''For God's sake, responsible companies don't turn their backs on those persons, they help them,'' Mr. Bray said.

Mr. Shoemaker said company officials believed it was prohibitively expensive to require them to pay for the medical costs of employees who became sick or injured as a result of decisions they voluntarily made, or by engaging in behavior likely to result in infection by the AIDS virus. The virus is transmitted by transfers of bodily fluids and most of its victims are homosexual men and intravenous drug users. Disdain for 'Outsiders'

Mr. Shoemaker said a person who contracted AIDS as a result of a blood transfusion would continue to be covered as would a woman who unknowingly contracted the disease from her spouse.

He added that the company had not estimated how much money the new policy would save. ''All we know is that if we don't incur these horrendous expenses, it will help us control our costs,'' he said.

So far, he said, the reaction from employees has been ''neutral.''

''Where the reaction is coming from is that some of these gay rights groups have said it's discriminatory and highly immoral and all those other things,'' Mr. Shoemaker said. ''It's amazing how outsiders feel put upon because we internally have done something.'' 'Personal Life Style Decisions'

Mr. Shoemaker said the new health policy will only affect employees hired after Jan. 1, but he did not explain why the letter was sent to all 8,000 covered employees. He said the decision to cut off medical coverage would be made at the company's discretion and would not necessarily be automatic; however the letter sent to employees by Robert M. Reade, Circle K's president and chief operating officer, makes no such qualification.

In explaining the policy, the letter said:

''The company is concerned about certain personal life style decisions regarding the use of alcohol, drugs, self-inflicted wounds and sickness due to acquired immune deficiency syndrome. We believe that these personal life style decisions could seriously impact other participants' health care costs. Employees who are proven to suffer illness and accidents that result from the use of alcohol, drugs, self-inflicted wounds and AIDS, proven not to be contracted from blood transfusion, will not be eligible to receive company health care coverage in those circumstances.''