Black and Latino MSM Identity and HIV Risk

via Poz, by Trenton Straube

New research uncovers mistaken assumptions fueling HIV rates among black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM).

The belief that having sex with someone of your own race lowers your risk of contracting HIV is a misperception that needs to be addressed among black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM).

What’s more, health care workers are missing opportunities to test this population for HIV—even when the men are engaged in care and disclose their sexuality to their doctors.

These are just two findings of research looking at black and Latino MSM who are HIV positive but unaware of their status. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 53 percent of new HIV cases in the United States are among MSM and that 54 percent of these MSM are black and Latino.

In addition, HIV-positive black and Latino MSM are less likely than their white counterparts to know their status—which is one factor that amplifies HIV rates among these populations.

To explore these dynamics, researchers led by Gregorio A. Millett, MPH, the CDC/HHS Liaison to the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), analyzed data from 1,208 MSM (597 black and 611 Latino) who participated in studies in Los Angeles, New York City and Philadelphia.

Eleven percent of them (18 percent black, 5 percent Latino) turned out to be HIV positive but unaware of their status (referred to as “HIV-positive unaware”).

Researchers found that certain variables were more common among the MSM in this group.

For example:

Black HIV-positive unaware MSM were associated with:

•Gay identity
•Earning a moderately higher income
•Having health insurance
•Disclosing sexuality to current health care provider
•Fewer than three lifetime HIV tests
•High perceived risk of testing HIV positive
•Belief that sex with other black men reduces HIV risk

Latino HIV-positive unaware MSM were associated with:

•Nongay identity
•High perceived risk of currently being HIV positive
•Belief that sex with other Latino men reduces HIV risk


POZ spoke with Millett, who arrived at ONAP via the CDC, about the implications of these findings, which were printed in the September Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes in an article titled “Mistaken Assumptions and Missed Opportunities: Correlates of Undiagnosed HIV Infection Among Black and Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men.”

We also asked Millett how his team in DC might use the data as they implement the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.


Read the rest

NBGMAC to Host a National Webinar for Young Black Gay, Bisexual and Same Gender Loving Men

The National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition (NBGMAC), co-sponsored by FHI 360, invites young Black Gay, Bisexual, and Same Gender Loving men from across the country to participate in a national webinar on October 14th, 2011 at 3:00PM (EDT) to develop solutions for addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the young Black Gay, Bisexual, and Same Gender Loving community.

Click here to register!

Reversing the Alarming HIV Increase Among Black Gay Men, Part 2

via BlackVoiceNews, by Rod McCullom

The second of a two-part series examining the high rates of new HIV infection among Black gay and bisexual men.

 Part 1 described the new data detailing the dramatic increases in new infections, examined some of the reasons driving the numbers and described the CDC's new social-marketing initiative, designed to encourage testing among Black MSM.

In light of the persistent increase in new infections among MSM (men who have sex with men)--and despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new testing initiative--a consensus has emerged among prominent Black gay men who have leadership positions in HIV/AIDS policy, prevention and public health: A larger investment is needed from public and private sources, as well as a more "holistic" approach to Black gay men's sexual health.

"It's a question of dollars," says A. Cornelius Baker, senior policy adviser of the Washington, D.C.-based National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition (NBGMAC), which delivered a forceful set of recommendations in response to the CDC's incidence report.

 Across the federal bureaucracy, "there is not a sufficient investment in line with the scope of the epidemic in Black and Latino gay populations," he says.

"The CDC must increase funding to organizations providing services to young MSM and transgender [people] of color from $9 million to $14 million," says Baker, who is also board chair of the Black AIDS Institute.

 "Five years after its initial commitment, the numbers are worse, and their investment remains at $9 million. That makes no sense."

Among NBGMAC's additional recommendations: increased funding, capacity building in Black gay organizations, continuing HIV education for medical professionals, high-level consultations with Black gay men and research on how to lower the viral load in MSM communities of color.

Read the rest

Odds for Detecting HIV Varies By Method, New Study Finds

via At a Glance

The odds for effectively detecting HIV in African-American men vary by method, researchers have found. The study, which appears in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, suggests that HIV-prevention efforts must be multi-faceted, taking into account differences in within this demographic.

