” he said.

But only after the Centers for Disease Control rapped his homophobic knuckles.

Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control, which helped finance the study, affirmed on Wednesday that the disease was not sexually transmitted or limited to a certain type of person. It is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, the agency said in a statement, and is widespread in hospitals and among hospital workers.

“These infections occur in men, women, adults, children and persons of all races and sexual orientations,” the statement read, adding that while the particular strain identified in the report had been found in gay men, it had also been found in people who were not gay.

Which made me wonder.... after noting how crazy bigots like Kathy Shaidle had used the original story to whip up hatred against gays... how many stories would be written to CORRECT the record?

The answer? According to Google News .....only TWO.

Compared to 154 versions of this one.

Which leaves me with a few troubling questions. One .....how FUCKED UP are the priorities of our idiot and homophobic media?

Two... what kind of a gay porn site runs pictures of guys in BATHING suits?

And three... if I don't think this event should be cancelled?

In the name of safety, the U.S. Naval Academy is considering an overhaul of one of its most bizarre traditions: the annual ritual in which a thousand first-year midshipmen struggle to conquer a 21-foot granite obelisk coated with 200 pounds of lard.

Am I DEFILING the hunky pole climbers by looking at their pictures.... with my gay eyes .... on one of the many gay blogs that post pictures of shirtless guys ... like the one I lifted this one from?

I HOPE so...but probably not.

So do you think that it would be possible to grease up the pointy obelisk with so much LARD .... I could shove it all the way up the collective ass of our idiot and irresponsible media?

Or watch Kathy Shaidle ride it like a wingnut cowboy?

Now that would be LOVELY.

Aren't we lucky we're so beautiful?

Aren't we lucky we're so STRONG?

The Gay Disease That Wasn't

A few days ago the media was full of stories about a virulent new bacterial infection that was spreading among gay men in San Francisco and Boston.

The story was extremely alarming and full of talk about how if it ever entered the "general population" it would be UNSTOPPABLE. And how there appeared to be a link to gay sex. And the implicit message was that those filthy gay sex maniacs are going to KILL us all.

Having read the complete report I tried to point out in this post that there was something terribly wrong with the way the story was being spun. How NO connection to sex had been made. How the MRSA bug was already out there. How it wasn't a "gay disease."

But that didn't stop the disgusting homophobes at Small Dead Animals from coming out from under their rocks...and spewing hate at the gay community.

I'm not going to link to the post that was written by that foul bigot Kathy Shaidle ....under the headline: So What colour Ribbon will THIS be?

But here are some of the comments:

The ribbon colour should match that of dead flesh.

Do you think that God knew something that we didn't when he brought down his laws about homosexuality?

The only people who can be comfortable around a gay people these days are other gay people.It is not possible for gay people to coexist with straight people unless they opt to drink a cup of shut the f**k up every morning. Their perversion is like a religion.

A gay guy with flesh eating disease ? A politically incorrect person (not me) would refer to that as rotting fruit.

Something gay men do that is common amongst them all is causing them to be 13 times more likely to be infected. We all know this to be anal sex with more than one partner. So what does this tell us? It isn't rocket science.....you don't have to believe in God to realize that when you mess with the natural order of things, there are dire consequences. How many more dead bodies do you want as proof?

I'm not a religious man at all.but if these were my only two choices, I would rather live with people who spread the gospel than with people who spread deadly diseases. How is this a "normal persons" problem?

You f*ck a monkey ... you get monkey problems.

It's truly disgusting stuff ....aimed at an already victimized community.To try to further marginalize it... and whip up a murderous hatred of gay people.

And what makes it even WORSE is that the story itself is bullshit. As the Centres for Disease Control has clarified.














MRSA is a common cause of skin infections throughout the United States. These infections occur in men, women, adults, children, and persons of all races and sexual orientations, and are known to be transmitted by close skin-to-skin contact.

The strains of MRSA described in the recent Annals of Internal Medicine have mostly been identified in certain groups of men who have sex with men (MSM), but have also been found in some persons who are not MSM. It is important to note that the groups of MSM in which these isolates have been described are not representative of all MSM, so conclusions can not be drawn about the prevalence of these strains among all MSM.

The groups studied in this report may share other characteristics or behaviors that facilitate spread of MRSA, such as frequent skin-to-skin contact.

