When you hear the words “sexually transmitted disease,” AIDS probably comes to mind first. And it should. The HIV virus is still a major public health crisis: There are 1.2 million people with HIV in the United States, with about 40,000 diagnosed in 2015 alone, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Human Rights Campaign reports that HIV disproportionately impacts the LGBTQ community—55% of those living with HIV are gay and bisexual men (as reported in 2013). Studies have found that some transgender women have 49 times the odds of contracting HIV.
This epidemic has repercussions beyond physical health. Not only does discrimination make the LGBTQ community particularly vulnerable to HIV, the correlation can lead to certain beliefs about causation. The stigma surrounding the LGBTQ community and STDs/STIs is real, and it can result in greater discrimination and prevent LGBTQ people living with HIV from getting tested or treated. According to the HRC, “…anti-LGBTQ bias further enables the spread of HIV by discouraging many in our community from getting tested or treated for HIV for fear of harassment.”
LGBTQ people are having far safer sex than straight people statistically speaking
“It’s deeply troubling when 50 percent of African-American gay men are expected to get H.I.V. during their lifetime, but it’s also been a clarion call for all of us to improve on what we’re doing,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, the director of the CDC’s National Center for H.I.V./AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, S.T.D. and TB Prevention, told The New York Times last month. “What we have been trying to do is ensure that we’re having the greatest effect with the resources we’re provided.”
One sign those efforts are working: LGBTQ people are having safer sex than straight people statistically speaking, and they are learning quickly how to talk with their partners about sexual health and protection. Esquire.com, with the help of a third-party research company, conducted a study of 1,000 readers on, among other things, sexual habits and behavior. The results show that members of the LGBTQ community practice considerably safer sex than heterosexual people with regard to preventative measures and STI/STD communication. LGBTQ people are more likely to use protection, more likely to share with their partner that they have an STI, and likelier to use that info when making sexual choices.
Safer sex doesn’t mean less sex
Esquire’s survey found that 54% of heterosexual people never use measures to prevent STDs and STIs, compared to far fewer 32% of LGBTQ people. About 30% of LGBTQ people report always using protection, compared to 22% of straight people. The study also revealed that safer sex doesn’t mean less sex. Sixty-one percent of LGBTQ people have had 15 or more sexual partners, compared to 25% of straight people. The same percentage of straight people have had 1 to 3 sexual partners, compared to 11% of LGBTQ people—so it seems that, perhaps, LGBTQ people are practicing safe sex while simultaneously engaging in exploration with more partners than straight people.
The medical community has taken notice of this trend, too. “It is my experience that members of the LGBTQ community are more likely to utilize barrier protection than heterosexual people,” said Dr. David Goldstein, OBGYN at Kramer OBGYN and Associates. “This is most likely the result of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, which hit this patient population very hard. It was during this period that the need to use protection against sexually transmitted infections became engrained in this community.”
Only 11% of straight people have experienced a partner telling them to get checked for an STD or STI
But barrier protection may not be enough. After all, a condom can break, so it’s important that those with STDs and STIs feel safe speaking about their status openly. Not all do. While 110 million Americans have STDs at any given time, and half the US population is afflicted with an STD by the age of 25 (both according to the CDC), not everyone is discussing it openly with their partners, either due to stigma or because they are simply unaware of their STI-positive status. Indeed, the Esquire survey found only 11% of straight people have experienced a partner telling them to get checked for an STD or STI, and 10% have told their partner to get checked; this is compared to 32% and 27% for LGBTQ people, respectively. It’s important to point out the possibility that fewer heterosexual people are discussing STDs with their partners because they are statistically less likely to have an STD—the CDC reports that 76% of those with HIV, for example, are men, and 69% of those men are identify as LGBTQ. Still, consistent protection and honest communication are key to a healthy and satisfying sex life, whatever one’s risk-factor.
