Today's Date: March 29, 2024
Coachella Concerned That People Have Sex, Says AHF   •   Visit Visalia Recognizes Autism Awareness Month in April   •   Sypher Secures Strategic Partnership with FAIA to Fuel Growth   •   Amerex Group Unveils Red Carter Swimwear's Revitalized Collection   •   Equalpride Partners with TransLash Media for Trans Day of Visibility, Amplifying Voices of Black Trans Femmes in the Arts   •   Fosun Management on 2023 Annual Results: Focusing on Core Industries with Established Advantages   •   Anaergia Announces Escrow Closing of Second Tranche of the Strategic Investment   •   VIRGIN HOTELS CHAMPIONS INCLUSIVE TRAVEL FOR NEURODIVERSE TRAVELERS   •   e.l.f. Cosmetics Debuts TikTok Shop Super Brand Day   •   YMCA of the USA Partners With Old Spice To Increase High School Graduation Among Boys And Young Men Of Color Through Mentorship   •   Midea Group releases its first-ever ESG brand story with an unexpected VIP visit highlighting its commitment to sustainability.   •   Make-A-Wish and celebrity wish granters announce goal to recruit 1 million people to become "WishMakers"   •   Anaergia Announces Delay in the Filing of Its Audited Financial Statements and Related Disclosures   •   Jamieson Wellness Publishes Inaugural Sustainability Impact Report   •   Re:wild and Colossal Biosciences team up to leverage revolutionary technology to save critically endangered species on the brink   •   Parkland Corporation Announces the Results of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders   •   Carnegie Learning Named 2024 SIIA CODiE Award Finalist for Best Educational Game and Best AI Implementation in Ed Tech   •   Chosgo K23: One of the Best Bluetooth Hearing Aids for Seniors   •   Empire State Realty Trust Receives WELL Health-Safety Leadership Award; Becomes Among the First Commercial Office and Multifamil   •   National University Receives 2024 Military Friendly® Gold Designation
Bookmark and Share

Higher HIV Risk In Black Gay Men Linked To Partner Choice, Risk Perception

BALTIMORE — Young black men who have sex with men (MSM) get infected with HIV nearly five times more often than MSM from other races, even though they don't have more unprotected sex.

The discrepancy has long mystified public health experts but a new study by investigators at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere now offers a possible explanation for it.

The study found that young black MSM -- a group that includes openly gay and bisexual men, as well as those who have sex with men but do not identify themselves as gay or bisexual -- select partners and judge these partners' HIV status in a specific way.

These men show a clear preference for masculine men, while also equating masculinity with lower HIV risk. This dynamic, the researchers say, can help explain why young black MSM contract HIV more often than their counterparts from other races.

The results are based on interviews with 35 black men ages 18 to 24 who have sex with men. The most notable findings include an overwhelming preference for masculine partners, accepting masculine partners as dominant in the sex act and leaving to them decisions about condom use, perceiving masculine men as low risk for HIV and feminine men as high risk.

"There may be no difference in HIV prevalence between masculine-looking and feminine-looking men, but because black MSM perceive masculine men as lower risk, their sexual encounters with such men may make HIV infection more likely," said investigator Jonathan Ellen, M.D., a pediatrician and teen health expert at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

In other words, even though young black MSM have unprotected sex just as often as others, they may be having unprotected sex in riskier ways with partners whose HIV status they often miscalculate, the researchers explain.

The findings offer new insight into how black MSM judge risk based on perceptions of masculinity and can help inform public health campaigns to reduce new HIV infections in this disproportionately affected group. The findings, the researchers say, can also guide safe-sex conversations between primary care physicians and patients.

Errol Fields, M.D. Ph.D., currently a resident at Boston Children's Hospital, was lead author on the research, which he conducted as a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and Emory University also participated in the study. 


STORY TAGS: Black News, African American News, Minority News, Civil Rights News, Discrimination, Racism, Racial Equality, Bias, Equality, Afro American News, General, Black News, African American News, Latino News, Hispanic News, Minority News, Civil Rights, Discrimination, Racism, Diversity, Racial Equality, Bias, Equality

Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News