Sexual Orientation Identity Key to HIV Risk

When dealing with the AIDS/HIV epidemic it is an understatement to say that promoting condom use is necessary in order to halt the deadly virus in its tracks. Campaigns spearheaded from almost every country have been held across the globe highlighting this very important mantra; however, there are still large pockets of the world in which more steps are needed to ensure governments are taking all necessary steps to educate their populations on the risks of AIDS/HIV. A new study from the University of California at San Francisco highlights one such region. Their recent study has shown that one-third of gay men in Soweto, a township in South Africa, are infected with HIV.

Those men from Soweto who admitted to having sexual relations with other men were not all gay, according to their answers. They labeled themselves straight, gay or bisexual. Those men who identified themselves as strictly gay had an HIV rate at close to 34%, the highest of the three groups. Those who labeled themselves as bisexual had an HIV rate of over 6%, while those who deemed themselves straight had an HIV infection rate of 10%. Tim Lane, the head researcher of the study and a professor at UCSF in the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, states, “Our findings clearly indicate that targeted prevention and treatment for men who have sex with men in townships are urgently needed. We also found that, despite South Africa’s legal advances in gay rights, stigma and de facto segregation are reflected in the disproportionate rates of HIV infection.”

Over 375 men participated in the study with over 34% identifying themselves as gay, 31% identifying themselves as straight and over 30% identifying themselves as bisexual. Every black ethnic group of South Africa was represented in this study. Results from the study demonstrated that how a man views his sexual identity (straight, gay or bisexual) was an indicator of how they behaved sexually when with other men. For example, if a male identified himself as gay, he was more likely to be the recipient of anal intercourse, while those men who identified themselves as bisexual or straight were usually the givers of anal intercourse.

Lane states, “With the correlation of sexual identity and sexual practice, control of condom use in same-sex partnerships tends to be in the hands of bisexual and straight MSM (men who have sex with other men). This finding demonstrates the pressing need to promote condom use among bisexual and straight-MSM for same-sex as well as heterosexual relationships.” In addition to sexual identify being a factor in the risk of contracting HIV, the researchers were able to pinpoint other factors that played a part including low income, unprotected anal sex, ages over 25, trading sex for drugs or liquor and being the recipient during anal sex. On the flip side, circumcised males, men who partake in marijuana and men who have sexual relationships with females were less likely to be infected with HIV. Lane states, “The circumcision findings clearly suggest that for this population of MSM, circumcision could be protective and that MSM should not be excluded from circumcision programs.”