from Medical Issues

According to EGALE director Laurie Arron, "There's no reason to treat anal sex differently than other sexual acts except to stigmatize gay and bisexual men."

The National Post is backing EGALE's efforts. In an unsigned editorial on February 11, the paper said that the criminal code that bans "anal intercourse between unmarried people under 18" is "plainly discriminatory, a prohibition intended to stigmatize homosexual or bisexual teenagers, suggesting that the nature of their sexual relationship requires special added protection. This is nonsense."

Jessica White West of Vancouver, B.C., wrote a letter of concern to the Post about their support for the lowering of the age of sexual consent for teens who engage in homosexual sex.

West observed: "If both vaginal and anal intercourse were in accordance with natural law and did not discriminate in terms of consequences, this would be true. However, this is not the case in homosexual sex, as two people of the same sex do not have the required body parts to interact sexually and their intercourse can never be fruitful."

West continued, "Furthermore, their sexual practices result in both physical and emotional damage as is evidenced in numerous studies. More than 80% of AIDS cases in Canada are among homosexual or bisexual males; other diseases suffered either exclusively, or in larger percentages by the homosexual population, include: anal cancer, chlamydia trachomatis, cryptosporidium, giardia lamblia, herpes simplex virus, HPV, gonorrhea, viral hepatitis B and C, and syphilis."