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Question - Aids and Gays
- Thread starter Ciscokid
- Start date
Atheist_Dave
*Foxy Lady*
I always thought it might be an educational problem. In high school we were taught nothing about homo-sexual relations, basically we were taught that guys have sex with girls, and thats the way it is. If I hadn't done my research, there was nothing to tell me at all that HIV can be transmitted by homosexual sex. I'm not sure if this is remotely correct, but that's what I thought the main reason was, noone bothers to teach about it, its too "awkward".
SoyLeche
meh...
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Ciscokid said:
Can you prove this?
If it's true, I suspect that it is true because condoms are more likely to break during anal sex. Also, some homosexual men don't use condoms as a trust issue --- they're telling their partner that they are being faithful: there's no reason to wear a condom.
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30347&page=2&highlight=condom see post #13 ff
Atheist_Dave
*Foxy Lady*
SoyLeche said:
Very droll. Frubals
Revasser
Terrible Dancer
It's also worth remembering that people don't just drop dead immediately upon contracting HIV. A lot of HIV positive gay men have been living with it for years and contracted it when condoms for sex between men were still considered unnecessary, because... well, you can't get a man pregnant. Homosexual men using condoms as a matter of course is actually quite a recent phenomenon, as wide-scale education and knowledge about HIV and other STD's in general is also comparitively recent.
So, for quite some time, diseases got around because gay men didn't think they needed protection.
So, for quite some time, diseases got around because gay men didn't think they needed protection.
Smoke
Done here.
I'm not so sure there are. It's been a while since I worked in the field, but when I did our clients were about evenly divided between gay men and African-American women, with just a sprinkling of people with blood disorders. AIDS in Africa, where it's most widespread, is almost entirely a heterosexual phenomenon, and the same holds true in a few other places -- if my memory serves me correctly, Bulgaria is one of them.Ciscokid said:
Not entirely. Male sexuality (whether hetero- or homo-) tends to be more aggressive than female sexuality, and in our culture men (in general) tend to be more openly and enthusiastically promiscuous than women (in general). So it shouldn't be surprising if male homosexuals are more promiscuous than heterosexuals or female homosexuals. It's usually easier to get a man into bed than a woman -- generally speaking. We just have more opportunities than you do.Ciscokid said:
Another factor is that for a person in our society -- whether male or female -- to have any kind of homosexual sex life requires the breaking down of religious and social taboos. Having overcome one kind of taboo makes it easier for many people to overcome others.
Yet another factor is that gay or bisexual men who are still closeted about their sexuality tend to be furtive and opportunistic, more interested in having sexual experiences than in forming relationships, because relationships cause complications they don't want to deal with.
That's not to say that gay men are necessarily any more promiscuous than anybody else. I know gay men who are very prim and proper about their sex lives, and I've received more lectures about the virtues of monogamy from gay men than from any heterosexual. (In fact, I think homophobes prefer us promiscuous; it seems to help them justify their prejudice. The real reason for their objection to gay marriage probably has a lot to do with their reluctance to see us as "normal, decent people.")
Nevertheless, we probably are more promiscuous, in general, that the average person.
That doesn't mean, though, that promiscuity is the sole or even the main reason we see more AIDS in gay men than in straight men in the United States. Anal sex poses a greater risk for tears and abrasions in tissue than heterosexual men usually have to worry about, and gay men are more likely to be on the receiving end of somebody else's bodily fluids than heterosexual men are. The kind of sex we have can be more risky than the kind of sex you have. (At least, more risky than it is for straight men; straight women have a lot of same risks gay men do, plus the possibility of pregnancy to worry about.)
Nor is it a good idea to use these factors as an argument against homosexuality. (Not saying you would, but a lot of people do.) Always remember that when it comes to sexually transmitted diseases, lesbians are the chosen people, with lower risks and lower occurrences of any STD you can think of. Not to mention unwanted pregnancy.
An extract from :- http://www.thebody.com/cria/winter06/risky_business.html
AIDS Community Research Initiative of America
Risky Business
By Spencer Cox
Winter 2005/2006
When it comes to HIV, gay men literally wrote the book on how to prevent the disease. During the 1980s and early 1990s, new infections among gay men dropped by historic proportions. Today, when most health experts talk about prevention for gay men, they focus on groups that have traditionally been hard to reach with safer-sex information: young gay men and gay men of color.
