Mexico, which is hosting the XVII International AIDS Conference, is having difficulty addressing HIV/AIDS transmission risks for men who have sex with men (MSM) due to social stigma there and throughout Latin America that force homosexual activity underground, The New York Times reports. While Mexico’s overall HIV prevalence in the general population is 0.3 percent, it approaches 15 percent among MSM.
Although the country has made strides in accepting same-sex relationships—including adopting a law in Mexico City that allows for civil unions for same-sex couples—homophobia persists, making it difficult to raise HIV/AIDS awareness among MSM.
“I’d say most of the men in Mexico who have sex with men will never recognize that they are gay or bisexual,” said Jorge Saavedra, MD, MPH, MHPM, an HIV-positive gay man who directs the Mexican government’s AIDS-fighting program. “Only if you go into in-depth interviews will the information slowly come out. It makes our job all the harder since there is so much shame involved.”
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gbfowler, Portland, 2008-08-13 14:30:53
Thought the anti-homophobia March in Mexico City was a movement in the right direction....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Okgs1jWgU
RZ, Washington, DC, 2008-08-13 11:26:22
Homophobia fuels the epidemic everywhere. When kids begin to have sexual feelings, if they feel same sex attraction, and they have learned that being gay is sick and evil, they lose all sources of social support and shame will lead them into unsafe sex in the dark with strangers. And it prevents MSM who also have sex with women from telling the women, putting the women at risk. When will we acknowledge that AIDS prevention requires a national campaign to reduce homophobia?
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