Like a gym ....or a cart in a community supermarket...but not necessarily anal or ANY other kind of sex.

MRSA is typically transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, which occurs during a variety of activities, including sex. There is no evidence at this time to suggest that it MRSA is a sexually-transmitted infection in the classical sense.

So much for all that hate. So much for the science. So much for the crappy media coverage.

At the end of the day all I can do is wonder how much more DAMAGE has been done?

How much LONGER will I have to fight these truly diseased homophobes?

And of course the biggy.

When will this MADNESS end?

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P.S. I want to acknowledge the efforts of the decent straight blogger Jeff Davidson who blogs here......and who jumped into that hideous Small Dead Animals thread to defend us.

And of course got bashed by the bigots. But still managed to make them look even MORE like the crazy hatemongers they are. Thanks Jeff. Good work!!

Oh yeah...one final thing... Why is the racist AND homophobic bigot Kathy Shaidle blogging at the CBC?

The Flesh-Eating Superbug and the "Gay Disease"

As I lay on my comfy hospital bed this morning watching my blood drain away...with the nurses coming in and out of my little room and spoiling me rotten as usual ... I couldn't help but think of how different it must have been for gay men like me during the Plague Years.

When our poor brothers with AIDS were often left to lie in soiled sheets for hours or go hungry...because people were too frightened to go near them. Or even go near HEALTHY gay people because they thought AIDS was a gay disease.

And then as I dozed off .....I remembered a picture I saw during the SARS crisis of an Asian restaurant owner alone in his usually packed dining room.... after all his regular customers had deserted him. Because in their ignorance and fear they thought SARS was an ASIAN disease.

And how I wished I was in Toronto so I could go to his restaurant ..... sit by the window so everyone in the street could see me...and order EVERYTHING on the menu. Because that kind of irrational fear is SCARY. And I wanted to show that poor man that I wasn't afraid.

Well guess what? Now I AM afraid. Because it's our turn again.

A deadly strain of the superbug MRSA which can lead to a flesh-eating form of pneumonia has emerged. Research suggests it may be more prevalent among the gay community - the gay San Francisco district of Castro appears to have been hardest hit

The new strain is resistant to treatment by many front-line antibiotics.

It causes large boils on the skin, and in severe cases can lead to fatal blood poisoning or necrotising pneumonia, which eats away at the lungs.

Never mind that a bug doesn't discriminate. That it'll jump any human it can. Just ask Columbus.

Never mind that we don't know how many people got it from sex....or how many got it from working out in a gym.... or from handling a supermarket cart. Or that MRSA illnesses are a growing problem everywhere.

Or that they can strike any group of people first.

This one will be seen as another GAY disease. And because it can DISFIGURE people as well as kill them .... and unlike AIDS you CAN pick it up from casual contact, the panic could be even worse.

So just like the right-wingers and religious fanatics used AIDS to attack us ALL during the Plague Years.

Like this group of Young Republicans picketing a Democratic Party convention.












I'm not surprised that their modern counterparts are already calling for gays to be quarantined or killed.

I thought AIDS was bad enough. I guess they will get us all killed through their “choice” of lifestyle and spread their misery to one and all. Misery loves company.

Quarantine. Learn the lesson of AIDS.
They can have sex with each other in quarantine until they die from the bacterial infection

It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people. Every one of them who is transported to the great bath house in the sky...is one who cannot pass on any of the viruses connected with the community.

In Iran these sickos would’ve been executed and this would have a quick end put to it

Just like I'm afraid many people in Canada will think ....even if they won't say it aloud.

I woke up with a start to find one of my favourite nurses bending over me and laughing.

"Simon how could you fall asleep and not call me?" she said. " The bag is so full it's ready to explode. And what WERE you dreaming about ? "

Since she needs more grief like I need a hole in my head.... I just smiled, winked and said:

"It was a yummy dream....mmmm." And she laughed.

But actually it was a nightmare.

Here we go again...

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P.S. In case you wondered why I have to get my blood drained six or seven times a year... it's to keep my hemochromatosis.

Or my Celtic Curse in check.

And my public service announcement is the same one. If you have any of the symptoms. Check with your doctor and get yourself tested.

Because they may call it the Celtic Curse.

But in Canada it could be ANYONE...