HIV had its origins in African primates and is believed to be transmitted to humans by the bite of monkeys, especially humans who were hunting monkeys to sell illegally as "bush meat." The virus is transmitted from one human to another in bodily fluids. This can, and does, include by blood transfusion, which is why blood banks carefully screen blood doners. During both homosexual AND heterosexual sex, bodily fluids are exchanged. This is what makes HIV a venereal disease—but not exclusively a venereal disease, since it can be transmitted non-sexually.

HIV is NOT spontaneously created by homosexual practices. The concept of "spontaneous generation" (the idea that life forms such as mice, flies, and other vermin are created by heaps of rubbish or garbage, when in actually the vermin existed before the rubbish heap did and were attracted to it, not created by it) is totally untenable. Many scientists, including Louis Pasteur in 1859, proved that not only does this not happen, but that it is biologically impossible.

Male homosexual activity does not create the AIDs virus. This is a scientific fact that one of the debaters here absolutely refuses to accept.

One very effective way to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDs (in addition to the careful screening of blood—and, for that matter, organ—doners) is to strive to reduce the combination of unprotected sex and promiscuous sex. One way (embraced by many gays and lesbians themselves) is to encourage stable, monogamous relationship among gays and lesbians in the same way that stable relationships are encouraged among heterosexuals in order to reduce the spread of venereal disease AND the incidence of unwanted children conceive accidentally, along with, of course, the idea of the immorality of conjugal relations "without the benefit of clergy."

Consider the documented and demonstrated enthusiasm of the gay/lesbian community for the idea of the legalization of same/sex marriage (despite the unsupported denial of those who oppose the idea). This enthusiasm is shown by gays and lesbians themselves, and is not the product of the fictional "liberal establishment, dragging gays and lesbians kicking and screaming" postulated by at least one or more of the anti-same-sex marriage debaters.

As to the "causes" of same-sex orientation, although a "gay gene" per se has not yet been isolated, the evidence is certainly there that it is a hereditary characteristic has been pretty solidly established by the same methods that Gregor Mendel demonstrated in the mid-1800s. Same-sex orientation appears to run in families, same as eye-color or other hereditary characteristics, and in the case of male homosexuality, there are indications, as Ebbie points out, that the hereditary factor is transmitted by some members of the female side of an extended family.

Mendel establish what happens, and now, geneticists are establishing the mechanisms by which it happens.

Another connection with the female side is that the expectant mother does not release the necessary hormones to the fetus at the appropriate time in its development. Thus, although the Y chromosome determines the child's physical structure as a male, the mis-timed hormones determines the child's sexual orientation as female.

In short, geneticists looking for a "gay gene" may have been looking in the wrong place. The male homosexual may not carry the gay gene, the gay gene may have been carried by his mother.

Advocates of the "gender orientation is simply a matter of choice" school of thought may cavil at the fact that although these findings are not yet solidly accepted by all biologists and geneticists, they are accepted by a large number of them.

If the advocates of the idea that gender orientation is a matter of "choice" were honest about it, they would have to concede that there is far less evidence for their position than there is for the contention that gender orientation is determined by hereditary factors.

When the Central Lutheran Church congregation was discussing whether or not to adopt the "Affirmation of Welcome" in its entirety (including the gender orientation phrase), a gay acquaintance of mine said, "Considering that being gay can get you discriminated against, made fun of, hated, beat up, and even killed, why on earth would a person choose to be gay?"

Don Firth