Do gays use condoms
Some Gay Men on PrEP May Stop Using Condoms. Does It Matter?
When I talk to my adolescent patients about sex and sexuality, there’s a line I usually include in my patter. I tell them that they’re in my office for medical advice, not moral guidance. The questions I ask and information I give are for the purposes of keeping them shielded and healthy, not so I can pass judgment on their character.
Ironically, it’s when I include patients who are gay men like me that I sometimes need to keep any moralizing in check.
In , the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund and the National Coalition for LGBT Health noted the require for ongoing education and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Their guide specifically notes “People on PrEP may be less likely to use condoms, perceiving other STIs/STDs as easily cured despite the troubling rise of drug resistant gonorrhea.”
“PrEP” is compact for pre-exposure prophylaxis. It’s a regimen of two different medications that, when taken daily, can substantially reduce the likelihood of being infected with HIV for those at increased risk, inclu
Sexual health for gay and bisexual men
Having unprotected penetrative sex is the most likely way to pass on a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Using a condom helps protect against HIV and lowers the risk of getting many other STIs.
If you’re a man having sex with men (MSM), without condoms and with someone new, you should verb an STI and HIV check every 3 months, otherwise, it should be at least once a year. This can be done at a sexual health clinic (SHC) or genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic. This is crucial, as some STIs do not cause any symptoms.
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A is a liver infection that's spread by a virus in poo.
Hepatitis A is uncommon in the UK but you can acquire it through sex, including oral-anal sex ("rimming") and giving oral sex after anal sex. MSM with multiple partners are particularly at risk. You can also get it through contaminated meal and drink.
Symptoms of hepatitis A can appear up to 8 weeks after sex and include tiredness and feeling sick (nausea).
Hepatitis A is not usually life-threatening and most people make a adj recovery within a
In a recent episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season five – the makeover episode – year-old gay Switchboard volunteer and retired builder, Peter, said that condoms saved his life.
One might presume, correctly, that Peter was being questioned about his life during the s and s, when the AIDS epidemic tore through the gay community, in particular, killing tens of thousands in the UK alone.
“There were hospital wards full of gay men dying in the ’80s”, Peter told contestant Michael Marouli – with whom he had been matched with for the episode, “and so I used condoms and I believe that saved my life That safe sex message was drilled in the calls we took.”
Decades on, a drug now exists that the gay community of years gone by tragically could only dream of – PrEP.
PrEP stands for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, and it’s a pill that HIV negative users take daily (in most cases) to prevent themselves from contracting the HIV virus through the use of antiretroviral medicines.
As a sexually active, single gay man living in London, I can tell you that PrEP is hugely popular today. In f
In a new survey of sexual behavior, two-thirds (65 percent) of gay and bisexual men said they didn't use a condom the last time they had anal sex, with more than a quarter considering themselves to have a "risky sex life," including sex with partners who are HIV-positive.
The numbers, collected by the U.K.-based gay men's health charity Gay Men Fight Aids (GMFA), surveyed gay and bisexual men, asking them about the risk involved in their sex lives. Twenty-seven percent consider themselves to throw caution to the wind in their sex lives.
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Despite the majority admitting their last sexual encounter was without a condom, this did not always indicate unprotected sex was necessarily dangerous. Same-sex couples who are married or in committed long-term relationships may choose not to use condoms when having sex with each other.
"We all measure risk differently," said David Stuart, well-being program curator for 56 Dean Street, a London-based health clinic specializing in services for gay and bisexual men. "Some only associate