To do so, they examined three different avenues for testing among African American MSM in New York City and looked at which methods showed the highest rates of positive HIV tests. By linking a method for getting tested with positive HIV results, the researchers could then better understand which methods were most likely to identify new HIV cases.

The three approaches for HIV testing included the following:

·         Partner services, which involves identifying, locating, and interviewing HIV-infected persons to provide names and contact information of their sex and needle-sharing partners, notifying partners of their exposure to HIV, and providing HIV counseling, testing, and referral services to those partners;

·         Alternative venue testing, in which rapid HIV testing is conducted in bars, churches, or mobile units;

·         The social networks strategy, where HIV testers engage either HIV-positive individuals or those at high risk of seroconversion to become “recruiters.” Through active enlistment and coaching processes, staff build relationships and help recruiters engage people in their social circles into HIV testing.


Read more.

TOMORROW! Conversations: A Discussion about the Impact of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy on Black Gay/Bisexual Men in Chicago

 The Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus present.........

Conversations: A Discussion about the Impact of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy on Black Gay/Bisexual Men in Chicago

 TOMORROW!!
Thursday, August 11, 2011

6:00pm-9:00pm

Gary Comer Youth Center
7200 S. Ingleside (Located 2 blocks southeast of the intersection of East 71^st St., Cottage Grove Ave., and South Chicago Ave.)

 With special guests:

-- John A. Schneider, MD, MPH (Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology – University of Chicago)

-- Chris Brown (Assistant Commissioner of Public Health for the STI/HIV/AIDS Division – City of Chicago)

-- David D. Robertson (Prevention Specialist – Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago)

-- Mildred Williamson, PhD, MSW (HIV/AIDS Section Chief – Illinois Department of Public Health)

Moderated by: Keith R. Green, MSW (CBGMC Co-Chair/Director of Federal Affairs at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago)

Light refreshments will be served! Please RSVP to CBGMCevents@gmail.com

New H.I.V. Cases Persist at 50,000 a Year

via New York Times, By Donald G. McNeil Jr.

Despite years of great progress in treating AIDS, the number of new infections with the virus that causes it has remained stubbornly around 50,000 a year for a decade, according to new figures released on Wednesday by federal officials.

The American epidemic is still concentrated primarily in gay men, and is growing rapidly worse among young black gay men.

That realization is causing a rift in the AIDS community. Activists say the persistent infection rate proves that government prevention policy is a flop. Federal officials are on the defensive even as they concede that the epidemic will grow if prevention doesn’t get better, which they know is unlikely while their budgets are being cut.

And some researchers believe it is impossible to completely wipe out even a fatal, incurable disease when it is transmitted through sex and carries so much stigma that people deny having it and avoid being tested for it.

Looking backward, epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe new cases peaked at 130,000 a year in the 1980s, sank slowly during the 1990s and plateaued at 50,000 around the year 2000.

Both Dr. Kevin Fenton, chief of AIDS prevention for the C.D.C., and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, chief of AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health, took issue with Mr. Kramer’s interpretation. While both agreed that 50,000 new annual infections was, in Dr. Fauci’s words, “a great concern,” both pointed to some areas where substantial progress had been made and said that new studies were seeking ways to get more people tested and treated early in the course of the illness, which would make them less infectious and drive transmission rates down.

“The C.D.C. is absolutely not resting,” Dr. Fenton insisted. “It was a major accomplishment to drop infections from 130,000 to 50,000, and we’re dealing with an epidemic that is dynamic.”

But, he conceded, 50,000 is an “unacceptably high level,” and without better prevention efforts, “we’re likely to face an era of rising infection rates.”

Read more.

TRUE STORY: ‘I Came Out Of The Closet On Facebook’

via All Facebook, By Ruth-Manuel Logan


An African-American friend of mine credits Facebook with helping him come out of the closet. Here’s his story, told in the first person.

I truly thank God for Facebook because it allowed me to tell everyone whom I had been hiding from that the jig is up. I grew so tired of the lies and deceitful silly games that I had been playing just to appease family, coworkers and a few dear old friends.

Being a gay man is the mother of all marks in the black community. The black church denunciates homosexuality and still does not welcome us with open arms. Congregants would rather travel elsewhere than practice their faith in a “sissy church.”

