Why are gay and bisexual men not aware?

[DG]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:40pm

As a gay man in 'his maturity', I just can't wrap my head around those who aren't aware. There's too much info out there.

This has to be a choice - or an unconscious condition.

And if that's the case, then what's the point of trying anymore?

Los Angeles Times article. Updated On: 6/27/07 at 11:40 PM

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:47pm

Because the young think that they are indestructible.

And the Plague Era that we lived through is ancient history to them.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:48pm

Because the young think that they are indestructible.

I fully agree with that statement!

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:50pm

DG, the article shows that many are uneducated, not just gay youth. We try here to educate our kids about sex, but it is not easy! Thanks for posting this as a reminder of the issues facing many today.

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:52pm

Because the young think that they are indestructible.

I hear that statement every day, taking Driver's Ed and Health and all, but really, I've never felt more destructible.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:54pm

It's because young people are hard wired to be horny and have lots of sex. Yes, info is out there... but it's not always the first thing that pops into the brain when sexual opportunity presents itself. I personally work hard to override my geezerly, "What's wrong with the young people of today?" statements whenever possible. The most important thing is to encourage frequent screening and, when necessary, early treatment. That will do a lot more than tsk tsking.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:01am

I think that to a certain extent, these ads are preaching to the choir. That's not to say that they're unnecessary, but I don't think they really reach the people who can benefit most from them. Remember all those drug PSAs from the 80s and 90s? They scared the everloving s**t out of all the wrong people.

[DG]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:02am

We just spent time at the San Francisco Pride with two straight mothers whose teenage sons had just come out to them. We spent quite a bit of time at the PFLAG booth and gathering ANY free condom we could get our hands on! All of our mentality was geared around giving these young men the freedom to explore condom use - on their own, at first, giving them confidence and comfort when the inevitable arose (you should pardon the pun.)

Which made me hyper-conscious that the problem is STILL the environment in which teens find themselves - and the resurgence of the conservative mentality has not helped that AT ALL!

Namo - I agree with you completely - and I really don't want to come across as 'tsk-tsking' the youth. Honestly. But it is REALLY hard to fathom how all this info is not getting through!

I'm ALL for sexual expression - but I can't be blind to the message that's been presented for YEARS! What more can be done? Does it boil down to direct interaction, which I know is the focus of many?

Then we get into all the inherrent difficulties of gays being judged for wanting to interact with youth - cause God knows we couldn't POSSIBLY not want to rape, pillage and plunder.

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:05am

i've noticed that in my state, the kids from the hartford area are more aware of stds and hiv/aids than the kids in the ritzy preppy towns, like fairfeild. i've heard fairfeild kids at true colors tell me while i'm sitting at my aids project hartford booth that "things like aids" just dont exist in their town, which is not true.
my cousin didn't even know that there were people in the state of ct who were hiv+ because her high school didn't teach her about it and how to prevent it.

[WiCkEd BaCcHaE]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:10am

ok feel free to tell me to shut up if this is a dumb question but...

Why are the stats higher for gay men and not gay women? They mentioned Black and Latina women but not nesessarily lesbians.

Do not lesbians go through their own "gay adolensence" like gay men? As a lesbian with loads of gay male friends, in my experience, I would say the desire is near the same.

Anyone have ideas? Am I missing something?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:13am

Try to think of it as two brains. There's the brain that learns the facts. And the brain that wants to have sex. Now, sure, they're in actuality the same brain, but the more aroused the brain is, the more compartmentalized the knowledge becomes away from the brain.

That's why the smarter prevention programs try to engage on as many levels as possible. First, with the unaroused brain. And then in social marketing and other techniques, such as public sex outreach, that engage people as they move closer to the target of having sex.

"but I can't be blind to the message that's been presented for YEARS!"

That's fine, but, try to remember that about every three months or so there's a whole new crop of young people just coming into their sexual awareness, and these messages are BRAND new to them!

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:14am

So many issues!

DG, some of the Boy Scout leaders that I know are men that I would trust to teach my son or daughters. Others are freaks that I would not allow to touch my dog! My son would never be in the Boy Scouts for reasons beyond political, we do not camp!

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:14am

It's not just young people anymore, the area i live in has had a 67% jump in the last year alone. Most now seem to think well, it is no longer viewed as bad as it was.

The whole thing makes me sad and sometimes angry ( most people here in Australia have the drugs payed for by the goverment, at least 95% anyway ) so they are not that much out of pocket.

