We all know about condoms, right? Well, what counts as safer sex in the COVID pandemic?
With hundreds of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 still being diagnosed in the UK, it’s not advised to have sex with anyone, but, you know it’s still going to happen, so how can you reduce your risk of infection, if you decide to hook up with someone?
Well, it’s pretty simple in reality. Wearing a face mask and not kissing, are just two things you can do, which will eliminate some of the risks, and just sex is thought to be safer than kissing. But, please don’t mistake, you are still at risk.
Two ways of reducing your COVID-19 risk
Matthew Hodson, the Executive Director of AIDSMAP, recently tweeted this advice, “Ways to reduce risk of getting #COVID19 during sex include: Wear a mask. Have sex by yourself.
Meanwhile, in the US, Doctor Demetre Daskalakis said that having sex in a mask was a “great strategy” in reducing the risk of passing on the Coronavirus. He also suggested that you could also try creating physical barriers which prevent face to face interaction but still allows sexual contact.
Speaking on 60 Minutes Doctor Demetre said, “the most efficient mechanism for transmitting COVID-19 is through droplets. So, if you’re going to pant and have heavy breathing, throw on a mask. It’s called ‘source control’.
“We’re still not going to give you a big green light for kissing. I wish I could. That’s probably a higher risk of exposure than sex.”
If you’ve not been hooking up with other guys during the COVID-19 lockdown and have had no sex with other people since March, now could be the perfect time to get yourself tested for HIV, says, HIV expert Matthew Hodson.
Taking to social media, Matthew, who is the Executive Director of AIDSMAP, told his followers, that if they hadn’t had sex for five weeks or more, that they could be confident that an HIV test result would be highly accurate, adding that the lockdown has created an opportunity to “root out undiagnosed HIV”.
If you haven’t had sex for 5 weeks or more then you can be confident that your #HIV test result will be accurate. Lockdown sucks but it’s a great opportunity to root out undiagnosed HIV, get it treated, save lives and prevent new infections. #TimeToTestpic.twitter.com/p6bzAaNkse
Speaking in a video, Matthew said, “lockdown means far fewer people are having sex, meaning that far fewer people will have just acquired HIV. This is crucial because people are at their most infectious when they’ve just got.
He went on to say that they were “already anticipating that the number of new infections will go down even faster than before”.
He added that we have the “opportunity to end new HIV infections altogether”
The idea is if everyone tests now and receives their HIV status by the time lockdown ends, that anyone who has newly acquired HIV can be on treatment. When people are “virtual suppressed” (UEqualsU) HIV cannot be passed on to anyone else.
Need an at-home HIV test?
The charity Saving Lives is offering readers of THEGAYUK a free at-home HIV Testing Kit.
Although it may seem that many health services might be running at a reduced capacity or you’re unable to physically attend NHS services, but Doctor Naomi Sutton took to social media recently to remind us all that you can still get sexual health advice and, if necessary, access medications and testing if you need them.
She wrote,
“The #NHS is still open! Please seek medical advice if you need it.
“Sexual health services are operating phone consultations, posting contraception, screening tests and medication when needed and seeing patients face to face where necessary”
The researchers interviewed 21 gay men who had recently been diagnosed with HIV in London or Brighton. Most of the men thought that a combination of factors contributed to risk behaviours and HIV infection.
Each year, more than half of HIV diagnoses in the UK are in gay and bisexual men. A new study paints a picture of the complex reasons, including chemsex, use of dating apps, childhood trauma and stressful life events, that are associated with gay men acquiring the virus. Because of the success of HIV medication in treating HIV and extending life expectancy, changing ideas about how serious it is to have HIV was also seen to be a factor.
Childhood trauma
Many respondents in the study described difficult experiences during childhood, including dysfunctional relationships with parents and bullying at school, which had long-lasting impacts on their mental health. A few men grew up in environments where gay men were highly stigmatised, which could result in low self-esteem. Some respondents linked such experiences with subsequent drug use. One man said,
“I mean it probably was the perfect storm you know, they [drugs] got me at a time…mid-forties when I wasn’t that secure, there were a few issues, I was looking for fun…it was an escape and it seemed at the time that it was…enjoyable.”
