Because while an estimated 17 percent of you are HIV-positive, a full half of you have no idea. Meanwhile: The Chicago Public Health Department “also say although black men who have sex with other men have double the HIV infection rates of white and Hispanic men.”
HIV
Dear Chicago Gays: Please Go Get Tested
Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...
We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?
Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated
Chitown Kev
Oh, PUH-LEASE David Hauslaib! Taking cheap shots at Chicago like that.
Tested a week ago, in fact. Ix-nay on HIV.
Marcus
I hate to be cynical, but alot of those men don’t WANT to know their status.
Nobody’s perfect, but wrap it up, guys. Your only hurting yourselves.
It seems were always dealing with the same problems…I don’t get it.
What of, “you could get sick,” don’t people understand?
Fitz
@Marcus: and what of “You could GET SOMEONE sick” aren’t they getting? The cynic in me thinks it’s all about plausible deniability.
Marcus
Ag@Fitz:
Agreed. People are a mess.
Dickie
Sadly, I think it’s true that a lot of guys, not just in Chicago, don’t want to get tested… because what if it comes back positive? They’re scared of the result, which probably means they’ve been participating in less than safe sex.
As for dealing with the same issues over and over, I think if you did this same survey in metro gays areas nationwide, you’d find similar results. And I bet you’d find a disordinate amount of those being new infections among the 24 and under set. Just a hunch, but that’s about the cut off of never seeing anyone we know suffer through AIDS and the turn in gay media where not every single movie was about HIV and AIDS.
Kid A
I have a straight girlfriend who was the same way. Got around a bit more than she should have, with people she didn’t know well enough. Thought she could be pregnant, but was too afraid to get a test.
Rob
Wow, Queerty, it’s a good thing you pointed out those stats about black/latino men. Since HIV is now a black/brown disease, you know. White guys who only sleep with white guys, feel free to bareback away!
epluribusunumjk
@Rob: Actually, if you read the original article in the Trib, you can see that the article points out the discrepancy with black males. Whites and Hispanics have lower rates of HIV infection, at 11 and 12% respectively.
hyhybt
Well, that’s one thing to be thankful for, anyway. With no social life, at least I don’t have to worry about catching HIV!
jason
Being gay does not automatically mean you have HIV nor does it mean that you are likely to catch a venereal disease. The sexual orientation does not impart likelihood. What does play a role is behavior. If you engage in sleazy anonymous sexual activity with multiple partners, you are opening yourself up to catching many different things. This applies regardless of your sexual orientation.
Therefore, I can only urge my fellow gays to speak out against the sleazy ones in our community.
Robert Dawson
It is dangerous to perpetuate the idea that “sleazy anonymous sexual activity with multiple partners” will expose people to HIV. It suggests that as long as you are not sleazy (can someone even define that word), or promiscuous, you are somehow safe. It’s an us vs. them mentality. The truth is that ANYONE who has sex with ANYONE can be exposed to HIV. The quality or quantity of sex is irrelevant. Just wear a condom and get tested.
Cam
@Rob: You said “Wow, Queerty, it’s a good thing you pointed out those stats about black/latino men. Since HIV is now a black/brown disease, you know. White guys who only sleep with white guys, feel free to bareback away!”
_______________________________________________________
The actual quote was showing that blacks have a much higher rate than whites OR hispanics….
“The Chicago Public Health Department “also say although black men who have sex with other men have double the HIV infection rates of white and Hispanic men.”
Rob it is VERY dangerous to try to treat any news you don’t like as racist. The states about AIDS in the Black community are nothing to try to keep hushed up, just as the stats of AIDS in the white gay community needed to be publicised in the 80’s and 90’s. Statistics aren’t racist, they are factual. If you are black, live in Chicago, sleep with guys, this article could be a much needed wake up call. Would you rather have them wait until they come down with pnumonia and wind up in the hospital to decide to get tested?
Jim Pickett
Check out the full report here
http://lifelube.blogspot.com/2009/07/hiv-prevalence-and-unrecognized-new.html
You will note that while gay black men have higher rates of HIV, their risk behaviors are lower than gay white men. So – it is NOT just about wrapping it up, is it?
Rob
@Cam: Nah, it’s not really about trying to debunk facts as “racist” so much as that statement was a reaction to a growing trend in the gay community to try to make HIV a black man’s disease. There are very specific reasons why HIV has leveled off to a point among white gays and increased among black gays, but the discourse level isn’t there. ANY mention of HIV nowadays is reduced to: watch out for Black/Latino men, they ALL have HIV. THAT to me is what is really fucked up and, yes, racist. It damages the self-esteem of some young gay black men who are looking to the wider community for acceptance, and it lulls white gays into a false sense of security in which they rationalize engaging in some very risky behavior as long as the guy isn’t Black. This is a dangerous path to be heading down at this point in the fight against HIV.
jason
Having multiple partners, especially anonymous ones whose health status you know nothing about, opens you up to increased risk of catching anything. It’s a simple fact.
DeAnimator
Perhaps if having 2049049 partners wasn’t glorified in the gay community, HIV wouldn’t be a problem. I hate to say it but Chicago isn’t the only place with sleazy, slutty guys affected with HIV.
Also, HIV isn’t just a gay disease. It affects way more african american women but that’s okay…they aren’t white gay men so why care?
Rob
BTW, you guys should really check out the report at the link. There’s some interesting stuff there. Blacks/Latinos actually had fewer sex partners than whites, and they make up half of the relatively small (less than 600 people) sample. Risky sexual behavior was flat across ethnic groups. All in all, an interesting read. I’m not disputing anything, but just like with the “Blacks passed Prop 8” debacle, we need to be more aware of numbers and context before we start taking percentages as law.
http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_EDITORIAL/STD_HIV_AIDS_Chicago_July09.pdf
Dennis
@DeAnimator:
“Chicago isn’t the only place with sleazy, slutty guys affected by HIV”…
Hey genius, non-sleazy and non-slutty guts can get HIV as well, as I’ve known people infected by their boyfriend/partners, or been lied to by an (infrequent) trick, and/or “nice guys” who had moments of bad decision making which resulted in seroconversion …so how about backing off the judgemental terms, OK?
Fitz
@Rob: And in our rush to be PC, we forget to consider microbiology questions. It’s heretic to even ask them! But what IF… what IF… there is something in some genetic heritages that makes HIV stickier? It’s a real possibility. We have recently learned that a lot of the opiate dependency issues really DO have a genetic issue. (basically, some African Heritage people experience severe withdrawal much faster than others). All I am saying is lets try to keep science scientific. WHY is the poz rate so high in AA’s? Not “cuz” and some thinly veiled racism or homophobia, but some empirical information.
Bob Cigeliski
Now that Obama is signing a law allowing international HIV infected people to come abroad to the United States, men and woman will have alot more to worry about. Practice safe sex, know your partner and above all get tested before making the committment to marriage. If someone from Haiti comes to Chicago and wants sex and is documented as being HIV positive and you agree to give yourself to them. You are risking passing that persons AIDS onto your next lover even if that person goes back home to their country after visiting Chicago or any othr state in the US for that matter. I was totally against the passage of this law, and feel it is putting millions of americans in jeporady getting HIV. Safe sex is the best sex.
hyhybt
Bob Cigeliski: Why exactly are you against lifting the travel ban? How is catching HIV from someone from Haiti any different than catching it from one of the many who live in this country?
dontblamemeivotedforhillary
Chicago the Musical is better than the city.
McShane
One conclusion that might be very eay to come to is that because black men are less accepted in the community they are less apt to engage in peer related moral imperatives.