End Homophobia to Cut HIV Among Blacks: Report

The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) recently issued a report on HIV/AIDS in the African-American community that received the endorsement of dozens of eminent black organizations and politicians. According to data from CDC, 51 percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2004 were in African Americans, though blacks account for just 13 percent of the U.S. population.

Among five key recommendations, NMAC said efforts must be made in targeting the marginalization, stigma, and discrimination against black gays and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Men represent 63 percent of new African-American HIV/AIDS diagnoses, and gay and bisexual men accounted for 49 percent of these cases.

Several studies indicate HIV/AIDS prevalence among black gay men is twice that among white gay men, said Robert Fullilove, associate dean for minority affairs at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "A lot of what animates the sexual behavior [of black MSM] is a sense of shame -- it's subversive, it's secretive, it's hidden, it's rushed, and in that sense it's not safe," he said. With some community institutions fostering homophobia, he noted, many black MSM "approach their sexual lives with a certain level of fatalism."

"Perhaps the most important factor in reducing HIV risk for black gay men is the one that receives the least attention, and that is eliminating the homophobia and related stigma, discrimination, and violence experienced by many black gay men," said Phill Wilson, CEO and founder of Black AIDS Institute.

The four other NMAC recommendations are:

• Reduce the impact of incarceration that fuels the epidemic.

• Reduce the transmission of HIV through injection drug use.

• Expand HIV prevention, testing, and care programs.

• Stabilize communities by expanding access to affordable housing.

Back to other news for November 29, 2006