preference for unhealthy foods
A happily married heterosexual politician might have a preference for anal sex with his happily consenting wife (and ingest her feces when licking her butthole during foreplay),
And a gay man might prefer only to have oral sex -- never anal sex -- with his lover.
You are ill-informed, mentally sick and morally retarded.
Center for Arizona Policy The APA's brief cites to Laumann et al. to support their statement that the sexual practices prohibited by the Texas law "are important aspects of sexual intimacy for many American heterosexual couples." APA Br. at 21. However, Laumann's study specifically reveals that oral sex is "a technique with which most people have at least some familiarity, but it has in no sense become a defining feature of sex between women and men (as vaginal intercourse or, perhaps, kissing is) . . . it is important to establish at the outset the ambiguity of oral sex in the repertoire of [heterosexual] techniques." Laumann et al., supra, at 101.
Laumann's research also reveals that heterosexuals engage in anal sex even less than oral sex: "anal sex has not entered into the repertoire of regular sexual practices of most women and men in the United States." Laumann, supra, at 107. This study found that only one-quarter of men and one-fifth of women have experienced anal sex over a lifetime, and is far less frequent than that in any given year of life. Id. Heterosexuals were also 79% less likely to find anal intercourse as "very appealing" compared to vaginal intercourse. Laumann et al., supra, at 152-155, Table 4.2.
Because oral and anal sex are primary means of sexual activity between individuals of the same sex (APA Br. at 22-23), and such is not the case with heterosexual couples, it should be considered that the Texas law has reasonably and narrowly drawn their prohibition of "deviate sexual intercourse" to those couples where it is most likely to take place. The Texas law may also contemplate the higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases which are related to certain sexual behaviors, and seeks to prohibit behavior associated with a higher prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (not only HIV/ AIDS) and sexually associated infections and other illnesses. Laumann et al., supra, at 396.
It is well-documented that as the number of sexual partners rise, the likelihood of having a partner with a sexually transmitted infection also rises. Laumann et al., supra, at 403; see generally Hickson et al., supra. As has been noted, homosexuals have a much greater number of sexual partners, 23 as compared to heterosexuals, and engage in sexually riskier activity, 24 therefore, there are serious health considerations implicated in same-sex sexual activity which should be taken into account when a legislature proscribes certain sexual activities.
SODOMY : Texas Phys.Resource Council, Christian Med. & Dental Association, Catholic Med.Association
The CDC has identified men who have sex with men as among the groups that "are most vulnerable to STDs and their consequences . . . ." Id . at 39 (Introduction to "Special Focus Profiles"). One reason that men who have sex with men are at high risk of STDs is the nature of anal sex. Anal sex is not the same as sexual intercourse because of the differences between the vagina and the anus. 10 "The vagina is surrounded by thick muscular tissue which distends and changes shape to accommodate the erect penis during intercourse." Jeremy Agnew, Some Anatomical and Physiological Aspects of Anal Sexual Practices , 12 Journal of Homosexuality No. 1, 75, 91 (Fall 1985). The nature of these muscles make them "capable of protecting against abrasion during intercourse . . . ." Id . In contrast, the anus has a far more limited capacity to expand because it is firmly attached to the tail bone, and it is vulnerable to tears at its point of attachment. Because the anus is surrounded by veins and arteries, any tears may lead to substantial bleeding. See Keith L. Moore, C LINICALLY O RI ENTED A NATOMY 385 (2 nd ed. 1985). Accordingly, receptive anal sex may cause physical trauma to the anus and the rectum:
the lining of the rectum consists of a single layer of [membranous cellular tissue] with numerous goblet [mucous secreting] cells. The function of this thin layer is to promote the absorption of water and electrolytes. In spite of the limited protective capacity of secreted mucus from the goblet cells, the mucosa is incapable of much mechanical protection against abrasion. . . . . . . One of the commonest problems associated with anal sexual activity is tearing of the anal canal. The external anal sphincter is biologically intended to have material pass through it out of the body. The sudden or forceful insertion of objects in the "reverse" direction stimulates the anal reflex and produces a natural tendency of the sphincter to contract to prevent inser- tion. Unlike the vagina, the anus and rectum lack a nat- ural lubricating function, and insertion of unlubricated objects or inadequate dilation prior to the insertion of large objects can result in the tearing of perianal and anal canal tissue.
Texas Phys.Resource Council, Christian Med. & Dental Association, Catholic Med.Association
Oral sex also results in the spread of HIV/AIDS and other STDs. According to the CDC, HIV, "[h]erpes, syphilis, gonor- rhea, genital warts (HPV), intestinal parasites (amebiasis), and hepatitis A are examples of STDs which can be transmitted during oral sex with an infected partner." CDC, Preventing the Sexual Transmission of HIV, the Virus that Causes AIDS: What You Should Know about Oral Sex , HIV/AIDS Update (December 2000). 24 A number of the diseases associated with men who have sex with men, particularly the enteric pathogens, are most likely transmitted through an oral/anal or penile/anal/ oral route. Marino & Mancini, 58 Surgical Clinics of North America at 514 ("Sexual transmission of [enteric pathogens] is a possible consequence of oro-anal, ano-genital, and genito-oral contact either separately or in sequence"). One study expressed surprise at finding that oral-anal sex "was the single most important practice associated with infection [with hepatitis B surface antigen] . . . ." Reiner, et al., Asymptomatic Rectal Mucosal Lesions and Hepatitis B Surface Antigen at Sites of Sexual Contact in Homosexual Men . . . , 96 Annals of Internal Medicine at 170. Human herpes virus 8, "a necessary etiologic agent of Kaposi sarcoma," also appears to be spread by oral sex between men who have sex with men (but seldom in opposite- sex couples). Dennis H. Osmond, Ph.D., et al., Prevalence of Kaposi Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Infection in Homosex- ual Men at Beginning of and During the HIV Epidemic , 287 Journal of the Am. Medical Ass'n No. 2, 221 (2002).