[SOPi_Jawbreaker]

I know I'm a little late, but in regards to the whole health insurance issue stated in previous pages:

I'm not arguing that there isn't most likely a slightly higher risk of STD's in the gay community. However, for the insurance companies, I would think the bigger concern is heart disease (often the result of eating a meat-and-potatoes diet) and cancer. The most common types of cancer being skin (usually a result of tanning), lung (usually a result of smoking), prostate, colorectal (also usually a result of eating a meat-and-potatoes diest), and breast. Also don't forget that the fastest growing population of HIV infection is in heterosexual women. In addition, the South and Midwest see a large number of cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. I tried to find data for 2006, but the most recent I could find was 2004. Maybe, things have changed since then, but I kinda doubt it. The states in the top 10 for these three STD's are Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Maryland, Alaska, California, Hawaii, and New York. My point being that while the gay community may have a slightly higher risk of STD's, the straight community probably still poses a larger liability for the insurance companies.