Why do gay men use condoms
Q&A: Decline in condom use indicates need for further education, 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 gay 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 lgbtq+ 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 Conduct, measures changes in sex without condoms among HIV-negative lgbtq+ and bisexual 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 hold 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
Sexual health for gay and bisexual men
Having unprotected penetrative sex is the most likely way to pass on a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Using a condom helps protect 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 new, you should acquire an STI and HIV evaluate 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 significant, as some STIs do not cause 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 diet and drink.
Symptoms of hepatitis A can appear up to 8 weeks after sex and include tiredness and feeling sick (nausea).
Hepatitis A is not usually life-threatening and most people make a complete recovery within a couple of months.
MSM can avoid getting hepatitis A by:
- washing hands after se
What About Condoms?
That was a tough conversation to possess. It forced me to understand how all my frantic efforts to acquire everyone in the community to utilize a condom 100% inadvertently shamed and alienated the individuals who weren’t tracking suit. It made me realize that I wasn’t someone my friends could trust with these pleasurable yet terrifying experiences. It revealed to me the limitations of a rigid HIV prevention strategy that reflected a medical perfect while ignoring complicated feelings of ambivalence, confusion, and craving to share another man’s body without barriers.
Over the next decade, new HIV rates in the U.S. remained consistent, at about 50,000 per year, with no significant rises or decreases. So in 2011, when I began knowledge about a daily pill called Truvada that can hinder HIV by up to 99% when used daily, I had to seriously take pause. Could this finally be the key to bringing down novel infection rates after a decade of stagnation? I decided that for myself this would be the ideal approach for remaining HIV-negative after 22 years of being sexually active and constantly worrying if and when and how I would someday become HIV-positive. For these reasons,
"What do you call a gay guy who got infected in the '80s? A victim. What do you call a gay guy who gets infected in 2010? An idiot." Well put by a reader to my gay dating column, but way off the mark.
According to the CDC, unused HIV infection rates among gay men keep climbing and this year is no exception. I comprehend the level of fury a lot of queer guys have about this sobering trend. I've just had two 20-something friends turn HIV positive. Some in our inner circle went ballistic with fury. "Why didn't they utilize condoms?" seethed one acquaintance. "It's not like they don't how to defend themselves -- they CHOSE not to. And if that's the case don't they deserve what they got?"
Well, no. True, if people were any more stupid about safe sex we'd have to fluid them twice a week, but the anger has no logic. When emergency workers pull dead or injured people out of car crashes do they blame the victims for not wearing seat belts? Do they refuse to help them?
The standard reasons experts give about rising infections center around "Plague Fatigue" and misplaced "AIDS Optimism" (believing that HIV is manageable and a cure is just around the corner), but there's also a few other