However, recent statistics suggest dramatic increases in risky sex (and other kinds of risky behavior) among older, white, and relatively affluent gay men in major cities -- traditionally the group for whom prevention efforts were most effective. Aided by the epidemic of crystal methamphetamine that has swept through the gay community, this new wave of infections poses troubling challenges for HIV prevention efforts.
It has always been hard to get a clear picture of where the epidemic is headed. The long asymptomatic period after infection and spotty surveillance efforts have usually meant that data reflect the epidemic of five to ten years ago. However, a variety of "secondary" markers suggest a resurgence of high-risk behavior.
For instance, because syphilis is transmitted in much the same way as HIV, we've often looked at rates of that disease to show us who is having unprotected sex. Among urban gay men, syphilis rates have more than tripled since 2000. In New York City, the rise in syphilis rates among gay men has been associated with increased average income, diagnosis in a private doctor's office (as opposed to a public clinic), increased age, and residence in one of the "gay ghettos" along the west side of Manhattan. The syphilis epidemics in other major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC, followed a similar pattern. Measuring new HIV infections directly is harder, although a number of cities have reported increases in new HIV infections among gay men. However, looking at newly reported HIV cases, we can get some idea of where the epidemic is moving. One-third of newly reported HIV cases among gay men in New York City are in men over 40; 44% are in men in their 30s. The epidemic in gay men under age 30 largely affects men of color; over age 30, the disease affects a far greater percentage of white men.......................
AIDS Community Research Initiative of America
Risky Business
By Spencer Cox
Winter 2005/2006
When it comes to HIV, gay men literally wrote the book on how to prevent the disease. During the 1980s and early 1990s, new infections among gay men dropped by historic proportions. Today, when most health experts talk about prevention for gay men, they focus on groups that have traditionally been hard to reach with safer-sex information: young gay men and gay men of color.
However, recent statistics suggest dramatic increases in risky sex (and other kinds of risky behavior) among older, white, and relatively affluent gay men in major cities -- traditionally the group for whom prevention efforts were most effective. Aided by the epidemic of crystal methamphetamine that has swept through the gay community, this new wave of infections poses troubling challenges for HIV prevention efforts.
It has always been hard to get a clear picture of where the epidemic is headed. The long asymptomatic period after infection and spotty surveillance efforts have usually meant that data reflect the epidemic of five to ten years ago. However, a variety of "secondary" markers suggest a resurgence of high-risk behavior.
For instance, because syphilis is transmitted in much the same way as HIV, we've often looked at rates of that disease to show us who is having unprotected sex. Among urban gay men, syphilis rates have more than tripled since 2000. In New York City, the rise in syphilis rates among gay men has been associated with increased average income, diagnosis in a private doctor's office (as opposed to a public clinic), increased age, and residence in one of the "gay ghettos" along the west side of Manhattan. The syphilis epidemics in other major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC, followed a similar pattern. Measuring new HIV infections directly is harder, although a number of cities have reported increases in new HIV infections among gay men. However, looking at newly reported HIV cases, we can get some idea of where the epidemic is moving. One-third of newly reported HIV cases among gay men in New York City are in men over 40; 44% are in men in their 30s. The epidemic in gay men under age 30 largely affects men of color; over age 30, the disease affects a far greater percentage of white men.......................
zombieharlot
Some Kind of Strange
jamaesi said:
Yes, but isn't such a high statistic only existent in Africa, where it is mostly all hereditary anyway?
jamaesi
To Save A Lamb
ChrisP
Veteran Member
Once, when discussing this with a doctor who came to talk to us about sex in 3rd form (13 years old) someone posed him the same question. His answer was that the walls of an anus were weaker than those of a vagina and therefore more prone to tearing.
Yeah.... that's NZ for ya
Yeah.... that's NZ for ya
Fluffy
A fool
As far as my education teaches me: HIV is more spread amongst the gay population because homosexuals are less likely to use condoms because they cannot get pregnant. More minor reasons is that the anal wall can be more easily penetrated by the HIV virus and condoms break more easily during anal sex.
However, I didn't think there were a greater number of HIV homosexuals than heterosexuals. Perhaps a greater percentage of HIV homosexuals out of the total number of homosexuals compared with a similar statistic involving heterosexuals.
However, I didn't think there were a greater number of HIV homosexuals than heterosexuals. Perhaps a greater percentage of HIV homosexuals out of the total number of homosexuals compared with a similar statistic involving heterosexuals.