Drugs and apps
The researchers interviewed 21 gay men who had recently been diagnosed with HIV in London or Brighton. Most of the men thought that a combination of factors contributed to risk behaviours and HIV infection. Another interviewee said:
“The sex and the drugs and the apps all intertwined simultaneously and I can’t really say which one led to the other.”
Matthew Hodson, Executive Director of NAM aidsmap commented, “All too often discussion of HIV within the gay communities is reduced to gay men being somehow ‘irresponsible’. The reality is that gay men’s lives are complex and the reasons that gay men may engage in sex that carries a risk of acquiring HIV are complex too. The homophobia which underpins the idea that gay men are irresponsible, in itself, seems to have played a role in many men not finding themselves able to avoid HIV infection.”
Recent stressful events caused psychological distress for many participants. These included the death of family members, relationship break-ups, violent partners, loss of friendships and health problems. A number of men were exposed to multiple psycho-social risk factors and the combination could be devastating.
Valuing your own life
“I didn’t value my life… Because so much had happened and I’d been through so much in the past three, four, five years with…break ups and losing everything and emotional things and deaths and God knows what else, it almost becomes a bit “all my life has just been so crap anyway what’s the point, do I really care if I get it [HIV] anyway?”
Dating apps provided convenient access to multiple sexual partners for many participants, regardless of age. They could also introduce men to chill outs and chemsex.
HIV is managed by taking “a few pills a day”
Some interviewees, especially middle-aged men, talked about the shifting perception of HIV in the gay community. Thanks to the availability of effective HIV treatment and good medical care, HIV was widely perceived to be a manageable condition.
“Everyone knows somebody positive now and knows that they’re fit and healthy and they take a few pills a day…That’s a huge factor in why so few people use protection anymore…because it has become a treatable illness…I think it changed everyone’s risk calculations, because even if the worst did happen, it was no longer the worst.”
Psychological issues and drug use were often mentioned in combination. For example, a man in his forties identified the important factors in his HIV infection as:
“The drugs…but also depression because I didn’t care about taking risks…I gave up.”
When thinking about why gay men have risky sexual behaviour, the researchers say that individual factors (like difficult childhood experiences) are important to take into account. At the same time, we also need to think about the wider community and society. For example, some interviewees felt that recreational drugs were too easy to come by or that risk taking was normalised in some parts of the gay scene.
“Recently acquired HIV infection among (gay and bisexual men) reflects a complex web of factors operating at different levels,” says Annabelle Gourlay of University College London.
Matthew Hodson of NAM aidsmap added, “There is a wide variety of factors involved in gay men being vulnerable to HIV infection. HIV prevention can be most effective when it identifies the individuals who are most likely to acquire HIV, the times when they are most vulnerable, and the strategies that will work for them. A ‘one size fits all’ approach to prevention is not sufficient to deal with such complex needs.”
What happens when you go to a clinic? Well, if you’ve been taking drugs and having lots of unsafe sex, then you might be more likely be HIV+. The new play “The Clinic” explores this scenario, and so much more.
Not so much a play but more of a health education lesson, “The Clinic” is produced by David Stuart, the Lead Substance Use Advisor at 56 Dean Street (a London sexual health clinic based in the heart of Soho), and written by Patrick Cash (writer for QX Magazine).
We are introduced to characters that we may recognize and identify with, portrayed by a cast of London scenesters. DJ Stewart Who plays a sexual health advisor at the clinic; he used to be a drug addicted party animal but now he dispenses HIV advice and results to men much younger than him.
Then there’s the wealthy businessman (Matthew Hodson) who enjoys sex with young men and thinks that he can buy them his love and affection. He’s also in HIV denial.
Zacharian Fletcher is the confused young man, an extreme party boy who likes to go clubbing and take drugs, not necessarily in that order. He’s also into chillouts (orgies). And he’s got HIV. He meets (via Grinder) Damien Killen’s character, a young respectable guy who seems to have a good head on his shoulders, is handsome with a good body, who came to London only to somehow become HIV+. He feels like he’s no longer desired but now damaged.