The day I hit 40, two weeks ago, I thought it was high time I finally grew up. Why was I continuing to hide?  Why couldn’t I reveal that part of me that I did not chose to be?  Why was I continuing to feed into the prejudices and fears about homosexuality?  I needed to break out in a way that was big and all encompassing, and Facebook was the way to do it!

On the eve of my birthday, I pondered how I would come out. I thought of poetic verses, militant prose and even some Biblical lines but then I thought further, “What the hell are you doing man?  Just go for it!”  And I did!

Read more.

Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS: A New Challenge Is on the Horizon

via The White House Blog by Ron Simmons, Ph.D.

Dr. Ron Simmons has made such a tremendous impact on the work I do for Black men who have sex with men (MSM).His service over the years stands as a framework for what it really means to work for the  betterment of  your community. Read his words...

When I reflect on the 30th anniversary of the HIV epidemic, I am simply amazed. Amazed that I am still alive after living with AIDS for over 20 years and that there is an effective treatment for HIV that is one pill a day. I remember the early days of AIDS, there was no name for it—only fear.

Doctors were afraid to touch you. Nurses were afraid to feed you. And your friends that tried to give you encouragement to not feel hopeless, died themselves from the disease. Today HIV/AIDS is a preventable and treatable disease. There is a lot least stigma and fear. The President of the United States speaks openly and affirmatively about ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In many jurisdictions, government funded programs provide a safety net of health care and support for people with the disease. So much has changed in 30 years, yet new challenges appear on the horizon.

One of the most serious challenges is the “paradigm shift” in HIV infection among Black men who have sex with men (MSM). Studies have found that the traditional paradigm, the theoretical model of a positive correlation between high HIV risk behavior and high HIV infection, may not be true for Black MSM. Such a paradigm shift would have a profound impact on the effectiveness of prevention efforts targeting Black MSM in the United States.

Read more.

Fidelity Amongst Black Gay Men

via Black Gay Men's Blog

A recent personal experience leads Black Gay Men’s Blog Contributor and Author, Rafael Solece, to explore fidelity amongst black gay men. Are black gay men capable of being faithful or are men innately sexual creatures who don’t know how to control our desires? Is there a timeline on fidelity in a relationship? Can two men be happy sharing each other with the outside world? All these questions and hardly any answers. Share your thoughts…

My momma use to always say; don’t go looking for anything that you aren’t ready to find! I wish I had listened to that bit of advice. I found a rouge condom in the trashcan at The Barber’s house. The Barber (affectionately named for his career) and I have been dating for approximately four months. We had our first date on Super Bowl Sunday. I am not a big football fan, but he was cute, and it was a cute date. We’ve sort of been casually dating ever since and he’s the first guy that I’ve dated seriously in about four years.

We’re together most every weekend from Saturday until Monday or Tuesday, and I have been known on occasions to spend the entire week dancing around his house in my socks and underwear playing house husband. We have a no pressure type of relationship which leaves us lots of room to have fun together (And oh the fun we have together). 

Up until last weekend I assumed I had him pretty whipped. But when I was at his house I found that condom wrapper, minus the condom, peeking up at me from the trash can.

Read more.

Trailer: 'In My Own Image - Healing Black Men Who Love Men'

Reposted from Facebook by Keith R. Green

This is indeed powerful and so long overdue. I eagerly anticipate the full-legnth documentary!

----------

This trailer is for the upcoming documentary 'In My Own Image - Healing Black Men Who Love Men.' The film features the voices, experiences and transformations of 40 young adult and adult same-gender-loving (SGL) Black male leaders from throughout the country. According to the men involved this experience changed their life forever.

New data confirms theories about HIV disparities between Black and white gay/bisexual men in the U.S.

By Keith R. Green

I'm not really the type to say "I told you so," but the findings from this study echo sentiments that many of us here in Chicago have been shouting from rooftops for the past year or so: Black gay and bisexual men are less likely to have conversations about our HIV status with sexual partners than our white and Latino counterparts, and we are also less likely to be in care that involves antiretrovirals if we do know that we are positive.

In many ways, in my opinion, these two truths are intertwined in a very intimate way. Many of us don't talk about HIV because we don't know what to do about it, and we don't know what to do about it because we really don't understand the power of antiretrovirals. Now, for the record, that's not because we are ignorant people.

