Why is aids more prevalent in the gay community?

Because it isn't.

 

AIDs is more prevalent in the gay community because gay men have more unprotected sex. I'm pretty confident that the general consensus is because of the stigmatization that gay men face. They can't live out "in the open" so they have more promiscuous sex with men behind closed doors.

One defense of same-sex marriage is that marriage "controls" the sexual energy of men (straight and gay) and aims it inwardly. If that makes any sense.

 

20 years ago it was more prevalent in gays because of unprotected sex. Nowadays I think females of African descent comprise the highest number of AIDS cases.

 

On the whole it is more prevalent. As I understand, the virus is easier to get through anal sex. That said I wrote a paper last year over HIV, STIs, drugs etc and it was really certain subset populations that were more at risk. The populations usually dealt with people that were of the business world vs the circuit scene. Unsurprisingly those in the circuit scene were dis-proportionally more at risk whereas the "business" subpopulation(thats how they defined it) wasn't really any more at risk than the heterosexual population. That said, that was only one study.

 

And this is why gays need more rights, and the ability to marry. They would probably be a bit more likely to settle down with someone they loved than think 'eh, it doesn't matter, we can't get married anyway'. I'm not saying everyone feels this way but it's possible some do.

 

Really? What are you basing that statement on?

In the Canadian/US/"Western" world context, there are many reasons why HIV is more prevalent among gay populations than the population at large. The obvious medical/biological one is that HIV is far more readily transmitted by anal sex than any other type of sexual activity and gay guys tend to practice anal sex more frequently than heterosexuals (go figure).

Globally, I am pretty sure (although I don't have a source for this) the incidence of HIV among heterosexuals in certain African nations far outstrips the incidence in gay people in Western democracies. It's only in very specific societies that HIV/AIDS gets defined as a primarily "gay disease."

That strikes me as a pretty ridiculous "defense." It's an essentialist stereotype about as valid as the notion that all women are naturally compassionate and nurturing. And more illogical/irrational than men.

Even if it were true that all men are genetically predisposed to sow their wild oats hither and yonder (and I remain incredibly skeptical of that), hewing to the notion that men's "sexual energy" needs to be controlled by the institution of marriage is tantamount to saying individuals are no more than animals, that we have no better control over, or appreciation for the consequences of, our own urges than a chimpanzee or a dog. And that is patently ridiculous.

 

I ought to b**ch slap you upside the head. The only reason the topic title is that statement is because when AIDS first began in the 70s, it was unfortunately gay men who were often being diagnosed. However, if you actually READ, you'd know nowadays it's heterosexual women, and heterosexual black women more prevalently unfortunately, who are contracting HIV. You'd also know that there are more straight men with HIV who are sleeping with women and giving them HIV.

Thanks

 

This
Especially in the US since there was one specific man (Patient Zero) who was a flight attendant who had HIV but didn't know it. He flew all around the country and went to gay bathhouses everywhere and had unprotected sex. From him it spread to others who then had unprotected sex with others. When first discovering AIDS it was noted first in gay men and called it GRID (Gay Related Immunity Deficiency). They weren't exactly sure of how it worked and was spread but as they got more information (until blood transfusion patients and needle druggies started getting it).

 

the last figures i heard was ha 56 of people infected with aids are heterosexual, and that the highet concentration of aids is in africa, which have fairly anti gay additudes.

the idea that it is more common in the gay community is a myth these days as we learn more about its spread. though anti-gay people do still try to claim otherwises.

It also should be noted that aids is spread also through drug use *sharing needles, etc*, which is also a factor, and I have heard that is the more dangerous way to get it as the infection goes right into the blood stream faster than through sexual intercourse of any variety.

 

Hmm... Well....

nohtanaes comments play into some stereotypes and misinformation that started very early in the epidemic and continue to be spread by fundamentalist websites, some evangelical "reparative therapy programs" (ex-gay therapy proponents) and people who have an anti-gay agenda.

Being gay is not a risk factor for HIV infection.

