Gay and bisexual men are more severely affected by HIV than any other group the Uned Stat (US).
Contents:
- HIV AND ALL GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
- WHY ARE GAY MEN MORE AT RISK FOR HIV?
- DISCRIMATN AND HOMOPHOBIA FUEL THE HIV EPIMIC GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
- HIV/AIDS AND EDUTN: LSONS OM THE 1980S AND THE GAY MALE COMMUNY THE UNED STAT
- STIGMA AND S ROLE HIV PREVENTN AND RE OF GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
- NATNAL GAY MEN’S HIV/AIDS AWARENS DAY 2021
- CONONTG AIDS THE BLACK GAY COMMUNY
- QUEER & GAY BERL: YOUR GUI FOR LGBTQ+ BERL
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
HIV AND ALL GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
The HIV epimic ntu to disproportnately impact gay and bisexual men, transgenr women, youth 13-24 and muni of lor. * aids gay community *
Men who have sex wh men were, and still are, disproportnately impacted by HIV bee transms much more easily through anal sex than through vagal first official ernment report on AIDS me on June 5, 1981, the Morbidy and Mortaly Weekly Report, a ernment bullet on perplexg disease s: “In the perd October 1980-May 1981, 5 young men, all active homosexuals, were treated for bpsy-nfirmed Pnmocystis rii pnmonia at 3 different hospals Los Angel, California. She lled the group "Save Our Children" and said reprented the rights of the majory of fileOn March 22, 1980, a year before that first MMWR report, evangelil Christian lears livered a petn to Print Jimmy Carter mandg a halt to the advance of gay rights.
“God’s judgment is gog to fall on Ameri as on other societi that allowed homosexualy to bee a protected way of life, ” Bob Jon III predicted, acrdg to the anti-gay reactn gaed steam across Ameri wh the electn of Moral Majory ally Ronald Reagan, activists found their mands for attentn for a growg medil crisis were ignored. One such group was the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, found New York Cy 1982, which is today the olst HIV/AIDS service anizatn the Men's Health Crisis Smh / NY Daily News via Getty Imag fileBut 1987, activists were still trated by ernment actn as bodi ntued to pile up, and they found the AIDS Coaln To Unleash Power, or ACT UP, New York, their actns and their activist art are legendary for speedg the ernment’s rponse to the AIDS crisis, allowg quicker ttg and treatment of lifavg experimental dgs, and drawg public attentn to the adly impact of homophobic public health polici.
WHY ARE GAY MEN MORE AT RISK FOR HIV?
The high percentage of gay and bisexual men who are livg wh HIV means that, as a group, they have a greater risk of beg exposed to HIV; browse lks here. * aids gay community *
More recently, wh the game-changg breakthroughs the bmedil arena, attentn has shifted to the bmedil preventn strategi, which clu preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for gay, bisexual, and other MSM (Grant et al., 2010) and vagal microbicis for women (Abdool et al., 2010).
In rponse to the alarmg health dispari among gay and bisexual men, there has been a ll to broan the preventn lens to exame the fluence of multiple social and ntextual factors fluencg health behavrs (Halkis & Cahill, 2011).
Dpe clear evince for the social termants of HIV transmissn and the beneficial effects of stctural terventns (Adimora & Auerbach, 2010), there have been limed efforts targetg the social equali, which place gay and bisexual men at greater risk for the acquisn of HIV disease. Sce discrimatn based on sexual inty is cril to the ias beg put forth, and sce the HIV preventn needs of gay and bisexual men differ wily om those of non-gay or bisexual MSM (Halkis, 2010b), the foc of this issue of the newsletter is on gay and bisexual men, and not MSM general.
DISCRIMATN AND HOMOPHOBIA FUEL THE HIV EPIMIC GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
* aids gay community *
Male populatn 18–44 years of age (Chandra, Mosher, Copen, & Snean, 2011), MSM, primarily gay and bisexual men, acunt for more than 50 percent of all AIDS s and all HIV fectns and 57 percent all new HIV fectns (CDC, 2011b). Dpe creased visibily, acceptance and recent socpolil advanc, gay and bisexual men ntue to live a society that privileg heterosexualy while nigratg nonheterosexual relatnships, behavrs and inti (Herek, Gillis, & Cogan, 2009).
