Lesbians and "Normal" Women: A true comparison of STD rates and transmission

A good friend recently sent this article to me. It is titled: "STDs two and a half times More prevalent in lesbians than Normal Women"

If you are offended by the words vagina or penis or penetration, just stop reading now.

If you don't have time to read the afore-mentioned article (although it's really short), the general gist is that a.) lesbians aren't "Normal Women," b.) bacterial vaginosis is more common among lesbians, and thus c.) lesbians have twice the STD rates than heterosexual women.

Oh, and d.) The word "lesbians" doesn't deserve capitalization. But "Normal Women" does.

Anyway, the article states, "Public health professionals admit that the problem with tracking the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among lesbians is the lack of research. What studies have been undertaken, however, show that most women in such relationships have had sexual relations with at least one man in the past and can transmit possible infections on to other women, sometimes years later. Commonly, such infections can include Chlamydia and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) the infection that has been linked to cervical cancer."

Point of Clarification #1: that such infections can include Chlamydia and HPV, doesn't mean that they actually do.

I work at an STD clinic. I see STDs every single day. (I do love my job, by the way). I have seen them all. Let me break it down for you. Many STDs require something penetrative that also acts as a "microorganism depositer," if you will. This includes Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HIV, and hepatitis B. That means the little bacteria or viruses are present in the actual semen or discharge from the urethra and are tranmitted during "coitus." Conversely, a female's cervical or vaginal secretions can also transmit these to her partner's penis. But that requires more in-depth penetration, if you will. Or if an infected lesbian is sharing sex toys with her girlfriend, a lesbian could become infected this way. Problem is, not many lesbians are infected in the first place.

HPV is different in that it can be spread from skin-to-skin contact. If someone has a wart on his penis, it is likely shedding the HPV virus. And through unprotected sex it can be spread to the female partner's cervix. It can also end up on someone's mouth through oral sex. Or a wart on a cervix can be spread to a penis. And, again, if an HPV-infected lesbian shares toys with her girlfriend, she could infect the girlfriend (if they don't use condoms on the toys).

Syphilis in the primary stage (when a chancre or other "wet" symptom is present) is also spread through skin-to-skin contact. So is Herpes Simplex Virus (Type 1 and 2).

Point of Clarification #2: Bacterial vaginosis is not that scary.

Now, let's delve into bacterial vaginosis (BV), shall we? As this is the "STD" that lifesite's article was most interested in. Per the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which is the STD guidelines and gold standard among all health-care professionals in the U.S., BV is "is the name of a condition in women where the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted and replaced by an overgrowth of certain bacteria." In other words, it's not caused by any outside bacteria. It is an overgrowth of the bacteria that is found in every woman's vagina. In actuality, not much is understood about BV. It is found more frequently in women with multiple sexual partners, women who douche, and women who use IUDs (Intrauterine Devices). While women who have never had sexual intercourse are rarely affected, it does happen. Thus, while sex may be a contributing factor, and sharing sex toys among lesbians can be a cause, the fact that it also occurs in virgins makes it... not really an STD.

But, since it is a bacteria that occurs in the vagina and has been linked to sex in most people, it is commonly listed under STD sections of medical books and articles, and even the CDC.

For one, as far as STDs go, BV is probably THE MOST benign. It is so benign, in fact, that non-pregnant women whose tests show that they have BV are commonly only treated if they are symptomatic. Why, might you ask? Probably because the risk of allergic reactions to the treatment (a commonly prescribed antibiotic) are actually higher than the risks associated with BV.

Secondly, as I already mentioned, BV isn't really an STD. See this article for more info ("Bacterial vaginosis, although not clearly an STD, is prevalent in lesbians and bisexual women"). To imply that lesbians have double the rate of STDs than heterosexual (excuse me, "Normal") women is strongly misleading. Re-read my point about penises being a main cause of many STDs. The LifeSite article took results from one small study (n=360) about BV, and made a sweeping generalization that lesbians have twice the rate of ALL STDs. That is grossly. horribly. terribly. inaccurate. Particularly among women who ONLY sleep with other women. And women who have never slept with men.

For example, one study showed that lesbians had a "7 percent increased likelihood of reported STDs per male partner in women who had sex with men compared with those who did not." You see, it is the penis that is more likely to spread STDs than a vagina. That's not bias, that's clear biology and scientific fact. A penis + vagina and a penis + penis both = higher STD rates. Vagina + vagina does not.

I am curious as to whether this study counted bisexual women among the "lesbians" category. Because bisexual women's sexual health needs are different from lesbians'. (ie- one has to take into account that penis). The LifeSite article also doesn't provide a link or reference list to the original study, so one can not even look back and read it for oneself. Interesting. It seems that for an article to make such a blanket negative statement about one "subculture" as they call it, one would provide a link to the original research to let the readers decide for themselves. But I don't expect that from LifeSite. They apparently are not interested in fairness and accuracy.

For example, the last sentence of the article ends like this, "The April 2000 edition of the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reports of two lesbians diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which is usually caused by untreated Chlamydia or gonorrhea."

Yes. A whopping, extraordinary amount of lesbians. Two. Two cases of a condition that may or may not be caused by an STD, but can also be caused by tampons, irritation, sex, or any other number of infections or irritants. Oh, and for the record, 1 million women in the U.S. alone get PID each year. If two of them are lesbians, then obviously this is an epidemic. (note the obvious sarcasm).

My only other main point of contention with the article is the use of the word "Normal" to signify "heterosexual." I knew right away, before even knowing what the hell LifeSite was, that this was gonna be a bad, bad article.

Toodles.