Then there’s Shirley (Pretty Miss Cairo). She runs a Vauxhall beauty clinic which acts as a sanctuary for the drugged out boys when the clubs close.
These characters may not be real people, but they are composites of characters that Cash met and interviewed after 56 Dean Street commissioned him to write this play. He interviewed not just the people who work at the clinic but some of the patients as well.
It’s a bare bones production, played in the very warm King’s Head Theatre in Angel (take a bottle of water with you, and a hand fan). And the cast should be admired for taking part in this play. It’s difficult at times to hear some of the dialogue (Stewart Who seems to be muttering his words while Fletcher is so soft-spoken I could hardly hear him at all), but Hodson (who is perfect as the villian), Miss Cairo and Killeen more than make up for the play’s faults.
And as you enter the theatre before the play starts, you are given a glossary of terms referred to in the play. There were several words in the glossary that I had never heard of before, so I did learn something new by going to see the play ‘The Clinic.’
It’s a perfect setting for a gay play, a place where we’ve all been to.
‘The Clinic’ is now playing at the Kings Head Theatre in London until August 29th.
Shocking new statistics from GMFA’s FS magazine show that nearly one quarter of gay men who have suffered from depression have tried to kill themselves.
A startling survey in the latest issue of FS magazine uncovers the true extent of the effects of depression on gay men. Around 600 men, who identified that they had or were suffering from depression, were asked if they had tried to commit suicide and around 24%, nearly one quarter, said they had, that number increased to over half when asked if they had had suicidal thoughts.
Around 54% of gay men surveyed said that they had considered ending their lives, with self-esteem being the biggest contributor to their thoughts.
For those men living with HIV, 66% identified their diagnosis as the leading cause of depression and suicidal thoughts.
Simon, 36 from Oxford, is one of the many HIV-positive gay men who responded. He says: “I was diagnosed with HIV in January 2012. I was having lots of risky sex and I knew eventually it would happen but didn’t really care. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed that reality set in. I wasn’t ready for it and became depressed. It affected my job. It affected my social life and I became a recluse.”
Anthony is 26 and from London. He told FS that after his diagnosis he couldn’t handle it. He said: “About three months after I was told I was HIV-positive I tried to overdose. I didn’t cope at all with being told I had the virus. I thought my life was over and suicide was the best option. Luckily my attempt failed.”
When asked, what were the main reasons HIV-positive gay men felt suicidal or why they attempted suicide, 66% said ‘Living with HIV’ was the main issue with ‘Low self-esteem (60%) and relationship issues (39%).
“HIV remains one of the most stigmatised of all health conditions,” says Matthew Hodson, Chief Executive of GMFA. “Rates of depression among gay men with HIV are twice as high as they are among other gay men, affecting about one in every four men. And depression in men with HIV can lead to poor adherence, which can have a major impact on their physical health as well.
“Depression also has an impact on someone’s likelihood of becoming HIV-positive,” adds Matthew. “A recent study showed that men with depressive symptoms were more likely to have unprotected sex, and to have unprotected sex with several partners. Tackling the mental health challenges faced by gay men is crucial if we are going to reduce the high levels of sexual risk-taking and high incidence of HIV in our community.”
Ian adds:
“Gay men are just as likely to face the same everyday struggles straight people face on a day-to-day basis with the added pressure of their sexuality. For HIV-positive gay men the issues they faced were greater due to their diagnosis. The gay men in our new issue wanted to share their stories in a bid to help other gay men realise that they are not alone. The first thing to do when trying to fix a problem is admitting you have one. So, hello gay people… we have a problem.”
Last year helpline charity Samaritans revealed that 1 in ten male callers were worried about their sexuality.
The new issue of FS magazine can be read online for free by going to: www.fsmag.org.uk
If you’d like support Please call 08457 90 90 90 (UK) 1850 60 90 90 (ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find details of the nearest branch.
