It is beyond belief that the Tribune printed under Joan Beck’s byline as part of a condom safety piece on Jan. 9: “Abstinence is the safest (way to avoid AIDS infection). So is a heterosexual, monogamous relationship . . ..”
What about a pair of monogamous, lifelong lesbians? These women are least likely to catch HIV than any other pair. What about two gay men who meet in junior high school and engage in a lifelong, monogamous relationship? What about two non-monogamous gay men who abstain from activities that involve the unsafe transfer of sperm?
In the world according to Joan Beck, all you have to do is merely be heterosexual in order to avoid the HIV. Never mind that almost all transmission in Africa has been heterosexual. Never mind that the group in which there has been the largest growth of transmission is women who engage in heterosexual sex with drug users or their partners.
