Health : Black Pleasure is Not Dangerous
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study in 2016 that declared that, if current diagnosis rates persist, half of all Black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States would eventually be diagnosed with HIV.
Inside the Black, LGBTQ community, the HIV narrative is far from unfamiliar—it’s taken the lives of many of our loved ones and continues to show disproportionate rates among our youth. But as we figure out how to curve these rates as a community, particularly as we recognize today as National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, there’s something that we need to ensure that we are not sacrificing—pleasure.
Within mainstream media, conversations about us and HIV tend to carry this notion of “risk.” Having condomless sex, multiple sex partners, exclusive sexual networks, and experiencing racism/homophobia are said to put us “at-risk” for being diagnosed with HIV.
While there is validity in learning about factors that contribute to higher HIV rates, at times I fear that we internalize these messages to mean that we ourselves, as beings, are “risky.” At the root of the homophobia that so many of us unfortunately have and continue to experience is a disdain for pleasure between individuals of the same gender—a disdain for the desire and longing that motivates us to identify as part of the LGBTQ community to begin with.
As a community, we should not see ourselves and the expression of our desire as a means of acquiring a disease—our pleasure, our love, and our livelihood exhibits a value inconceivably grander than that. Together let’s frame HIV prevention tactics as something to be considered in sexual decision-making, but not internalized as a reflection of our innate riskiness. As a community, it is pivotal that we authentically cherish and embody our desires (or lack of desires) not only as an act of self-love, but one of liberation.
To all the Black, LGBTQ folks out there, regardless of your HIV status, your pleasure is not risky.
The way in which you express love is not risky.
And, most importantly, you, as a human being, are not risky.
I want to hear from you all! How can we stay cognizant of vital public health information without sacrificing our authentic sexual selves? How can allies support us in this effort?
Marcel Byrd – Racial and Gender Justice Fellow, NASTAD
I just wish gay men, would, could adopt better policies of self-behavior, being more self responsible. What the hell, is wrong with being just a bit more reserved; why does every body have to “go all the way,” all the time, can’t you just, if, on a date; you find the two of you are in a state of “animal-attraction” just hand-job each other or something. You know you’re ‘not’ going to discuss Status of health during these moments, because, you’re ‘not’ in that state of mind.
I find the title & subtext of this article VERY offensive. fetishsises sex or romance with black men. This is a common practice im the states. In fact, I find the gay community in the U.S. HIGHLY RACIST! The fact that many, when challenged on this, become highly offended. Often i am told, “I can’t possibly be racist… I’m gay”. WRONG! It is pervasive around the country. I am European so I don’t have a personal interest in this… just making a keen observation. It seems we (humans) really do “become that which we despise”. In this case: BIGOTS.
I’m approached a fair amount of times by “Europeans,” too, my friend, for the simple fact of being black, and its about me topping them, just like in the good ole’ US of A, no difference really, you just like to think there is….
This is a incognito racial attack.
I don’t see it as an attack at all, Marcel Byrd, the author, is black himself and works for a health agency that helps people living with HIV (https://www.nastad.org)
I think he was talking more about from the CDCs standpoint, not the actual author of this post.
ah ok. It doesn’t sound racist to me, but I guess different people can interpret things differently.
I believe this study is the opposite — I believe it is the “internalized racism & internalized homophobia” which is causing ALL of us to not think before we behave: we may like the fantasy of a quickie, or hooking up with a handsome guy with out taking the time to use protection or checking our own status, but in the end we ARE responsible for the choices we make, even if we consider ourselves DL or just men who happen to have sex with men, which are both subtle ways of saying we are not comfortable with the labels which might necessitate that check-up or protection of both of our interests. I care about this community, and the health of all (including my black and AA brothers) so, it’s time to discuss the elephant in the room that the CDC happened to point out, to do less, or call them racist, misses the point of their efforts — this future estimation [50%] is avoidable
Mmmm. Getting fucked by black men is awesome!!! I love how they breed my asshole. Just globs and globs and globs of cum they can shoot in my bottomless pit!!
Will it also take a study to show that Black people who stand in the rain without umbrellas get wet?
The rates stated about people of color and HIV/AIDS issues are totally BIASED and shows racist tendencies!! I don’t pay thrm no mind anymore in my life!!
hooray, another “barebacking is ok” post!
I think you didn’t read it, did you?
