June 23, 2010
HIV/AIDS is not a gay disease, and the virus works the same whether you're gay or straight. That said, if you are gay -- or if you're a man who considers himself straight, but fools around with guys from time to time -- there's a lot of information out there that's going to be more relevant to you than if you're a straight guy who only sleeps with women (or nobody at all).
TheBody.com's HIV/AIDS Resource Center for Gay Men is a great starting point if you're looking for basic information, personal stories and thoughtful perspectives. If you'd like to dive in deeper, take a gander at the following links.
Being positive doesn't mean being celibate -- and being negative doesn't mean you should never sleep with an HIV-positive guy. It just means being smart about sex. If you're a gay man with HIV, you can not only have safe and satisfying sex, but have a healthy attitude about it, too. That's true whether you're a sex pig or prefer to do it the more traditional way, and it's true whether or not you decide it's worth the risk to bareback (a.k.a. have unprotected sex). On the flip side (no pun intended), some guys decide that, as much as they used to love sex, it's OK to shift over to celibacy. Meanwhile, if you're an HIV-negative guy, there are plenty of things you can do to ensure that any relationship you have with an HIV-positive dude is fun and fulfilling (in every way).
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It's cliché to say it, we know, but it's so true: You are not alone. More than a million people in the U.S. (and tens of millions more worldwide) are living with HIV, and many of them -- let's be honest, too many of them -- are gay men. Living with HIV is no walk in the park for plenty of reasons, but whether you've just been diagnosed, you're choosing your first HIV doctor or you're dealing with the long-term effects of HIV and its treatment, there are people out there who can relate to what you're going through and who can help you through it.
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In the U.S., men who have sex with men are being diagnosed with HIV at a rate more than 44 times higher than other men, according to a March 2010 report. Among gay African Americans, the numbers are even more stark. Even as HIV diagnoses are dropping among many groups in the U.S., they're on the rise among gay men, especially gay men under 25.
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Tree Alexander. Robert Breining. Brandon Lacy Campos. Philip D. Thomas DeLorenzo. fogcityjohn. Enrique Franco. Bob Frascino. Mark S. King. Jimmy Mack. ScotCharles. Scott Simpson. Justin B. Terry-Smith. Each of them is a gay man living with HIV (some recently diagnosed, some grizzled HIVeterans) -- and each of them is a blogger on TheBody.com. They all have amazing, unique stories to tell, and in many cases they're telling those stories for the first time on our site. These impressive men are a testament to the strength -- a strength that lies within each of us -- to stand against stigma and overcome whatever obstacles life tosses in our way.
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HIV medications behave no differently in your body whether you're gay, straight or anything in between. However, some issues related to HIV treatment may impact gay men differently from other communities.
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