Gay men and condoms
Some Gay Men on PrEP May Halt Using Condoms. Does It Matter?
When I talk to my adolescent patients about sex and sexuality, there’s a line I usually incorporate in my patter. I tell them that they’re in my office for medical advice, not moral guidance. The questions I request and information I give are for the purposes of keeping them secure and healthy, not so I can pass judgment on their character.
Ironically, it’s when I own patients who are gay men prefer me that I sometimes need to keep any moralizing in check.
In 2016, the National LGBTQ Task Force Behavior Fund and the National Coalition for LGBT Health noted the need for ongoing education and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Their guide specifically notes “People on PrEP may be less likely to use condoms, perceiving other STIs/STDs as easily cured despite the troubling climb of drug resistant gonorrhea.”
“PrEP” is limited for pre-exposure prophylaxis. It’s a regimen of two diverse medications that, when taken daily, can substantially reduce the likelihood of entity infected with HIV for those at increased risk, including men who contain sex with other men (MSM). Reading that people taking it may be less likely to
Q&A: Decline in condom operate indicates need for further teaching, awareness
Research | Social science | UW News blog
February 27, 2024
A new University of Washington study measures changes in sex without condoms among HIV-negative same-sex attracted and bisexual men who are not taking PrEP.Pixabay
New research from the University of Washington shows that condom use has been trending downward among younger same-sex attracted and bisexual men over the last decade, even when they aren’t taking pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
The study, published Feb. 27 in AIDS and Behavior, measures changes in sex without condoms among HIV-negative gay and bisexual person men who are not taking PrEP. Using data from the 2014-19 cycles of the American Men’s Internet Survey — a web-based survey of cisgender men ages 15 and older who have sex with men (MSM) — researchers found that roughly half of HIV-negative men reported using condoms at least sometimes in the last year. That was higher than the 15% of respondents who reported using PrEP.
But HIV-negative MSM who are not using PrEP seem to be not using condoms increasingly often. The study found that the proportion of these men who had
In a recent episode of RuPaul’s Flamboyant Race UK season five – the makeover episode – 65-year-old gay Switchboard volunteer and retired builder, Peter, said that condoms saved his life.
One might presume, correctly, that Peter was being questioned about his life during the 1980s and 1990s, when the AIDS epidemic tore through the homosexual community, in particular, killing tens of thousands in the UK alone.
“There were hospital wards packed of gay men dying in the ’80s”, Peter told contestant Michael Marouli – with whom he had been matched with for the episode, “and so I used condoms and I think that saved my life... That safe sex note was drilled in the calls we took.”
Decades on, a drug now exists that the same-sex attracted community of years gone by tragically could only desire of – PrEP.
PrEP stands for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, and it’s a pill that HIV negative users take daily (in most cases) to prevent themselves from contracting the HIV virus through the use of antiretroviral medicines.
As a sexually active, single queer man living in London, I can tell you that PrEP is hugely popular today. In fact, the National AIDS Trust gives that in 2022, 86,324 people initiated or continued
Sexual health for homosexual and bisexual men
Having unprotected penetrative sex is the most likely way to pass on a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Using a condom helps shield against HIV and lowers the risk of getting many other STIs.
If you’re a man having sex with men (MSM), without condoms and with someone unused, you should have an STI and HIV assess every 3 months, otherwise, it should be at least once a year. This can be done at a sexual health clinic (SHC) or genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic. This is important, as some STIs do not generate any symptoms.
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a liver infection that's spread by a virus in poo.
Hepatitis A is uncommon in the UK but you can obtain it through sex, including oral-anal sex ("rimming") and giving oral sex after anal sex. MSM with multiple partners are particularly at risk. You can also get it through contaminated food and drink.
Symptoms of hepatitis A can materialize up to 8 weeks after sex and involve tiredness and feeling sick (nausea).
Hepatitis A is not usually life-threatening and most people make a occupied recovery within a couple of months.
MSM can evade getting hepatitis A by:
- washing hands after se