Study finds the more sex queer men have the more likely they are to practice safe sex
The more sex gay and bi men have, the more likely they are to practice safe sex, a new study has found.
The study, carried out by the British Columbian Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, goes against the common misconception that men who are more promiscuous are more at risk of HIV transmission.
Speaking to CBC’s The Early Edition, one of the authors Nathan Lackhowsky said: “I think we hear that time and time again… ‘If people just reduce how many sex partners they have.’”
The men were divided into groups based on how many sex partners they had in the previous six months.
Men were asked about their behaviours and seroadaptive techniques they use to remove the risk of becoming HIV positive.
“It’s using knowledge of HIV status and HIV transmission to make a decision to alter sexual behaviours to reduce the risk of transmission,” Lackhowsky said.
The author went on to say condoms are not the only seroadaptive strategy used, but that just talking about partners’ viral loads was also useful.
“That research has shown us that [having a low viral load] basically eliminates the likelihood that someone will be able to pass on the virus,” he told CBC.
Further studies will look into practicing safe sex and links with mental health and substance use.
“I think we wanted to teach people that they could have sexually fully expressive lives and do so in ways that are safe for themselves and safe for their partners,” he added.
