According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), active homosexuals (with multiple partners) have the greatest risk of contracting AIDS. Also at risk are hemophiliacs and abusers of intravenous drugs.c But since roughly 70 percent of the AIDS victims were homosexuals, it is strongly suspected that the disease is in most cases sexually transmitted.

The gay community, however, felt the greatest impact. Gay bars and bathhouses reported a lull in business due to people’s fear of contracting AIDS. And since homosexuals with multiple partners are at the greatest risk, some even made drastic changes in their life-style. Few, if any, were scared straight (heterosexual). But some have avoided anonymous sexual contact and settled into “monogamous” relationships.

Homosexuals thus find themselves victims not only of hostility but of a life-style fraught with peril.

Though the chances of getting AIDS from a transfusion seemed slim, the CDC nevertheless warned that “members of groups at increased risk for AIDS [primarily homosexuals] should refrain from donating plasma and/​or blood.”

Getting voluntary compliance from blood donors, though, has been easier said than done. And the homosexual community has cried “Discrimination!” to suggestions that they be banned from donating blood.