A 2011 study of gay and bisexual men living in New York City found high rates of unsafe sex and high rates of drug and alcohol use.
The National HIV Behavioral Surveillance Study interviewed 510 men at bars, parks, gyms, and other venues. The men ranged in age from 18 to over 50, though 52 percent were between 18 and 29. Twenty-three percent were African-American, 39 percent were Latino, 29 percent were white, and nine percent identified themselves as “other.”
Of the 510, 448 discussed when they last had unprotected anal sex. Fifty-eight percent of the Latino men said they had such sex in the prior year, and 37 percent of all the Latino men said they had unprotected anal sex during their most recent sexual encounter.
Fifty-one percent of the white men said they had unprotected anal sex in the prior year, as did 51 percent of the men who identified as other. Thirty-two percent of the white men and 31 percent of the “other” men reported having had unprotected anal sex during their last sexual encounter.
Among the African-American men, 45 percent reported unprotected anal sex in the year before the interview, and 23 percent they had such sex during their last sexual encounter.
There is a correlation between unsafe sex and alcohol and drug use, and the men in this study were no exception to that well established relationship.
To read the full Gay City News article click here.