This is just my opinion, but I think the problem with this particular piece is that it starts out by saying black men are statistically more likely to have HIV/AIDS. You follow the link and it shows a staggeringly high number of black men with HIV/AIDS to back up the claim … and it’s not even like a misleading percentage … there’s just … a lot of black men with HIV/AIDS (and, considering they make up about 13% of the US population, that’s a pretty big deal).
But, with this information, the writer doesn’t say … “Hey, know your status, stay safe, and be honest with your partners so that we can conquer this together” or something cheery and optimistic like that; instead, the message seems to be … “Hey, even though you’re black and statistically have a higher chance of carrying/catching an STD, you’re human with needs so go out there and screw around anyways.
“To all the Black, LGBTQ folks out there, your pleasure is not risky.”
– Writing an article about the high percentage of gay black men with an STD would say otherwise …
“The way in which you express love is not risky.”
– This is just a blatant lie. I don’t care what color your skin is, this is not even close to true.
“And, most importantly, you, as a human being, are not risky.”
– I do agree with this … STD or not, just existing as a human being is not risky. 🙂
What? If a much-higher percentage of black men have HIV, it does make having sex with them more risky, unless one is very careful. It has nothing to do with racism, it has to do with their community and social behaviors, and how they have sex. They perhaps need to learn to be less macho and more caring about their partners and themselves, which extends to all sorts of behavior. Reality is not racist. Talking about it is not racist. There are big differences between different communities, too. A black community in Philadelphia is different from one in the Midwest in some ways, or so I have observed. Unfortunately, the criminals and irresponsible guys make it worse for everyone else. Abusive, neglectful childrearing is one of the causes.
Unprotected sex with anyone is more risky. Being a black man does not increase the risk of contracting or passing hiv. Again, it’s not the skin color that is a causal link to hiv infection. The virus knows no morality, no ethnicity. When will we as a people wake up and realize nobody is exempt; everyone needs to exercise personal responsibility at all times?
Well you guys must be mentally ill because ya’ll can’t seem to stay out of their beds.
I have never met a black man that was not HIV +. This article is spot on and I believe it’s even being a little bit conservative.
Then obviously you don’t know many black men…
Right on Kyle. As quiet as its kept, as usual in the white community. Jason, I’ve never met a white man that wasn’t HIV+, filthy, dirty and sexually irresponsible. And I know a lot of WHITE men, so in short, what’s your point.
Lol wow, how many black men do you know??
Or he only knows one type of gay man.
This in itself, has to be one of the most ignorant comments I’ve seen here. You clearly have lost touch with reality and have drifted into the quintessential scope of prejudice! You clearly need to leave your bubble and meet other out in the real world. You’ll find that people, of all colors, nations, and backgrounds are as diverse as the lights in the night sky. Respect the journey of some, without also assuming that it’s the same for the whole.
That is by far the dumbest most racist statement I’ve ever seen on here.
… and yet another non-HIV+ Black man here. As the guy before me stated, you must not know many Black men.
Hi. We haven’t met.
i have never been and never have chance to be with black men , so i have no idea what pleasure you guys are talking about ………
i have no clue
As a young Black man living In West Hollywood . It really did bother me when every time I read a statistic it said black men are the biggest carries of HIV . I already felt as an outcast somewhat, and now this ? No one would want to have sex with me . Seeing those huge billoards and such shouting to me that I’m toxic – stay away . Really sucked , considering that I practice safe sex and I don’t use drugs . How could we all (black men) be reckless? Anyway, I decided to ignore those signs and labels and continue to love , play safe , be aware, and not let that get in my head space. And 20 years later I am still HIV neg and proud to black and gay. Thanks for article, I always wondered if those signs and stasistic botherd others , black like me .
Same. Ever since I was 17, I was afraid to be looked down upon because of this bullshit statistic.
Ok, but you what, I’m black-56yrs., old, HIV-, from Minneapolis where most of my friends, “white” died from aids. I lived in NYC (90’s) across the color spectrum, yep, you guessed it, they dropped like flies. I’m here now, in So, Flo., on many, gay sex sites. When they don’t list there status, you know what’s up. I see many white guys with these kinds of profiles as well as black guys, Latin’s, too. But, it’s true, there are a greater amount of black guys infected, like it or not, I’m info., driven, I keep seeing these statistics with in the inner cities. Anyway you look at it, its a war that is not being fully realized, but, just more fingers being pointed, this is not the answer. Hiv is a man made disease! The spread of it today, is the fault of gay men, whom are so very cavalier about this situation. I can’t even imagine what is going through the heads of these young gay black men: denial, poverty, nobody loves me, not even myself, my country, my mother (broken family) racist gay community, ect., there’s nowhere, that these young impoverished gay men can turn to, nowhere! So, what is the excuse of upwardly-mobile/affluent, educated white guys, for there ever rising infection, I’m just curious.
