Terrifying Study: In Some U.S. Cities, One in Two Black Gay Men Have HIV

Posted by Kevin Farrell on Jul 20, 2012 in Bad News | 7 comments

Black, gay America (which is to say, America), we need to talk. Let’s all pull up a chair and check our outside voices at the door. You know what, scratch that. We’re a global village, all brothers and sisters. And I’m not tripping off some Gwyneth Paltrow “I am African” nonsense either. We really are in full actuality all in this thing together.

Here’s this thing:

HIV-AIDS is affecting black gay men in the United States on a scale unseen among any other group in the developed world, said a report issued Wednesday ahead of the International AIDS Conference.

So grave is the crisis that in some US cities, one in two black men who have sex with other men are HIV positive, according to the report from the Black AIDS Institute, the only national HIV-AIDS think tank focusing on African Americans.

The 74-page report, “Back of the Line: The State of AIDS Among Black Gay Men in America,” says black gay and bisexual men make up one in 500 Americans overall, but account for one in four new HIV infections in the United States.

HIV prevalence among such men is twice as high than among their white counterparts. They are also far less likely to be alive three years after being diagnosed with AIDS than white or Latino gays and bisexuals.

This is simply unacceptable and terrifying. You are scaring me! You have me worrying about my unborn babies and your babies and your gorgeous, precious selves over these dreadful statistics. I may be a happily married man – Goldfish performed the ceremony with no witnesses in a state that did not at that moment in time recognize same-sex marriage as law, but Derek and Meredith got married on a goddamn Post-It and nobody balked at that. Fictional? Hardly the point. – but not so many moons ago I was THE gay white boy ruining countless classic rock karaoke nights’ momentum with my Mobb Deep and Erykah Badu covers. Got a problem with that? You better call Tyrone.

So while I’m not indifferent to the difference that a person’s skin color makes when breaking news in very broad strokes, my point is that I feel you, if you’re interested in being felt. Whatever.

These numbers are crazy. One in two black, gay men have HIV in parts of this here first world nation? Stop. I cannot take this news.

What’s the solution? Well, condoms are a good place to start. Education, affordable health care access, eliminating a culture of fear about medical care, acceptance of homosexuality within the black community – Rock the boat, rock the boat, rock the boat, Frank Ocean – and understanding that HIV is not a death sentence. These things are a good place to start.

You may think that you are unaffected by this devastating information because you are a Latina married lesbian mother of two or one of those “whites only” jackholes on Grindr, but you are so, so wrong. Because sometimes even happily married lesbian wives cheat on their spouses, and sometimes with men. And the fact that you drew some line in the sand about getting down with black men doesn’t mean that one of your current sexual partners or one of his partners, or his partners, ever did.

These statistics affect us all, and we all need to be part of the solution. So let’s talk about it.

How do we fix this cultural, societal, geographical, sexual injustice? Because we must.

(via Yahoo)

http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Edward-Hollis/515663658 David Edward Hollis

This is unfortunate ive lost two of my closet friends to AIDs and they where Afro-American
DivineFeminineSarah

Thank you for this article! This has been breaking my heart and got me goin’ out of my mind for a while now. Fellow Americans, we are a world power, a first world nation, yet we have comepletely failed at containing this pandemic. And it affects ALL OF US! Gay, straight. Black, white. Female, male. According to the CDC:

*Since 2006, in the US, approximately 50,000 people have been infected with HIV EVERY YEAR.

*Over half of these new HIV infections are reported in the Southern states.

*AIDS is a leading cause of death for black women, ages 13-29. Behind, gay men, straight black women account for the highest population of new HIV infections. Even more than straight black men.

*Since the 1990′s, the fastest growing population of people infected with HIV have been women and children.

*Although African-Americans and black Americans constitute 14% of the US pop., they account for 44% of new HIV infections.

*Latino men and women constitute 16% of the US pop. yet account for at least 20% of new HIV infections.

*In 2009, MSM (men who have sex with men) of all races, made up 61% of new HIV infections.

*Between 2005 and 2010, the rate of new HIV infections increased by approx. 12% every year.

*Between 2006 and 2009, HIV infections rose by 21% in the total pop. of people ages 13-29. Among, gay men 13-29, new infections rose by 34%. Among black gay men 13-29, they rose by 48%.

*It has been estimated that in twenty years, AIDS will be the THIRD leading cause of death worldwide.

Folks! This is crazy! We need to do something! We need to make ourselves aware of these facts. We need to educate ourselves and each other. We need to reach out to our communities and, yes, very importantly, our churches and religious institutions, who do so much for the community, particularly in the American South and in the black community and impoverished areas. We need to fight for affordable, accessible health care. We need all-inclusive sex education. We need to practice safe sex! We need to fight to remove the stigma of HIV/AIDS in order to facilitate an open dialogue and reduce fear amd shame among the infected so that infections can be detected sooner and treated more affectively. We need to fight to create acceptance of gay people in our communities.

I’m a queer, white woman who played at being a married woman for six years and slept with only my male partner in that time. And then he cheated on me and exposed me to HIV. Somehow, by luck alone, after multiple blood tests and nearly a year of worrying, I’m HIV negative. My ex wasn’t so lucky. Neither was my friend, Jay. He was a virgin when he met his partner of ten years. His partner cheated once, and now they’re both living with the consequences of being HIV+ in an environment of persistant ignorance about this disease.

Just look at the facts. They’re telling us that, at some point in our lives, nearly every one of us will be affected by HIV, whether it is you who is infected or someone you love– sister, brother, son, daughter, mother, father, husband, wife, or friend. Whatever your gender, skin color, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, you are not immune!

DivineFeminineSarah

Please excuse my poor spelling and grammar. That happens when I become too impassioned.

Randy Stokes

Heavy. And thoughtful. TY.
Leoman30

This is not only alarming but very sad to me. I ‘m an black gay man and I see and hear men who love “raw fuckin’ and act like they are invisible to this disease. There is a stigma not only people who have this disease but people who feel they are immune from it. I will admit there have been times where I’ve put myself in that group. I often get teased by my friends because I don’t “hookup” a lot well can you blame me? Condoms can break, the person your with can remove it while inside of you and you CAN get an STD from “just giving head” People need to be more aware and ask more questions. Trust me, I’m not judging anyone. I’ve had “raw sex” which to honest with you it feels gross. Like you are dipping your penis into a vat of hot pork grease. I’ve just been extremely lucky. There is life with an HIV status one of the best sexual experiences of my life thus far was with a man who was HIV positive. I guess it’s a good thing that I choose to keep my hands to myself for now and that I’m finally realizing my worth. I may flirt maybe even make out with you but unless it’s something real and worth it for us both. This man sleeps alone.

Thanks for listening, Leo
http://www.facebook.com/emsley.breckin Emsley Breckin

“And the fact that you drew some line in the sand about getting down with black men doesn’t mean that one of your current sexual partners or one of his partners, or his partners, ever did.”

Wow, it’s quite insulting that you are implying here that every black man has HIV and that promiscuous white men are somehow exempt from the possibility.
nodoubtfan

Want to know how to fix this cultural, societal, geographical, sexual injustice? You can start by changing the extremely condescending tone of this article. Don’t contribute to the problem by casting aspersions.

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