Wednesday 9 October 2013

Just what is the gay test?

So the Gulf states are to conduct medical tests to detect gay men from entering their countries. Just how are they going to detect gay men?

They are going to introduce routine clinical screenings of expatriates as a way to detect gay men they say. I'm just wondering how this is possible? My blood is undetectable from that of any straight man. As for sexually transmitted diseases none of these are particular to one sexual orientation. So is it possible that anyone who is HIV+ will be prevented from entering irregardless of their sexual orientation or how they contracted the disease (even if they were born with it from an infected mother). Straight people may well be branded gay based on outmoded assumptions about such things like calling HIV 'the gay disease'.

You see there is no test that will unequivocally detect a man who has sex with other men. Some gay men are top class athletes, some straight men have skinny, skeletal frames. There is no body type that will give away who is who.

Then there is the fact that human sexuality isn't a binary system, there are various degrees of bisexuality. So even carrying out some sort of test to see the reaction of someone to sexual images is not going to be 100% fool proof. But of course to be able to detect such a reaction you are going to have to carry out very intrusive examinations of everyone, there will be public outcry if they try to do this to too many straight men.

That is unless the Gulf states are planning to only pinpoint certain people who they think are gay for such tests. In which case they will be relying on profiling that is based on stereotypes. which are hardly proven medical tests. But you know who also used profiling to prevent certain groups of people from getting on in life, 1930s Germany introduced such a system of profiling  and we know where that ended up.

Then there is also the assumption that all LGBT people in the Gulf States are expatriates. Or course they are not! There are gay people who are born and raised in these nations. What happens if they leave for a holiday, or education, or work and return? Will they also be blocked from returning to their homeland, will they also be subjected to such testing.

1 comment:

  1. It seems what is being discussed is more of a trans-test than a gay-test http://paper-bird.net/2013/10/09/kuwaits-medical-screening-for-gays-truth-fiction-and-why-its-not-a-gay-issue/

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