Maybe we need to go back to the ads of old "Will this root kill you"!

[DG]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:16am

"That's fine, but, try to remember that about every three months or so there's a whole new crop of young people just coming into their sexual awareness, and these messages are BRAND new to them!"

I do - I really do! But ANY publication I pick up, or any bath house I enter has LOADS of info involved.

I guess I just wonder where we're supposed to reach them.

Which leads us natually to school, and then . . . well, you know.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:22am

Like I said, the closer you are to the actual moment in which they're having sex, the better. Working out from that as the target in the bullseye, you go to the places they meet, the restrooms they pee in, the bushes they make out in. Working out from there, you advertise on the websites they go to and you engage popular opinion leaders in their peer groups. And at every point you advise them to have condoms wherever it is they MIGHT end up having sex when the animal side of their brains take over and they might not be thinking straight.

The fact is, a couple of the stds listed in that report are transmissable through skin-to-skin contact, and curable. And the rise in syphilis numbers could just as easily be the result of BETTER screening and BETTER response and more cases being found that would have gone undiagnosed.

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:27am

Like I said, the closer you are to the actual moment in which they're having sex, the better.

in our school system health class isn't until junior year, but kids are having sex by freshman year. some have already given birth before taking health class.
there is a sex ed class called "human relations" but you have to be a senior to take it.
they have health class in the middle schools, but all they teach about is sexual harassment and drugs. not that those aren't important, but you think they would at least talk about sex ed a little bit.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:28am

Ah Namo, you make me nostalgic for factsheets.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:31am

Which is, of course, one of the problems, PJ. There's factsheets and then there's rubber sheets. Which would YOU choose?

[DG]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:35am

"The fact is, a couple of the stds listed in that report are transmissable through skin-to-skin contact, and curable. And the rise in syphilis numbers could just as easily be the result of BETTER screening and BETTER response and more cases being found that would have gone undiagnosed."

I am in NO WAY aware enough to know this type of thing, so that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

While we were there in 'The City', there was a plane flying with a banner advertising The Steamwork's Baths 'Pride and Seek' Party - and I remember thinking that I hope they have enough condoms, in the place that the YOUNG people are going! (I just assumed it wouldn't be there.)

And I also thought that was a really clever name for their party

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 12:42am

I've only been to the recently-closed Steamworks in San Juan and the whole chain is really proud of the safer sex promotion efforts, well documented on pretty fancy wall murals. At first I didn't realize it was listing stats for the whole chain, when it mentioned a huge number of Asian outreach contacts I thought, "In San JUAN???" But it was including Toronto. I was in TO last month, but never went to Steamworks.

[Chita1933]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 9:52am

Steamworks closed in San Juan? Why? If you know...

[Kringas]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 10:00am

I asked similar questions in an AIDS thread a while back and felt as though I was getting a smackdown. I think most people should know better.

My question is why the title of this thread is "Why are gay youth not aware?" The article doesn't say anything about youth. I know plenty of people my age and older who are careless, take risks, or seem to be ignorant of what's out there and how it's transmitted.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 10:04am

I remember my teens and early twenties and maybe it's just me, but it wasn't just horniness that would prevent one from making logical decisions regarding sex. There was also a strong sense of sexual desperation. The younger you are, the shorter your perception of the future is, and this phase of near-sightedness mixed with the dawn of the instant gratification age, contributed to the thinking that "if I don't get it now, I may not have the opportunity again". The desperation increases exponentially in direct proportion with the perceived hotness of the pursued partner or in the lateness of the evening. Add alcohol and drugs, and you can pretty much throw any logical decision-making process out the window because you are dealing with a greatly warped perception of reality.

Now, I'm not generalizing here. There are those who are instilled with a strong enough sense of fear/maturity at an early age to keep a level head even after an evening of booze, pills, and horrid techno-house music. But in my experience, they are usually in the minority.

Updated On: 6/27/07 at 10:04 AM

[Chita1933]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 10:05am

It's a choice. If you have sex with someone today, 2007, and you don't protect yourself, what is that but a choice. I've frequented dark rooms, baths, beaches, tea rooms and porn theatres since I was in my twenties and have always made my own choices. Most of the time I chose to protect myself and my "partner(s)."


eta: my sexcapades did not include drugs except for the occasional poppers.

Updated On: 6/27/07 at 10:05 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 10:07am

There's factsheets and then there's rubber sheets. Which would YOU choose?

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Updated On: 6/27/07 at 10:07 AM