Are you a fella who’s slept with five different guys in the past month? Congratulations: One of them probably had HIV. Which, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing. Our HIV-positive brothers need to get theirs. But the more startling statistic out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which looked at 8,153 “men who have sex with men” (read: gay and bi guys) in 21 major U.S. cities, is that 44 percent of them didn’t even know their status. And if nearly half of HIV-positive guys don’t know their status, think about how few people they have sex with know about it.
Meanwhile, the CDC report concludes:
• 28 percent of black MSM were HIV-infected, compared to 18 percent of Hispanic and 16 percent of white MSM
• While young MSM (under age 30) had lower HIV prevalence than older men, they were far more likely to be unaware of their HIV infection. Among MSM aged 18-29 who had HIV, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) were unaware, versus 37 percent for men age 30 and older.
How about we take this to the next level?
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• Among young MSM, young MSM of color were less likely than whites to know they were HIV-infected. Among HIV-infected black MSM under age 30, 71 percent were unaware of their infection; among HIV-infected Hispanic MSM under age 30, 63 percent were unaware. This compares to 40 percent of HIV-infected white MSM under age 30.
Go get tested. And put a fucking condom on, please.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
You wanna not join the guys who are positive??? Until you are in a very LTR and both have been tested multiple times……..
Treat every single partner as if they were Pos+ and play accordingly with every person, every time………..
NAP79
This is absolutely disgusting. Come on guys! Do you have any respect for yourself or your fellow gays? Are these the same guys that attend every parade and AIDS walk and sashay their asses around to promote “gay acceptance” while barebacking anything that moves?
In the same way I’d like to prevent idiot heteros from breeding, I’d like to put a chastity belt on queers that are too fucking stupid to protect themselves. You only have yourself to blame!
Enron
I don’t want to play the blame game here. But there should be some responsibility each individual should live up to when involved in sexual escapades. It doesn’t matter how promiscuous you are. If you know that you have intentionally engaged in unprotected sex, its the right thing to at least get tested after such encounters. Of course, if you do have multiple partners you should also get tested, even when protection is used, there is more than one way to catch an STD than penetration.
It boggles mind that, we have known about HIV/AIDS since the early 80’s, yet there are persons who still engage in promiscuous behavior today in a society saturated with information about the risk, yet persons pretend they don’t know their status. Personally, I believe it all boils down to is denial and revenge in some cases and maybe a bit of laziness and the thought of being given the bad news.
scott ny'er
i wonder what the stats are on Herpes which is much easier to pass on to others and can be deadly in some cases.
in this study, is that really a big enough sampling size for accurate conclusions? i’m just wondering.
RJ
“Go get tested. And put a fucking condom on, please.”
I completely agree. I would like to point out how inaccurate this study is when it comes to the interpretation of results.
Considering the interviews were taken at specific venues in certain urban neighborhoods (65% bars, 22% clubs, rest health clinics/gyms/etc.), the study focused on those who frequent these establishments and are more prone to engaging in more frequent and higher risk sexual behavior along with already HIV positive men who are going to health clinics for treatment/testing.
It’s akin to polling on alcohol consumption by polling people at popular bars and night clubs…
While the intention and message from this study is completely accurate and while ALL people should take steps to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy/STD’s despite sexual orientation (there’s no excuse for not wearing a condom), the skewed results are often used by anti-gay organizations to justify their continued animus.
The CDC does many great things. Still, they suck at operating a study that truly reflects correct statistics.
jason
The CDC’s figures are not scientific. They are biased towards exaggerating the prevalence of HIV. For any survey or poll to be accurate, the person who is doing the survey must RANDOMLY SELECT the subjects. This has not happened with the CDC’s survey.
Don’t let the CDC scare you into thinking that we “wicked” gays have a high chance of catching an illness. Our orientation is not capable of catching an illness. No illness has the ability to pick on an orientation.
Illnesses – especially sexually transmitted ones – thrive on promiscuity. Promiscuity increases the chance of spreading and catching. It has nothing to with our orientation. Our orientation is pure.
Don’t let anybody out there – whether it’s the CDC or the AIDS industry in general – scare you into thinking that our orientation is to blame. I call their tactics “orientation politics”. We in the GLBT community are fed up with this.
jason
Message to the CDC: fuck off. We in the GLBT community are sick and tired of your orientation politics. Every time someone in the AIDS industry needs some extra dollars from the government, you issue some alarming so-called statistic which harms our image. Your figures are not a scientific poll and they are worded in a way which demonizes our orientation.
