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Hey there Amplify readers....I have something that I would like to get off my chest. I do hope you all can help give good feedback about it....
I currently have a internship with one of the leading comprehensive sexual education advocacy groups in the US in Washington DC. My project entells that I do research on young men of color being heterosexual and their risks in getting HIV/AIDS/STI/STDs things like that. So through out my research I have come across some barriers in finding any concrete data into this topic. I started to wonder why that was. Why is almost everything you read about with regards to HIV/AIDS dealing with the LGBTQ community? I mean men aren't just having sex with men are they? For the men who identify as being heterosexual why isn't there much educational outreach to them?
One thing that I realized when meeting with my supervisor the other day is that in the gay community one of the top four things we are educated on/have to worry about it HIV/AIDS. I know this to be true because I am a gay man. On top of that I am a gay man of color, so my risk of getting HIV/AIDS has just increased. WHY???!! because there isn't much educational outreach to these communities. SO my over all question is, if I am a gay man why am I automatically educated about HIV/AIDS and the risks that it presents, but if I were a straight man I wouldn't really have to "worry" about it? I mean while doing this research ALMOST everything I find only deals with MSM (men who have sex with men). Where are the education programs for straight men of color and their risks in getting HIV/AIDS? Why isn't it within their top four things they should worry about in life? How has it been so engrained in the gay community but not the straight community or the ENTIRE United States for that matter? We are ALL at risk for getting HIV/AIDS so why not make it engrained in everyone to become educated about their risks in getting HIV/AIDS?
I random thought that I wanted to express. I would greatly appreciate feedback. Thanks a ton =)
