 Kissing has also been implicated as a theoretical means of transmission in the gay male population, based on a newer study.Traditionally, the bacterium was thought to move attached to spermatozoa, but this hypothesis did not explain female to male transmission of the disease.A recent study suggests that rather than "surf" on wiggling sperm, "N. gonorrhoeae" bacteria use pili to anchor onto proteins in the sperm and move through coital liquid.