Respect. Protect. A Lifestyle.

November 3, 2007

 

Ontario’s Gay Men’s HIV Prevention Strategy Working Group has launched an advertising campaign across the province to bring awareness to an issue that has not gone away.  Many years and large sums of money have gone into educating people in Canada about the risks of unprotected sex, despite these heroic efforts, sexually transmitted infections continue to increase at an alarming rate. The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS has concluded that between the years 2000-2004 we saw the number of new HIV cases in Canada rise by 20%. 

The idea behind the “Be Real” campaign is that men who have sex with men know the risks of HIV/AIDS but they do not necessarily do anything with that knowledge.  The strategy has been carefully researched and presented thoughtfully, it just doesn’t tell the whole story.  The group is attempting to answer to the needs of every sub culture within the gay community, showing them all that every situation is different but that their responsibility in protection should never change.  So that only leaves one question unanswered:  will this campaign succeed in promoting safer sex within a culture that thrives on testing the boundaries of sexual responsibility.

Billboards across cities in Ontario are asking these men to be real, to disclose their HIV/AIDS status, to have sex, but to have hot, safe sex.  Is the goal to protect their health, or their lifestyle?

*Bell/Weinberg study found that 74 percent of gay men reported having more than 100 partners, 41 percent more than 500 partners, and 28 percent more than 1,000 partners.

*As a result of these activities, men who have sex with men (MSM) constitute a high risk group for syphilis, gonorrhea, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and AIDS. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which causes anal warts, is almost universal among MSM, and make MSM the highest risk group for anal cancer, with incidence 39 times greater than the general population. MSM are also almost uniquely at risk for a cluster of painful gastrointestinal ailments known collectively as Gay Bowel Syndrome.
*Suicide:Gay and Lesbian youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual young people. 30% of youth-completed suicides are committed by Lesbian and Gay youth annually and suicide is their leading cause of death.
*School Drop-Out: 28% of Gay and Lesbian high school students in a national study were seen to have dropped out of school because of harassment resulting from the sexual orientation (Remafedi, G., Pediatrics, 326- 330) In another study by the same researchers it was determined that 26% of GBLT youth are forced to leave home because of conflicts over their sexual identities.
*Depression: In a study of depression and GLBT youth researchers found depression strikes homosexual youth four to five times more often than their non-gay peers. (Hammelman, TL, 1990) Studies also show increased drug and alcohol use.
 *The average life expectancy of gay men in Canada is at least 20 years less than that of the general population.
 
*Various studies show that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people have higher incidences of smoking, suicide, depression, drug use and HIV infection.

That is Reality