falenas108 comments on [Link] Forty Days - Less Wrong
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A big difference about outing someone with syphillis vs with AIDS is back then it was thought by a lot of folks that AIDS was only transferrable by anal sex, i.e. you would also be outing them as probably gay/bi.
Which was also much more dangerous to be outed as back then.
Thought correctly, I might add.
I doubt it was more dangerous than getting AIDS was back then.
Uh, no. Transmission rates are higher with anal sex, but not 0 for vaginal sex.
So basically you're arguing for "death before dishonor". Ok, just keep in mind that the policy you're defending did indeed lead to many deaths.
I did not say that this difference made it the wrong policy, merely that it's something to keep in mind and that you shouldn't consider the cases of syphilis and AIDS to be entirely analogous.
The differences you highlight are much less than the differences in lethality.