Unprotected sex is the risk factor- particularly unprotected anal sex. These days it's not just gay men who have anal sex. The studies are showing that it is quite popular with straight people which places women at risk.

And in fact, the most rapidly growing population of HIV infected people globally are Asian, Hispanic and African women. This seems to be the result of two factors- a genetic predisposition to HIV infection and the lack of treatment for primary HIV infection which- because of the long period of time between infection and death- puts sexual partners at risk for infection.

In the Western world (particularly the US), gay men are still the largest group of HIV infected people- if you're looking only at the total number of cases. The infection rate in gay men was descreasing until recently. The promotion of bareback sex and the belief that HIV medications are the cure-all seem to be the problem and the number of new HIV infections in gay and bisexual men is increasing again.

But the fastest growing population in the US is minority women in terms of percentages and rate of new cases.

 

This sentence is where my topic about the gift givers and bug chasers come into play...

 

My personal feeling (which I have absolutely zero hard data to back up and am not pretending is an accurate depiction of what may be going on) is that it's far more to do with HIV meds being better, safer sex "fatigue," and the (very bizarre to me but evidently relatively common) notion that AIDS is an "old person's" disease than it is to do with bug chasing.

The notion that HIV somehow discriminates based on generation was prevalent 15 years ago when I was in my early 20s and I don't get the impression that's at all lessened, especially with the advent of the triple cocktail and the reduction in the visible ravages of AIDS (this is also probably impacted by the pretty intense segregation between younger gay guys and older gay guys based on that simply AWESOME "older predatory gay male" stereotype that's so incredibly prevalent).

There's also this disturbingly common notion that somehow HIV is a "slut's" disease; people are apparently more than happy to work existing mainstream sexual morality into the HIV narrative and come up with the notion that the less you sleep around, the safer you are, as if it had anything to do with how much sex you have vs. it having everything to do with HOW you have whatever sex you do have.

While I'm not saying people looking to become infected deliberately don't exist, it's a pretty big conceptual leap between "I'm tired/sick of using condoms" to "I am going out looking for HIV." Passively being unsafe is a lot more likely explanation for rising HIV infection rates among MSM (men who have sex with men), to me, than actively seeking seroconversion.

But again, that's just my educated guess.

 

Fact, AIDS is more readily contracted through anal sex especially unprotected sex.
Other than that, there are just too many factors involved for me to say conclusively why...

However I believe the following site, which tries to analyze the percentage of the gay population with AIDS is of particular interest:
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/the-prevalence-of-hiv-in-the-gay-community

the author claims it is reasonable to estimate 12.0% of the gay male population are living with AIDS/HIV.

Thoughts?

 

hiv is scary

from what i seen many guys still like unprotected sex especially when creeps try to hook up and from studies women in less developed less educated areas of the world are at the highest risk

like others say you can get it from any partner from needles blood transfusions and other things.

the gay = aids is just a bad stigma....one i think we are losing.

all ill say is i cant await for the day we have a cure for this cruel bugger

 

I think that's definitely true. Even someone who's not that promiscuous could be tempted, but it's a far bigger deal to commit adultery, so they're more likely to think twice about cheating on someone then. Marriage, for most people, is as clear as possible a statement of exclusivity.

 

I honestly believe if straight couples didn't have to worry about pregnancy i believe a lot less condoms would be used and there would be a much higher rate of STD's including AIDS. Gay couples don't have to worry about that though so they have 1 less reason to use protection.

 

fear of pregnancy rarely stops teenagers

 

Yet it would more so than the thought of catching an std.

 

Going slightly off topic...but I don't agree that gay marriage would reduce adultery. If you are in a long term relationship then that is the equivalent of marriage, without the legal documentation. If you feel that you need to marry a partner to stop them leaving you then you are marrying for the wrong reasons. At the end of the day if someone is going to cheat, they will do it if they are married or if they are in a long term partnership. I don't think that argument would fly if you were trying to convince people that gay marriage was important.