Pozitively Healthy: A Gay Man's Guide to Sex and Health in Canada

• This Guide Is for You
• Your Sexual Health "Top 10"
• Pozitively Hot: Being an HIV Positive Gay Man
• Your Sexual Health, From Top to Bottom
• An HIV Positive Guy's Guide to Safer Sex
• You and Him Talking About Sex and HIV
• Handling "No" While Staying Positive and Proud
• Positives Attract ... Sex Between HIV Positive Guys
• Sex, Drugs and Recreation
• STI Information for HIV Positive Guys
• For More Information
• Notes

This Guide Is for You

This guide was developed and written by gay men living with HIV in Ontario. We wrote it for gay men living with HIV whether you are a long-term survivor or have been diagnosed with HIV more recently. We talked with many gay men living with HIV, including guys from diverse ethnoracial communities, urban and rural guys, working guys and guys on disability assistance and young and older guys. Unfortunately we were not able to speak with gay or queer transmen living with HIV, even though these guys are part of the gay community.

This guide is also for you if you are:

• Bisexual or a gay or queer transman.
• A guy who has sex with men but doesn't think of himself as gay, bisexual or trans.
• HIV negative or don't know your HIV status.

We hope this guide 'speaks' to all of you.

Your Sexual Health "Top 10"

1. Your life didn't stop when you were diagnosed with HIV. Your sex life doesn't have to stop either.
2. Your sexual health is an important part of your health, so it may make sense for you to talk about your sex life with your doctor or the other people that help you take care of your health.
3. All gay guys -- HIV positive, HIV negative and guys who don't know their HIV status -- can help prevent new HIV infections.
4. You can pass HIV on to other guys through unprotected sex, especially fucking without condoms, whether you are the top or bottom.
5. You can pass HIV on through unprotected sex even if your viral load is undetectable.
6. Unfortunately, the criminal law can get involved in your sex life. If you are going to have sex with a guy and it will put him at a significant risk of being infected with HIV, you have a legal duty under the criminal law to tell him about your HIV status before sex.
7. If you are sexually active get tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) on a regular basis. STIs can lead to more serious health problems if you do not treat them.
8. You might decide to have sex with other HIV positive guys to stop new HIV infections and so you can fuck without condoms. But there are still health issues you may want to think about, like STIs and the possibility that you could be re-infected with a different strain of HIV.
9. You might have challenges with your sex drive and sexual performance. Getting older, HIV, medications, party drugs and emotions can affect your sex drive and sexual performance. But you can do things to overcome these challenges.
10. To be sexually healthy you will probably need to take care of your body, your mind and your emotions. It is important for gay men, including gay men living with HIV, to have the information we need to make informed decisions about our sexual health.