Most people in the sessions feel genuinely perplexed by this question.
So as professionals who are paid to serve this community, I’m asking you: why? It seems totally illogical: gay guys use condoms more often, yet are infected with HIV more often. If we are going to provide effective health services to men who have sex with men, it’s essential that we understand what’s going on. Yet in Ottawa, gay guys still account for more new HIV infections than any other population and, in the US, gay men are the only group among whom HIV infections are currently on the rise. And even if that number is inflated, it’s still much higher than the rate for heterosexuals. In one study conducted at Toronto Pride in 2006, 75-80% of gay guys reported consistent condom use with casual partners. Studies show that gay guys consistently use condoms with casual sex partners at rates way higher than do heterosexuals. To get the ball rolling in training sessions, I often start by saying: While working in the prevention team of a Canadian AIDS service organisation, I was part of an inter-agency group that offered training to local social workers, nurses, shelter employees, etc on how to offer better services to sexual minorities. Source: CDC Fact Sheet – HIV and AIDS Among Gay and Bisexual Men, Aug 2009 This chart shows absolute numbers of new HIV infections in the United States in 2006, broken down into high risk groups:
