Emory University has published a report, entitled The Impact Of Social Tolerance Levels Toward Gays In The United States On The HIV Transmission Rate, which suggests that the spread of HIV may be slowed where the tolerance of the LGBT community is higher. Put together by the Assistant Professors of Economics, Andres Francis and Hugo Mialon of Emory, these findings have yet to be published in a peer reviews academic publication, but have been released via a press release due to the university’s belief that the findings have a potential impact on policy decisions regarding same sex unions and gay marriage.

Included within these findings was the discovery that where the tolerance of gays was higher, the drop in HIV rates was statistically significant and robust, and where there wasn’t tolerance there tended to be a higher rate of men having sex with other men in public areas such as parks, beaches, restrooms and other public areas, which in turn saw higher rates of HIV.

Attributing the lower HIV rates to the fact that where tolerance is higher men are going to be more likely to come out, and in turn less likely to seek out anonymous sexual encounters that have a higher risk in terms of infection, Mialon and Francis believe this research needs to be taken into account concerning the current discussions about same sex marriage, however opponents to gay marriage are suggesting the research is little more than propoganda.