HIV/AIDS AND EDUTN: LSONS OM THE 1980S AND THE GAY MALE COMMUNY THE UNED STAT
What's behd the higher rat of fectn among gay men? Dr. David bunks myths and explas why some groups are and areas are more affected by HIV/AIDS than others. * aids gay community *
Opprsive social stctur and equali affectg gay and bisexual men have been implited perpetuatg not only the HIV epimic but also rat of anal ncer, Hepatis B, human papillomavis (HPV) and lymphogranuloma vernrm (LGV) fectns, syphilis, gonorrhea and Hepatis C (Wolski & Fenton, 2011). Exposure to and experienc of homophobia have been implited substance abe, risky sexual behavrs, negative body image, suici attempts, creased strs and limed social support among gay and bisexual men (Halkis, Fischgnd, & Parsons, 2005; Mayer, Bradford, Makadon, Stall, & Goldhammer, 2008; Wolski, Stall, Valdiserri, 2008). Moreover, experienc wh homophobia have been shown to terfere wh the abily of gay and bisexual men to tablish and mata longterm same-sex relatnships, which protect agast HIV acquisn (Diaz, Ayala, Be, Henne, & Mar, 2001).
G., immigrants) who grow up wh people like themselv and who receive the support of their fai, gay and bisexual youth equently have more plited and often abive fay dynamics (D’Augelli, Hershberger, & Pilkgton, 1998; Pilkgton & D’Augelli, 1995). (2009) monstrated that gay and bisexual men wh histori of childhood sexual abe were more likely to report both unprotected anal terurse, to rive fewer benefs om participatn preventn programs, and to be at an overall greater risk for HIV fectn. In their qualative study of masculy, Phoenix, Frosh, and Pattman (2003) found that boys as young as 11 years of age have found crilly important to prent themselv as mascule orr to avoid beg bullied and labeled as gay.
STIGMA AND S ROLE HIV PREVENTN AND RE OF GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
Perpetuatn of the HIV epimic gay and bisexual men is not directed solely by person-level behavrs but is fluenced by a range of ntextual factors, rooted cultural, historil and polil stctur this untry. * aids gay community *
Scientific evince shows that gay men’s doubts about their masculy as well as endorsement of mascule characteristics are associated wh equent risky sexual behavrs, which crease exposure to HIV (Connell, 1995; Diaz, 1998). Posive attus toward one’s sexual inty have been shown to be protective agast risky sexual behavrs (Rosar, Hunter, Maguen, Gwadz, & Smh, 2001), while elevated rat of ternalized homophobia have been lked to exacerbated sexual risk takg and other health risks.
NATNAL GAY MEN’S HIV/AIDS AWARENS DAY 2021
HIV and the syndrome , AIDS, began spreadg the Uned Stat the early 1980s. By the late 1980s had bee a public health crisis. Inially the U.S. ernment did ltle to addrs the epimic, due part to misnceptns that the disease only affected gay men. Activists me together to mand a rponse om the ernment and the ternatnal muny. By the mid-1990s, HIV/AIDS numbers were on the cle Ameri. Today, lns of people around the world are livg wh HIV and tens of thoands of people die of AIDS-related illns every year. * aids gay community *
(2008) monstrated that among 465 HIV-posive men, ternalized homophobia was associated wh unprotected receptive anal terurse wh partners who were HIV-negative or of unknown HIV stat and was also associated wh poorer adherence to antiretroviral therapy. For gay and bisexual men of lor, the effects of sexual orientatn discrimatn on HIV risk may be nfound and exacerbated by other powerful stctural factors, cludg racism, lack of accs to enomic means, and poverty (Williams, Wyatt, Rell, Peterson, & Asuan-O’Brien, 2004).
CONONTG AIDS THE BLACK GAY COMMUNY
TV drama It’s a S looked back at a dark era for the gay muny. Here, some of those who remember tell of the real-life agony – and the hope * aids gay community *
Yet is a likely hypothis that those who have accs to and navigate environments where there are high levels of gay prence are also likely to be exposed to HIV preventn msagg through publitns and advertisements, as well as through teractns wh other gay men social venu. For those young gay men of lor who are socenomilly disadvantaged, accs to gayrelated health rourc may be more limed bee their neighborhoods of rince tend to be outsi the exclive cy center, where many gay cultural, health, and social tablishments tend to be loted (Halkis, Moeller, & Sinolfi, 2009a, 2009b).
Taken together, the extant lerature suggts that the perpetuatn of the HIV epimic gay and bisexual men is not directed solely by person-level behavrs but is fluenced by a range of ntextual factors, rooted cultural, historil, and polil stctur this untry.