It's quite the contrary, in fact. We remember, or have heard stories, about the early days of antiretroviral therapy and the side effects that many Black people suffered from taking them. Additionally, we've yet to recover psychologically from years of medical science mistreatment stemming back from the days when we were only seen as three-fifths of a person.

So now that we know what we know about the disparities in HIV infection between Black and white MSM (for sure), the real question is...what are we going to do about it?

Read the abstract of the study here.

Sex and the City - men, sex, love, and HIV [Chicago conference NEXT WEEK]

The FREE conference is a one day event that will explore how HIV/AIDS is impacting African American gay and bisexual men, as well as other men who have sex with men (MSM) in Chicago. Fueled in part by persistent silence and stigma, the health disparities impacting these men have created unacceptably high rates of HIV that rival those in sub-Saharan Africa.

What is already happening to address these disparities, 

and what's missing?

 

Join us and be part of the answer.

Keynote speakers include Dr. David Malebranch of Emory University and Dr. Gary Harper of DePaul University

Thursday, September 16
9 a.m.-3 p.m.
University Center
525 S. State Street, Chicago 
Register online here. FREE.

 

Sex and the City - men, sex, love, and HIV [Chicago conference]

The FREE conference is a one day event that will explore how HIV/AIDS is impacting African American gay and bisexual men, as well as other men who have sex with men (MSM) in Chicago. Fueled in part by persistent silence and stigma, the health disparities impacting these men have created unacceptably high rates of HIV that rival those in sub-Saharan Africa.

What is already happening to address these disparities, and what's missing?  

Join us and be part of the answer.

Keynote speakers include Dr. David Malebranch of Emory University and Dr. Gary Harper of DePaul University

Thursday, September 16
9 a.m.-3 p.m.
University Center
525 S. State Street, Chicago 
Register online here. FREE.

HIV and the Down Low Syndrome

Great response on Justin's HIV Journal to the base-less comments regarding HIV, black men and the "down low" heard on The View.

AIDS, the gay retro virus

Enough with the tired safe-sex messages that the younger set especially stopped listening to long ago. Handing out condoms in bars won't cut it anymore. 

via Citizen Crain 


Snippet -

The extent of the risk of acquiring HIV in the United States today is largely defined by a person's sexual network rather than his or her individual behaviors. Understanding the context and settings in which risk is increased may lead to more robust and effective preventive interventions

For example, black men who have sex with men are at increased risk for HIV infection in part because of its high prevalence in their sexual networks and their likelihood of choosing racially similar partners; they have also been shown to be less likely than their white counterparts to be aware of their HIV status and thus are more likely to unknowingly transmit HIV. Moreover, even those who are aware of their HIV infection may be less engaged in HIV care and less likely to avail themselves of antiretroviral therapy — behavior that limits the potential benefit of such therapy as a preventive strategy. …

Read the whole thing.

High HIV rates mean one thing - we are failing black gay men

Gay and bisexual men account for more new HIV infections in the U.S. - 53 percent - than any other population group. Moreover, this is the only risk group in the nation in which the annual number of new HIV infections is increasing, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

via Black Christian Nation, by George Curry

"For Black gay men and lesbian people, we need our community to protect us against the bias of racism. Where do I go when I'm called a nigger? I go to my church. I go to my mama and my papa - that's where I go.

"But where do I go when I'm called a faggot? I don't have anywhere else to go. And particularly if the people who are calling me a faggot are my mamma, my papa and my church."

Read the rest.

CDC says DL is BS

Recently, Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention at the CDC dismissed the claims that down-low black men are contributing to most of the HIV infections among black women in this country.

LifeLube is happy to see the truth come out on this issue. Gay black men have been unfairly demonized by this dangerous myth for far too long (no thanks to Oprah.) Time to get real.

There have been a ton of news stories on this, below are links to a few. 

via Advocate

Straight black men with multiple partners, and not bisexual men on the"down low" are more responsible for the high rates of HIV in black women, according to an official from the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention.

Read the rest.


And via The Griot

In recent years, it's become common to blame black men having secret and unprotected sexual encounters with other men while simultaneously sleeping with their female partners for the rise in HIV among heterosexual black women. I guess if it's been on Oprah, it must be true.

Not quite.

Read the rest.


