December 2018 Issue #24 December 2018 Issue #24 CHRISTMAS | Page 117

GAY SEX SURVEY STATS
This echoes a pattern identified in the most recent Gay Men’s Sex Survey.
“The data from the Gay Men’s Sex Survey 2014 indicates that condom use among
HIV-positive men hasn’t changed much since 2010,” says Cary James of THT, “but it
does appear that condom use amongst HIV-negative men has declined and so has the
overall statistic for gay men.”
“In the 2010 survey, 35.9% said they had condomless anal sex with a non-steady part-
ner in the last year,” elaborates Ford Hickson of Sigma, who carried out the research.
“In the 2014 survey, 39.2% had.”
Breaking this down by HIV status, these figures were:
32.7% in 2010 and 36.6% in 2014 for men without diagnosed HIV (moderate increase).
64.3% in 2010 and 63.5% in 2014 for men with diagnosed HIV (no significant change).
TREATABLE, BUT STILL TRAUMATIC
“I don’t feel nostalgic for the days when there was no effective treatment for HIV. I lost
far too many friends at a young age as a result of HIV, and the effective treatment we
now have seems to me little short of miraculous,” says GMFA’s Matthew Hodson.
“But I don’t feel surprised that the motivation to protect yourself against HIV has be-
come less pressing when we have seen a shift from it being a death sentence to a
virus that is now very treatable.
“I do know some men who have been diagnosed with HIV and have largely shrugged
and taken it in their stride,” Matthew adds. “Far more often I encounter men who have
really struggled to come to terms with their diagnosis, at least in the short term. For
most, hearing equivalent words to: ‘Your result has come back and you’ve tested posi-
tive for HIV’ is still a powerful and traumatic moment.”
WORRIES
Sam, Lorne, Mike, Joe and Mike aren’t unusual in not worrying about STIs including
HIV.
Of the single HIV-negative men who mostly or only have bareback sex, 42% said in
our survey they’re not worried about HIV, and 43% said they’re not worried about other
STIs. However, 47% admit they do worry about becoming HIV-positive, and 48% worry
about picking up an STI – but despite these worries, they continue having unprotected
sex.
Some accept that becoming HIV-positive is an inevitable consequence of this choice.
“I enjoy anonymous unprotected sex,” says David, 27 from Manchester. “It’s bound to
happen.”
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