Black men must remember that racism and white supremacist indoctrination is a part of the gay community as well as in society as a whole. When white men become infected, they usually stop having unprotected sex with other whites, but transfer or continue sexing Blacks. Most dating sites, including A4A finds Blacks desiring sex with whites over other Blacks. A large portion of whites love black sex. In fact, the vast majority of whites do.
Jay02 you’ re absolutely right on money!
I think this is silly. Blacks as a whole in America makes up 13% of the population. Then you separate black men from black men…then take away straight black men, I’m sure that will leave you with a little less than 5% of the population, leaving the black gay community smaller than any other gay community by race. So it would only make since that it SEEMS as if the black’s are diagnosed at faster rate. But truth be told it is spreading at an equal rate between all races. The white race is just a bigger community, so it SEEMS as if it’s spreading slower. If you were to screen your a4a for those that are HIV poz or “I don’t know” you would not then likely see as many whites of not more claiming there poz status.
At the risk of further stigmatizing a vulnerable community, these are rates, not numbers. The size of a given demographic doesn’t affect the outcome.
Worthless article. If one focuses on evidence based science, we know that blacks as an ethnic group are the most likely to be infected with HIV and males are more likely than females to be infected with HIV. This is not a conspiracy, but basic science and it doesn’t focus on the individual risk of developing HIV and other STDs. For example, the best way to prevent HIV and other STDs is to abstain from sex altogether, but this is not a realistic goal for many. So for those who are health safety minded, monogamous or closed polyamorous lifestyles are the next best thing. If you want random sex, play safe and realize that contracting HIV is much more likely to happen with a sexual relationships from a black, homosexual gay male than from a white heterosexual female. It’s your life and you know what the acceptable risk levels are for yourself.
Hey everyone! I appreciate y’all taking the time to read my article and I wanted to address some of the things that folks have said since there appears to be some confusion. This article is by no means “racist” since the point of it is to encourage queer black folks to embody and take pride in their desires when we live a world that stigmatizes our sexuality partially because we are only brought into the limelight when discussing HIV. This is not to say that HIV prevention isn’t important or that we should not use condoms, PrEP, etc., but that we should not internalize higher rates of HIV in our community to mean that our sexuality, our desires, and the ways we experience pleasure are somehow sullied or inherently more risky than that of other folks. I would also caution against making generalizations or accusations about black men since that only plays into the stigma that this article is working to address. I’m happy to go back and forth if people have any questions!
This is sad. This article does nothing to shed light in the serious problem that is happening with black gay man. One needs to only look at the post or profiles here on Adam; at least 80 percent of black guys post are seeking unsafe sex. The new fad lie now is claiming to be on PreP. so to continue to have unprotected sex. It is sad because the largest population of people embracing this dangerous behavior are man under 26. And to be honest I have noticed a predatory behavior from older black man who are already HIV+ themselves. White man are also predators who take advantage of many uninformed young man seeking new adventures ( and a few bucks).
Sex is great, but we all know that it takes only one fuck to end up fucked upped!
To presume that one’s sensual pleasure is lost by not using protection is a horrible disservice.
The author of the article, by claiming “Within mainstream media, conversations about us and HIV tend to carry this notion of “risk.” Having condom less sex, multiple sex partners, exclusive sexual networks, and experiencing racism/homophobia are said to put us “at-risk” for being diagnosed with HIV”… believes that this claim is wrong; I however believe that it is true. We have the responsibility to protect ourselves first then our partners. Risky behavior generally end up with bad consequences.
Statistics don’t lie. But this site has become a place where these statistics have become a reality.
What we need to do is shame anyone that are making false claims that they are using PrePs medications and yet having unprotected sex. It is clear that either they are ignorant of the purpose of the medications of they are simply lying. The latter is likely most true.
Another factor that needs to be pointed out is the increased number of young black man and Latinos that have decided that a few bucks overrides any risks that may ultimately adversely affect their lives and even future.
The “down low” population particularly amongst bi-sexual man that often neglect safety may be a contributing factor in theses statistics. Don’t take me wrong, it is ok to be bi-sexual, (sexuality is not a choice) but nothing wrong with loving and caring while protecting yourself regardless of the role.
Attitudes about ones sexual role is also a factor. Cultural beliefs and societal objections are others.