QUEER & GAY BERL: YOUR GUI FOR LGBTQ+ BERL
Knowledge is power: If we learned anythg the gay male muny durg the early days of the HIV/AIDS epimic the Uned Stat, was that. No one knew what had h , and people were dyg huge numbers all around . The muny lost iends, lleagu, and timate partners. Inially mislabeled gay-related immune ficiency (GRID), valuable time was lost rpondg to the crisis bee most felt safe the belief that they were not at risk. Sce early victims were predomantly gay men, the stigma attached to homosexualy the medil, erng, law enforcement and eccliastil stutns beme a barrier to unrstandg, preventn, and treatment. * aids gay community *
A holistic approach to the well-beg of gay men (Halkis, 2010b; Saen, Rer, Herick, Mimiaga, & Stall, 2010) should llectively nsir the bmedil, psychologil and social factors that create the health dispari this segment of the populatn. Fally, for preventive efforts to be meangful and effective, such approach mt unrstand the liv of gay and bisexual men, support velopment of strong and healthy inti, and help the creatn of strong muni which we will not only be red for but also able to take re of ourselv and support each other.
His book "Methamphetame Addictn: Blogil Foundatns, Psychologil Factors, and Social Consequenc" was published 2009, and he is currently workg on a new mancript examg the life experienc of gay men who are long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS.
Origally intified as a “gay disease” bee gay men were one of the primary groups afflicted, HIV and the syndrome , Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, were unknown 1981 but had bee hoehold terms and the number one threat to public health by the late 1980s. For several years after the Center for Disease Control first realized that the illns croppg up muni around the untry were all the work of the same vis, the Amerin ernment did ltle to addrs the epimic, a failure to act that many attribute to the fact that HIV/AIDS was primarily affectg gay men, traveno dg ers, immigrants and racial activists, medil profsnals, artists and a number of people wh AIDS who went public wh their diagnos spe the stigma surroundg the disease eventually spurred a massive rponse om the U. ” Although the headle would soon be proven false, his report that a number of gay men have been admted to New York Cy tensive re un wh severely promised immune systems is the first article to mentn what soon be known as 5, 1981 – The CDC publish an article scribg five s of a rare lung fectn young, otherwise healthy gay men Los Angel, two of whom have died and three of whom die a short time after.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
Rearch has monstrated that gay and bisexual men livg wh HIV/AIDS are likely to experience both HIV stigma and gay-related stigma, which may e signifint psychologil strs. * aids gay community *
The New York Tim article “Rare Cancer Seen 41 Homosexuals” leads to the g of the term “gay ncer” to scribe Kaposi’s 11, 1981 – Wrer and film producer Larry Kramer hosts a fundraiser his New York Cy apartment, at which Dr. </em>May 11 – In an article tled “New Homosexual Disorr Worri Health Officials, ” the New York Tim first publish the phrase Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, or GRID, ntributg to the wispread misnceptn that AIDS only affects gay men. Misnceptns around the study (and a misreadg of Patient O”) give rise to the myth of Patient Zero, a promiscuo or even malic gay man who sgle-handly and knowgly touched off the AIDS panmic the Uned 23 – The Department of Health and Human Servic announc the disvery of a retrovis they ll HTLV-III, the e of AIDS.
Food and Dg Admistratn licens the first blood tt for HIV, and blood banks beg screeng the untry’s blood 22 – The Normal Heart, an tobgraphil play about the early days of the crisis by Larry Kramer, opens 25 – Rock Hudson, a legendary actor om the Goln Age of Hollywood whose homosexualy was an open secret the dtry, announc he has AIDS. The book receiv ltle mastream attentn at publitn, but go down history as a watershed moment gay MORE: How AIDS Activists Used ‘Die-Ins’ to Demand Attentn to the Growg Epimic1987Ann E Zelle/Getty ImagThe AIDS Memorial Quilt featured the nam of 1, 920 people who died of AIDS-related illns when was first displayed 1987—the number eventually grew to over 10, 000. First diagnosed six months before the 1988 gam, Louganis had kept his diagnosis and treatment a secret, even after g out as gay MORE: How Greg Louganis' Olympic Divg Accint Forced a Conversatn About AIDS1996The number of AIDS s diagnosed annually the U.
But now, thanks to Rsell T Davi’s movg five-part Channel 4 drama seri, It’s a S, we are all able to look at a vivid, troublg and yet ultimately upliftg picture of those dark and adly younger dienc, may be shockg to learn jt how exclud and hidn the gay muny was om mastream life. Then beme known as “Grid” – gay-related immune ficiency – before acquired immunoficiency syndrome was fally ed (Aids) spread to the UK, a muny that was jt begng to fd s public voice and nfince was hered back to the shadows by a homophobic prs mpaign.