This is perhaps one of dumbest studies I've heard of in years -- out of Emory, no less:

Bans on same-sex marriage can be tied to a rise in the rate of HIV infection, a new study by two Emory economists has found.

In the first study of the impact of social tolerance levels toward gays in the United States on the HIV transmission rate, the researchers estimated that a constitutional ban on gay marriage raises the rate by four cases per 100,000 people.

"We found the effects of tolerance for gays on HIV to be statistically significant and robust - they hold up under a range of empirical models," says Hugo Mialon, an assistant professor of economics.

No wonder! Economists are behind this garbage! Jesus if they had any standards for smart research. Obviously, this is a worthless tidbit of information. There is no cause and effect here. There is only a coincidental correlation. They argue that the mechanism behind the correlation is homophobia, but in reality we can track a variety of factors that actually may be behind the rise in infections: condom fatigue, increasing poverty and homelessness and general growing disparities between rich and poor, abstinence-only sex education mandates, rise in effectiveness of HIV drugs, and a whole host of other complicated factors that make making such an assertion as "Marriage bans lead to HIV rise" a disgustingly ignorant claim.

Economists. Go figure.

(Via Joe.My.God.)