of sexual practice (O'Hare, et al., 1996; Canadian Association of Social Workers, 1990; Quam, 1990 & Beauger, 1989).
             An especially strong association exists between homosexuality and AIDS. This is largely due to the fact that, in the early years of the disease, it was far more prevalent within the gay community and almost non-existent outside of it. In fact, until 1982 the disease was referred to as GRID or Gay Related Immune Deficiency. Even today, AIDS is often referred to as "the gay plague" (Giblin, 1995). Even though AIDS is now far less prevalent in the homosexual community and increasingly more outside of it, this mind set of it being a "gay" disease is still prevalent in today's society.
             Along with the historical context of AIDS, the media is partly to blame for this not so accurate association. The Canadian Association of Social Workers (1990) reports that, "often the media has not distinguished between 'gay' and 'AIDS', so that public understanding of homosexuality and AIDS has become enmeshed" (p.10). In recent years, the media has started to make more accurate distinctions between homosexuality and AIDS, but messages are still mixed and often ambiguous. The situation is quite similar in regard to IV drug use, prostitution, and other activities commonly associated with AIDS. This focus that the media has put on specific groups unfairly places an emphasis on high-risk groups rather than high-risk activities. As a result, the word AIDS alone conjures, for many, images of those who stray from what society has deemed normal behavior.
             Homosexuals, in western culture, have almost always suffered the effects of being labeled abnormal as a group. The same is true of prostitutes, IV drug users, and people of color (O'Hare, et al., 1996; Giblin, 1995 & CASW, 1990). It is significant to mention populations that consist of people of color are the parts of the world that are most sev...