SkinnyCheruscian
Member
1) Here in the UK there are more new HIV infections amongst straight people than gay people. However, as there are more straight people, the statistic risk is higher for gays.
2) The risk of catching HIV depends on the sexual practice and on the number of partners, not the sexual orientation. OK, the statistical risk that a gay male sex partner is HIV positive is greater than straight male or female partner, so slightly higher risk for gay male contacts.
3) "Just sex", to different degrees of intensity, is part of the gay lifstyle for certain people, while other gays are in monogamous relationships and don't like "just sex" at all. It is just difficult to generalise. A lot of guys going to places where one can pick up guys are in the closet and would not identify themselves as gay.
4) It is important to realise that syphilis is much easier to catch than HIV.
5) It is true that use of amphetamines and other drugs increases risky behaviour, but again that holds true for both straight and gay people.
6) Still, there is no equivalent to the gay bathhouse in the hetero world. I quite enjoyed the London gay saunas a lot for a while :yes:, but it got boring finally
. Don't ask for phone numbers because they will be wrong :sad:. Else, most people will agree to "safer sex" if you do. Avoid people obviously high or mad. Is this the advice you were looking for ?
enchanted_one1975
Resident Lycanthrope
For the studies that show more homosexual males having AIDS you have to consider something about studies...
It is impossible to get an accurate status on the health of every person on the face of the earth at any given time. You get statistics based on various things. In the case of HIV/AIDS, they go off of how many cases are reported. Since homosexual males are said to be in a higher risk group, it stands to reason that they would get tested more often. How many heterosexual males get tested regularly? How many females or any sexual orientation get tested regularly? Many could be carrying the virus and not know it, because they have not been tested. Unlike most other STDs, HIV/AIDS can affect you without obvious symptoms.
Now, as far as heterosexual males being of higher risk, anal sex is said to be the most efficient way to transmit the virus sexually. Of course, IV drug use accounts for many case, but this thread is about the sexual transmission. Keep in mind that homosexual males are not the only ones that have anal sex. While I do like guys a lot, I have anal sex with more females than I have had with males. The virus can also spread through vaginal sex, but as stated, a condom is more likely to be worn because of fear of pregnancy. That fear or pregnancy is also more reason for a guy to stop when the condom breaks.
It is impossible to get an accurate status on the health of every person on the face of the earth at any given time. You get statistics based on various things. In the case of HIV/AIDS, they go off of how many cases are reported. Since homosexual males are said to be in a higher risk group, it stands to reason that they would get tested more often. How many heterosexual males get tested regularly? How many females or any sexual orientation get tested regularly? Many could be carrying the virus and not know it, because they have not been tested. Unlike most other STDs, HIV/AIDS can affect you without obvious symptoms.
Now, as far as heterosexual males being of higher risk, anal sex is said to be the most efficient way to transmit the virus sexually. Of course, IV drug use accounts for many case, but this thread is about the sexual transmission. Keep in mind that homosexual males are not the only ones that have anal sex. While I do like guys a lot, I have anal sex with more females than I have had with males. The virus can also spread through vaginal sex, but as stated, a condom is more likely to be worn because of fear of pregnancy. That fear or pregnancy is also more reason for a guy to stop when the condom breaks.
methylatedghosts
Can't brain. Has dumb.
ROFL! We pretty much got the same thingOnce, when discussing this with a doctor who came to talk to us about sex in 3rd form (13 years old) someone posed him the same question. His answer was that the walls of an anus were weaker than those of a vagina and therefore more prone to tearing.
Yeah.... that's NZ for ya
Though they went further to say "IF you're going to do it, make sure you use PLENTY of lubrication as well as a condom. If you don't have actual lube, find something else, like moisturiser will do just fine."
ChrisP
Veteran Member
Hahahaha. I think being from wellington they just assumed we already knew thatROFL! We pretty much got the same thing
Though they went further to say "IF you're going to do it, make sure you use PLENTY of lubrication as well as a condom. If you don't have actual lube, find something else, like moisturiser will do just fine."
.
Rainbow Mage
Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
Firstly, the largest percentage of HIV carriers is among heterosexual women, so I'm not sure what you mean there are more HIV positive gays then heterosexuals.
Secondly, not all gays are ultra-promiscous, I'm gay and I never sleep with anybody unless I'm in a relationship with them, hence, I haven't slept with anybody in over 2 years.