I believe that “loving” a man, ( by loving I mean the act of sex) could be a wonderful experience that is far more satisfying when we are safe. But going back home wondering if I should have worn a rubber while I was fucking my guy or vice versa, sowers the moment of pleasure for a life time of pain.
Presume that EVERYONE is HIV+. Fuck like an ‘animal’ buy think like a man. Reason separates us.
Well, is everybody on here, aware that So. Fo., is once again, in first place for highest rate of HIV infection in the whole nation? As a black man, I once met here in So. fl., a white dude who wanted to mount me (shock, that NEVER happens) I knew there was no mention of his status on his profile, we had three dates, I REALLY liked him. I asked, “what is your health status?” he said, “I was going to tell you after we had sex.” You know what I could have done to him, in my mind.
You know, the thing I don’t like about dating outside of my race, is the exploitation…exploration is one thing and ‘if’ you’re capable of actually, loving the individual, but just using them, as gay men do period, with each other; just using each other for sex. There’s a lot, of wrong ideas/twisted ideas about how to live as gay men, that goes double, when it comes to black men as someone earlier has said about how “his black dates cum.” I just hope the younger gen., is not making the same mistakes socially, about black men; that my generation has done. Such antiquated ideas, social economics tends to create a divide as it is between black and white, that hasn’t gone away in this country. I fear it won’t, keeps me from not being a victim of being exploited= staying on the outside of it, I’m much healthier for it (body-mind-soul) loneliness is the only price I pay for it. There are many very, sexually active men here, that are just as lonely, is the saddest thing.
First off not all black men are poz. or have any other diseases for that matter. Sometimes I think the stats are racially biased. I doubt that the percentage is much higher in the black population, than any other culture. Viruses don’t have a racial preference. True some blacks and other cultures live in poor unhealthy conditions and can’t afford decent health care. Some of those people just don’t care, don’t take precautions, they don’t get tested etc. Look at how wide spread AIDS is in Africa. Poor living conditions, poor sanitation, lack of medical care, contaminated water and food (or lack there of) make them much more likely to get any type of virus or bacteria, including HIV. I am white, and have a really nice black friend that not only I hook up with for sex, but also have a good relationship with. He gets tested every 3 months, and has been negative for all STDs, He is a very nice honest man, and I believe him with all my heart. We have shared all kinds of stuff about our families, our jobs, where we have lived, and even info about others we have had sex with. I even feel more comfortable sharing my private info with him than most of my family. It doesn’t matter what color your skin is, hair color, eyes, height, weight, age, looks, nationality, language, or even someones health problems, etc, these are just things that identify us as unique. Every person in this world is unique and worth while, whether the person is homeless or super rich. We all need to care more about each other as a whole, and start helping and treating each other with our utmost respect.
James the post is written by a specialist, they don’t invent these stats for fun.
“specialist”? Where is this specialist’s crystal ball to make such a slanderous prediction about an entire ethnic group? Such generalizations are the essence of prejudice yet because it’s done in the supposed belief of “aiding” the persistent problem of HIV infection the hateful writing get a pass, are given some credence.
As for statistics, they are notoriously open to interpretation. In and of themselves, statistics mean nothing.
Perhaps so. But let’s not pretend facts are not created by some to maintain white supremacy.
Jay, ur kidding right? Our last name isn’t Trump
Yes, stats lie and omit some facts, ( i.e., variables, stimili) so if the specialist has flawed data, the results will be inaccurate. The numbers are clearly manipulated. Likewise, the depiction or thd face of welfare was African-Americans that Ronald Regean broadcasted; however, factually, whites received these benefits at much higher rates than blacks, but they failed to report that.
Now, what I will accept is that out of the new individuals being tested that perhaps African-Americans are testing at higher numbers, but that is misleading because that group was slow to get tested, and that needle is moving. So, this does not necessarily men that whites are any safer than afro- americans. Regardless, everyone should practice safe sex.
I wish the gay community would practice safer sex, period. I think bb sex porn glorifies risky behaviors.
study only shows that black men are more infected than whites is because,alot of blacks cant afford health insurance so we go to the free clinic for testing therefore their negative testings has to be put into the health department records …….while alot of whites have private doctors and private docs honor the patient confidentiality and privacy law and acts…..so whats in the public records get reported to the study
Is this the topic du jour? A prediction that eventually half the black men who engage in homosexual acts will contract HIV? How is such a prediction helping anyone, let alone the black sexually active audience the article castigates? Really, rather than a wake-up call, it will be used as a further reason to exclude black gay men from the gay political and social agenda. It’s hard enough walking into a room and being seen as a black man. Imagine the bias inflicted when walking into a gay venue and being considered as not only black but as diseased, a person and a situation to be avoided?
