HIV/AIDS question....?

Okay; I won't call you ignorant, but......... have you talked to any black folks in the inner city? Have you talked to any black or brown preachers? They know that it's not just a gay disease anymore. Have you talked to the director's of a free needle exchange program? have you talked to a nurse at any free clinic, or methadone clinic.. in this nation? Have you reviewed any 'life story' articles from POZ Magazine? (About 50% of them are written by straight folks, a lot of them caucasion) Have you visited the 'HIVSTOPSWITHUS.org website? Lots of straight columnists there, too. Have you been to the CDC website? I can't imagine where you're getting your info from, but it sounds like a prejudiced or bias source to me :(

Well first off, to reply to the other commenter: there are gay people everywhere just as there are heterosexual people everywhere. While it may be taboo to be openly gay in some cultures, people can still be gay.

Now to answer your question:

Yes, it is true that there is a percentage of the gay population that has HIV. Perhaps this statistic is larger than that for heterosexual individuals. The problem is that HIV is not spread only by homosexual sex [for lack of a better word]. Instead, there is a significant percentage of the population who suffer from HIV as a result of shared, contaminated needles [I've read stories about HS kids using steroids]. Drug addicts also constitute a large percentage.

One study I've read notes that the CDC estimates nearly 470,000 individuals living with HIV in the U.S.

Of this nearly half-million: 47% most likely became infected by male-to-male sexual contact. On the other hand, an estimated 24% contracted the virus from High-risk heterosexual contact [no protection, partner has HIV, etc]. Additionally, 22% are estimated to have contracted the virus from injection drug use.

On top of that, many individuals are born with HIV.

Here's another fact based on global HIV numbers: "Globally, around 11% of HIV infections are among babies who acquire the virus from their mothers; 10% result from injecting drug use; 5-10% are due to sex between men; and 5-10% occur in healthcare settings. Sex between men and women accounts for the remaining proportion – around two thirds of new infections."

So, i don't think it's as evenly spilt as you think it is. Additionally, I certainly do not think you are ignorant. I used to think that HIV was a virus that only affected homosexual men--this is in part because of the lack of information that existed back during the early 80s. Not sure how old you are/if you'll remember, but HIV was not always called HIV...before, it was known as Gay-Related Immune Deficiency [or by the awful acronym GRID] because a series of Kaposi's sarcoma cases began springing up in gay men.

As we've learned over the years, however, this virus does not affect only gay men, and the 50/50 split is far from accurate.

In my life, I've met gay individuals with HIV, and I've also met straight individuals who had the virus. If memory serves me right, however, I recall that the heterosexual individuals were *less* likely to report their symptoms because of the social taboo we have placed upon HIV/AIDS.

OK--I can see that I've gone on for some time now, so I think I'll end it here :-)

Hope this helps you in forming your opinions!

Best,

--Keenan

the basis of AIDS technological awareness is the African eco-friendly monkey idea, as proposed via the international’s ultimate AIDS researcher, Robert Gallo. Gallo claims he first heard the monkey tale in early 1983, a year beforehand he found HIV. HIV had "crossed over" into the human inhabitants from a particular species of chimpanzee, probable by ability of blood contact that befell throughout searching and container dressing of the animals. It wasn't because someone had sex with the chimp or the different tale that you've heard. The CDC states that the findings provided at a convention provide the most efficient information as a lot as now that HIV-a million originated in non-human primates.

Well, first of all, the reason the statistics are so high for those who are gay is because HIV is much easier to contract from anal sex. The rectum is easily teared, therefor making it easier to contract HIV.

And it is probably split "evenly" because those who are heterosexual believe that since they AREN'T homosexual males, don't believe they need to use protection.

Well Sabrina, there are no gay people in Africa (its a taboo in society to be gay) and still most HIV victims are in southern Sahara.

It is prevalently a gay disease however, you can get it from dirty needles, feces, ect. It originated in rhesus monkeys because they were so dirty-throwed their feces ect. that's why africa is the hardest hit but it was transported over here on planes.

What exactly did your "research" involve? I'm curious where you got that 97% from. Please cite your source.

well not really but prostitutes have them to and people that are stright and have it