Posted on 02/06/2003 6:58:17 PM PST by RCW2001
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Young black men who have sex with other men are more likely than their peers to be closeted, meaning they have not disclosed their sexual orientation to others, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
And while such closeted men don't have a higher risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) than "out" gay and bisexual men, "nondisclosers" are less likely to know that they carry the virus that causes AIDS and are more likely to have recently had sex with a woman, the CDC survey suggests.
The findings make it clear, the report's authors say, that more effort should be made to test closeted men and their sex partners--male and female--for HIV and STDs.
Men who have sex with other men but don't disclose their sexual orientation "are thought to be at particularly high risk for HIV infection because of low self-esteem, depression or lack of peer support and prevention services that are available" to men who are more open about their homosexuality, D. A. Shehan of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and colleagues write.
But the risks of HIV and other STDs that such men actually face are "unknown," the researchers note in the February 7th issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
To investigate, the researchers evaluated a survey examining the sexual practices and attitudes of 5,589 men who have sex with men. Men aged 15 to 29 living in six US cities participated in the survey, which was conducted between 1994 and 2000.
All of the men also underwent testing for HIV and hepatitis B, a sexually transmitted disease that can harm the liver.
In all, 637 men reported that they were "not out to anyone" about the fact that they had sex with men. Of this group, 55% were between the ages of 15 and 22.
Tests revealed that overall, 8% of the closeted men were HIV-positive compared to 11% of men who were open about their sexuality.
Among blacks, the prevalence of HIV infection was 14% among closeted blacks compared to 24% of openly gay or bisexual blacks. About 18% of blacks said they had not disclosed their sexual orientation compared with 8% of whites, and 14% of black nondisclosers were HIV infected compared with 5% of nondisclosers of other ethnicities.
The researchers also found that among HIV-positive men, those who were closeted were less likely than "out" men to be aware of the infection. Of those with HIV, 98% of nondisclosers were unaware of the infection compared with 75% of those who were openly gay.
Although this study didn't find closeted men faced a higher HIV risk, "the data suggest that a substantial portion of nondisclosers are infected with HIV and other STDs and are at high risk for transmitting these infections to their male and female sex partners," the CDC states in an accompanying editorial note.
The survey finding that more than one in three closeted men reported having had sex with women recently suggests that such "nondisclosers" may play a major role in spreading HIV and STDs to women, according to the CDC.
This might be particularly true for closeted black men, the CDC adds, as about one in five were positive for hepatitis B and about one in seven were HIV positive.
"The findings in this report suggest that public-awareness and prevention programs should be developed" for closeted men "to reduce internalized homophobia and other factors that influence nondisclosure," the CDC concludes.
SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2003;52:81-85.
Perhaps they are passing HIV on to other men, but (here's the tricky part) I think they partially disclose their sexual orientation to their partner when they agree to have sex with him. So, like, this whole topic seems terribly stupid.
Was that N'Sync song, where they sing the line "ain't no lie, bi, bi, bi?" about these gay boys?
I think the "findings in this report" suggest that having anal sex with fags makes you get AIDS and then having sex (perverted type or not) with other people then gives AIDS to other people.
Solution - men should quit having anal sex with fags and if anyone has AIDS they should become celibate. It ain't that hard. Especially if the alternative is the above.
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