As a proud black man I find this article as a slap in the face to all black men. The article is very informative, fact driven and I honestly believe the stats are correct. My problem is that we need a balance on this site. I’m hoping in the next week or so a4a do a follow up article on the high rise of young, black gay brothers graduating from colleges and having great careers as Doctors, lawyers and teachers. Our young brothers are doing great things out there and are a valuable asset to our society. Historic Black colleges all across the US are steady graduating young energetic brothers at a alarming rate. My reason for responding to this article is that all gays participate in risky behavior. We all as a society enjoy sexual pleasures not just black gays. This article was written because black men are becoming infected at a higher norm than any other segment of the population; I get that. But we are not all bad and my point is more time and research need to be done to show that. A4A I’m looking forward to a inspiration article from you guys to empower us and make us proud. Our shoulders are broad enough to take the bad. But it’s only fair that we as proud black men get to read the good on here as well..
Another biased article to down the black LBGT community. I am a young 30 year old black male and I am hiv- and std free. This is contributed to not having sex with random guys. I consider myself to be a born again virgin and honestly speaking it is wonderful! You may question yourself why would he stop having sexual relations?!? Truthfully speaking I have seen a lot of people die from this disease and this includes blacks and whites being that I am a nurse. I believe taking care of yourself and valuing life you will be fine. TBH when I look through the profiles on a4a I see a lot of white men young and old who are hiv+ or Prep and it baffles me that people who have a neg status would put their life at risk for a little bit of fun. If the CDC and others would educated themselves about this type of behavior maybe as a LGBT community we can cut the risk of the disease from spreading.
After reading through these responses, I am more convinced than ever that white gay American men are -as a group- extremely racist. SMH
It’s statistically accurate whether you want to consider it some sort of racist agenda or not.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Pointless. FALSE quantitative data. Not qualitative. The gay “pig” culture is NOT predominately black and I think whoever wrote this knows it. We are living in a society where NO ONE challenges validity and reliability of any published research. People who make these statistics thrive on your blind faith.
You know, I don’t understand the push-back, as far as the info., given as truth, its something you can use ‘positively’ as a tool to protect yourselves, as well as others. Lets just “pretend” then, that it is racially slanted as slander by the CDC or whom ever; then use that, to your advantage…as knowledge = power.
The Black populous probably does have the highest rate of infection, factors being for LACK of:
education (we all know the more ignorant, the more violent, to them aids is GAY disease, not theirs-ect.,) health care = not knowing/believing they’re infected, drug usage.
It’s a matter of affluence and education and taking the ‘initiative’, to inform yourself. These black communities have no affluence, but, the info., is free!
Now, in the white gay communities/neighborhoods of affluence, they have sadly, afforded themselves more “opportunity” to be careless, sex/w no regard what so ever, thus, infection, inspite of their education of the fact. So there you the differences between the two groups of the infected.
Whether the statistics are grossly inflated or right on the money, we are still responsible for our own sexual health. It is very disheartening to witness how blithe this generation is with regards to HIV/AIDS, especially when they have access to information that many didn’t have when the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported back in 1981. They don’t appreciate how far we’ve come and that there was a world before antiviral protease inhibitors. I remember being a kid in 1985 when Rock Hudson announced that he had AIDS. I remember a time when people lost their minds because a child named Ryan White wanted to go to school like a “normal” kid. I remember in the early 90s, seeing people whose emaciated bodies were covered with Kaposi Sarcoma lesions. These were the times when people actually “looked sick.” I remember getting the news that friends of mine and friendly acquaintances had died. This generation doesn’t know what any of that LOOKS like, because many haven’t experienced those references. Fortunately, today the disease doesn’t carry with it the death sentence it once did, and HIV has become a chronic condition people can live with. However, in a time of massive information, there really is no reason for new infections. It is sad to see just how cavalier people have become. Yes, at the end of the day, people have the right to be as self-destructive as they want to be, but it is almost like a slap in the face to those who died, many of them bereft of hope, while waiting for treatment and a cure.
seems to me that HIV should NOT be COLORBLIND….not just an awareness day for ANY given group….should include US ALL!!! if men would stop being so promiscuous and stop lying these HIV rates would go down!