Gay reluctance
Why are gay men reluctant to test for HIV?
Australian gay and double attraction men who have not recently tested for HIV often believe that they have not taken enough risks to justify a test or that the psychological impact of a positive diagnosis would be too great, report researchers in the November 2008 issue of the International Journal of STD and AIDS. The researchers encourage health promotion interventions which would help men reassess their own thinking about HIV tests.
Psychologists Ron Gold and Gery Karantzas recruited 97 men at gay bars in Melbourne. To take part, men had to have sex with men, not possess been tested for HIV in the last four years, and never received a positive diagnosis.
Very few of the participants had a strong intention to get tested in the next few months. They tended to be well connected to the gay community, and two fifths had had unprotected anal intercourse with more than one partner in the last year.
Glossary
unprotected anal intercourse (UAI)
In relation to sex, a designation previously used to portray sex without condoms. However, we now know that protection from HIV can be achieved by taking PrEP or the HIV-positive partner having an undete
Internalised homophobia and oppression happens to queer , lesbian and fluid people, and even heterosexuals, who acquire learned and been taught that heterosexuality is the norm and “correct way to be”. Hearing and seeing negative depictions of LGB people can head us to internalise, or take in, these negative messages. Some LGB people suffer from mental distress as a result.
A general feeling of personal worth and also a positive view of your sexual orientation are critical for your mental health. You, like many lesbian, gay and bisexual people, may have hidden your sexual orientation for a long second. Research carried out in Northern Ireland into the needs of young LGBT people in 2003 revealed that the average age for men to realise their sexual orientation was 12, yet the average age they actually confided in someone was 17. It is during these formative years when people are coming to understand and recognize their sexual orientation that internalised homophobia can really alter a person.
Internalised homophobia manifests itself in varying ways that can be linked to mental health. Examples include:
01. Denial of your sexual orientation to yourself and others.
02. Efforts to a
The Living OUT Podcast — LOP058
“Gay liveliness speaks to the vitality that queer men possess, which is palpable but defies easy description.” — Raymond Rigoglioso
I believe that gay men contain a unique opportunity to openly hug their unique characteristics — in particular, their lgbtq+ spirt — to bring a balanced, empathetic approach to leadership, and to be leaders of evolutionary, humanitarian change. We might just be the much-needed bridge to control the misguide and toxic direction of “too straight” hegemonic masculinity that we see in major corporations and governments.
But aren’t we all just the same?
Some people scrutinize the value promoting difference and will suggest that we are all just people, and/or why can’t we all get along. It’s a good place to start, to accept others carte balance, but my suggestion is not meant to promote difference that creates division. I am suggesting helping same-sex attracted men live out their unique insights and characteristics that have come from their experience as gay men. In other words, I want to mark diversity, which challenges the status quo, but which affords creativity and innovation.
Joy invites innovation and possibility
In this episo
Gay P. Lord
Gay Patterson Lord, art historian, teacher, cat partner, sister, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, godmother, friend and expert giver of nicknames died on June 7, 2024, at her residence in Westwood, MA. She died of natural causes, and a general disdain for living with Alzheimer’s. In her last week, she was surrounded by her children and many beloved, new-found friends. She died as she lived, with fierceness and determination and a certain reluctance to leave the party. Daughter of John Thomas Patterson and Virginia Rockwell Patterson, Gay was married to Charlie (“Big Guy”) Lord for 60 years and endured, even thrived, through over 10 different domestic and international moves.
Gay Dwight Patterson was born in Dayton, Ohio on July 18, 1935. She attended Oakwood Elementary School, The Madeira School (1953) and Vassar College (1957) (BA Art). She received her Master’s Degree in Art History from Harvard in 1959. After completing her advanced degree, she worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Drawings Department under Curator Jacob Bean, who was responsible for beginning the Department at the Met.
After she married Charlie Lord, at a raucous and joyous gat