And via HIV Plus

"We have looked to see what proportion of infections is coming from male partners who are bisexual and found there are actually relatively few," says Kevin Fenton, MD, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. "More are male partners who are having female partners and are injecting drugs or using drugs or have some other risks that may put those female partners at risk of acquiring HIV."

Read the rest.

Black Manhood, Same Gender Love, and Civil Rights

Often when I have these discussions in the Black community, someone gets up talking about reproduction. To reproduce or to not reproduce being the measure of who deserves the most rights or respect. This is not logical because most sex that people have, including heterosexual sex, is not to reproduce.

-- Cleo Manago, founder AmASSI Health & Cultural Centers

Read the article on Echelon.

Prepping for a prevention trial, and unexpected homophobia

Prepping for a PrEP trial
Critical observations before the study even begins
via Positively Aware, by Keith R. Green

I asked him how he addressed homosexuality during his church prevention work. His response made my head spin.

I recently accepted a position as Project Director for a research study designed to assess the initial acceptability and feasibility of a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trial among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in Chicago.

The concept of PrEP, in a nutshell, involves administering medications used in the treatment of HIV (particularly Viread or Truvada at this point) to “high risk” HIV-negative individuals, in hopes of preventing transmission of the virus. Several PrEP trials are currently underway across the globe, many of which will likely demonstrate the efficacy of both Viread and Truvada as biomedical interventions for the prevention of HIV.

Though young men who have sex with men, particularly those of color, continue to contract HIV at alarming rates, these current trials ironically have very few young men enrolled in them. Therefore, if in fact these studies are able to prove the effectiveness of PrEP, we will know very little about its implementation within the population that could benefit most from this technology. The PrEP study that I am involved with seeks to provide some insight into this.

For this study, we will attempt to recruit 99 YMSM between the ages of 18 and 22, and to follow them for six months.

There are three separate arms in the study. All participants will go through an intensive evidence-based behavioral intervention and then be randomized to one of three groups. One group will receive once-daily Truvada, another group will receive a placebo (or sugar pill), and yet another group will receive nothing. Participants will be regularly monitored for HIV seroconversion, behavioral disinhibition (getting buck wild sexually because they feel that they are protected by PrEP), and any adverse effects (among a host of other things).

Aware of my search to hire research assistants who will largely be responsible for recruiting and retaining participants, a close friend recommended a friend of his for one of the positions. Trusting the judgment of my friend, I followed up on his recommendation and called his friend to arrange an interview.

Read the rest.

NEW CHICAGO DATA: HIV Infection Among Men Who Have Sex With Men

Chicago HIV Behavioral Surveillance, 2008
via Chicago Department of Public Health

Exploring Racial/Ethnic Disparities
in Levels of HIV Infection

Abstract

Background and Methods:
The Chicago Department of Public Health’s Office of HIV Behavioral Surveillance conducted a survey with 570 men who have sex with men (MSM) during 2008. The survey aimed to describe HIV prevalence rates, rates of unrecognized HIV infection, sex and drug behaviors and prevention utilization among MSM in Chicago. MSM were randomly recruited from randomly selected venues where MSM congregate.

Results:
91 of 524 (17.4%) MSM tested HIV-positive at the time of the survey. HIV prevalence among Black MSM (30.1%) was at least twice the rate of White (11.3%) and Hispanic MSM (12.0%). Despite observed disparity in HIV prevalence, individual-level sex and drug use behaviors (condom use, knowledge or partner status, etc.) did not differ significantly by race/ethnicity. Fifty percent (50%) were unaware of their HIV infection at the time of the survey. Many persons who were unaware of their HIV infection at the time of the survey had acquired their infection in the past year and were engaged in HIV testing and medical care at similar rates as other MSM. Among those who had not tested for HIV in the past year, fear of testing positive and conversely, perceiving oneself to be ‘low risk’ were the most common reasons cited for not testing.

Conclusions:
Levels of sex and drug use behaviors, and consequently, HIV prevalence rates remain high across MSM racial/ethnic groups in Chicago. Continued focus on individual-level risk behaviors and HIV testing will only have a limited impact on reducing racial disparities in levels of HIV infection. Rate of new infections among Black MSM, the background community HIV prevalence among Black Chicagoans, and MSM sexual mixing patterns may be contributing factors to racial disparities in HIV prevalence and need to be addressed in future research and prevention efforts.

Read the full report.