Again, to the CDC I say “fuck off”.
ewe
@NAP79: Don’t start your bullshit with the blame game. That is so 1986. And ignorant as well.
ewe
@jason: I agree. What a bunch of propaganda. Oh and how many blacks are on the list? Tune in tomorrow to find out the latest in sub sahara Africa and those poor working single black mothers in a city near you. Ching ching. How’s the pharmaceutical stock today?
peteNsfo
I remember a great campaign for safe sex in my city… A steamy shot of 2 boys snuggled dick to butt and the caption bubbles: “He hasn’t asked me to put on a condom- he must be negative” and the other guy’s “He hasn’t asked me to put on a condom- he must be positive” How do you know what you know?
I think many people have forgotten how absolutely horrible it felt to see people robbed of their lives & the wreckage endured by the survivors in the 80’s/90’s.
and btw… a poster above mentioned Herpes: 1 in 5 has it, has no idea they have it, & I’ve got to assume the #’s are higher in the gay community. Regular STD exams do not include Herpes testing- it’s a separate blood test. So, you probably have been exposed, now what are you going to do about it?
James L. Greenlee
I always wonder how percentages of the gay population are calculated, when there is no way to measure how many gay/bi/whatever guys there actually ARE. I’m always dubious of the right-wing “statistics” presented of things like gay lifespans, and such, because there is no reliable way to know how many gay people there are in the first place.
There are lots of nasty statistics reported on right-wing sites of how promiscuous/hedonistic/depraved we all are, but some of those stats are gleaned from obituaries, or other sources that don’t accurately gauge ALL gay people. Until we are all out, and willing to say so, any percentages will be shots in the dark.
Tackle
Here goes the CDC with another race obsessed statistic which is not accurate and is over exaggerated . Noticed how the CDC will not mentioned the NUMBER of Black, Hispanic and White men who were tested.
And they will not mentioned the location of the so-called 21 major cities where these test took place. In most cases these stats are taken at government funded clinics in heavily populated minority areas where the majority will be black and Hispinac.
That being said it is our responsibility to take precautions.
jason
The CDC is giving ammunition to Right Wingers to attack our orientation. The CDC needs to be told that sexually transmitted illnesses have nothing to do with orientation.
A pathogen such as a virus or bacterium doesn’t select its victims. It doesn’t say “oh, you’re gay, therefore I’ll attack you”. However, through its abuse of the English language, the CDC has effectively conveyed the notion that the gay orientation automatically pre-disposes one to such pathogens.
Someone at the CDC needs to be told to shut the fuck up. Our orientation is pure. It is not selected by an virus or bacterium. Sexually transmitted illnesses within the gay male social scene reflect incestuous promiscuity, not orientation.
NAP79
@ EWE –
You’re clearly an idiot and I’m guessing probably one of these jackasses that goes around spreading disease throughout the community b/c either A) you figure you have it so everyone else may as well or B) you’re too stupid to use protection yourself.
Who then, may I ask, is responsible when a gay man who has a wealth of information about safe sex practices and freedom to choose, is responsible when he contracts and passes an STD? You’re trying to completely eliminate personal responsibility.
ewe
@NAP79: You are an irresponsible drama queen who prefers and expects others to take care of you. Grow up. You know nothing of me. I have been around long before AIDS and i am still here. PS> I am HIV negative CUNT so you can choke on your evil accusation about spreading disease too. You are a grotesque human piece of shit. I have walked through and held the hands of many friends and countless acquaintances who passed away from AIDS. You and only you, you pathetic little worm are responsible for you health. And if you don’t think so, i suggest you buy yourself a fucking plot.
NAP79
@EWE –
I repeat, clearly you are an idiot and your post proves this b/c you obviously are illiterate as well. How does calling for personal responsibility and respecting others enough to be safe and knowledgeable translate to “expects others to take care of you”??? And again with “And if you don’t think so, i suggest you buy yourself a fucking plot.” That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever regarding any statement I previously made. Well done moron, you’ve added so much to the conversation! Fucking retard.
Fitz
Denial ain’t a river.
Zach
Having sex outside of a monogamous relationship without a condom is analogous to drunk driving: you know you shouldn’t do it, but you put yourself in a situation where it’s tempting. But temptation is not an excuse, and sooner or later you have to admit you were at fault, and that you abdicated your responsibility. Only a year in the trenches of the clinics, and nothing irks me more than gay men who contract HIV and act as if it was by force of nature.
Bob
Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) is NOT the same thing as gay or bi. The CDC may have included gay and bi guys for convenience, but MSM specifically refers to men who don’t identify as gay or bi but who have sex with other men.
daniel
It all boils down to “it can only happen to other people.