STDs and Safer Sex

Many lesbians and women who partner with women mistakenly assume they are safe from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. This is a dangerous, and possibly deadly, assumption. It is important that women who partner with women take steps to protect themselves from HIV and other STDs.

There is currently an interesting research project on woman-to-woman STD transmission happening at the University of Washington. The project website has more information than you could ever need about every kind of STD, transmission between women, prevention, and treatment. Visit the site at:

http://depts.washington.edu/wswstd

Thanks to Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH for permission to use the website information in the print version of the Sacramento Lesbian Health Resource Guide.

Additional information is available from the San Francisco AIDS foundation at www.sfaf.org.