If doctors aren't asking about sexuality and sexual activity, he said, then they miss the opportunity to recommend routine testing to young gay men.

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Her comments came following an article in a German magazine in which an anonymous gay Bundesliga player said the fear of added media attention was the reason why he hadn't announced his sexuality.

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"The fact that someone is of a different race or sexuality doesn't mean we don't share things in common, " he added.

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"The people this happened to just didn't fit into the moral ideas of sexuality or working attitude, that's all, " he adds.

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He told me, when I interviewed him on Tuesday, that he had got so used to lying about his sexuality that he didn't think through what he was doing when he misled the court.

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His sister, Michelle, says they don't know if he was targeted again because of his sexuality.

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He says their concern is battling bullying in schools, discrimination at work and proposed state laws like the "don't say gay" bill or one outlawing a private university from including sexuality in its anti-discrimination legislation.

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"Virginity pledgers are very different than most U.S. teens -- they are obviously more conservative, they have more negative views about sexuality and birth control and so, even if they didn't take a pledge, these would be teenagers who would be very likely to abstain anyhow, " says Rosenbaum.

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The US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which allows gay people to serve if they do not declare their sexuality or engage in homosexual acts, remains controversial and is sure to be raised at the debate.

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