British Bug Chasers
Rebecca Camber
GAY men are deliberately exposing themselves to the HIV virus to get a "badge" of
belonging, a researcher claimed at Salford University today.
Dr Melissa Parker, a
medical anthropologist at Brunel University, said that gay men in London see HIV
as a part of the gay identity.
Many young men, she said, are not taking sexual precautions
because they want to get into the gay scene and HIV is a "bonus".
But the research,
based on interviews with gay men, has outraged AIDS charities who say that there
is no solid evidence to back these claims.
Dr Parker, who is studying sexual networks
and HIV transmission, also told the BA Association Science Festival at Salford University,
that traditional safe sex messages are failing to reach these vulnerable men and
criticised the authorities for being reluctant to address the issue.
Recklessness
She said: "Being diagnosed with HIV is a badge of recognition of being truly gay.
"There
is a sizeable number of young gay men new to the gay scene, exploring their sexuality
but wanting to belong. HIV is seen as a bonus.
"The prevalence of HIV in the UK among
men who have sex with other men continues to rise and, in part, this can be attributed
to the fact that HIV is being transmitted with a deliberate recklessness in the backrooms
of London's pubs, clubs and saunas."
Dr Parker told the British Association science
festival that several hundred men could pass through these backrooms each day, with
some individuals having sex with 30 to 40 partners on any one visit.
She called for
an effective intervention strategy to make unprotected sex in backrooms unacceptable
and unavailable.
A spokesman for the aids charity Terrence Higgins Trust, which has
a large office in Manchester, said that there was no real evidence to support the
researcher's remarks and their only effect would be to increase prejudice against
gay men.
10/09/2003
Source: http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/stories/Detail_LinkStory=67240.html
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