NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  May 16, 2008

CONTACT:  Diane Gramley  1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355

PA Governor Ed Rendell Continues Promotion of Dangerous Lifestyle

(Philadelphia) – Governor Rendell’s planned participation by leading the gay pride parade in New Hope’s Pride Weekend is further evidence of his lack of understanding of the dangerous lifestyle he is promoting, the American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a statewide pro-family organization said today.

“Reports out of New Hope are that this is an event to celebrate the borough’s diversity, but in reality it is an event to celebrate and promote the normalization of homosexuality.  The Governor obviously does not know that 71% of all new AIDS cases among males are men who have sex with men or that the City of Philadelphia, where he used to be mayor, is eighth in the nation for the number of reported AIDS cases,” stated Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA. 

Additionally, there are other medical concerns involved for those who engage in the homosexual lifestyle:    

q     In an April 2007 issue of International Journal of Eating Disorders, a study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health was published which found that homosexual and bisexual men have higher rates of eating disorders -- more than 15 percent of homosexual or bisexual men had at some time suffered anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorder, or at least certain symptoms of those disorders.

q     The Center for Disease Control warns that men who have sex with men "have 
large numbers of anonymous partners, which can result in rapid, extensive
transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. 

q     The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that "people with 
same-sex sexual behavior are at greater risk for psychiatric disorders" -
including bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, and anxiety disorders, major depression, 
and substance abuse.

q     The Oxford University International Journal of Epidemiology has noted that men who 
have sex with men shorten their lives by up to 20 years.   

q     A study which appears in the February,  2007  issue of the International Journal of 
STD & AIDS, has found that "HIV-positive men who have 
sex with men are up to 90 times more likely than the general population to develop anal cancer."

q     Matt Foreman, the Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force delivered 
a speech to the National Conference on Lesbian-Gay-
Bisexual-Transgender Equality in Detroit on February 8th.  During his delivery he admitted HIV 
is a 'gay disease.'   See Foreman's formal remarks, 
last paragraph, page 3. 

“If Governor Rendell was truly concerned about all Pennsylvanians, he would not be promoting a lifestyle which negatively impacts so many in this commonwealth – either through direct physical ailments or through tax dollars being used for health care of those suffering from those ailments.  This is further evidence that he is aligning himself to a very small segment of the population and ignoring the majority of Pennsylvania,” further noted Gramley.