Young guys get HIV too!

After the response to last weeks blog posts on Barebacking and armed with the information from my age survey I have decided to make a post on HIV/AIDS a regular part of my weekly line up. The purpose is not to scare people away from sex, but with close to 50% of the readers of this blog under the age of 30, my hope is to raise awareness and offer information that will be useful to the young people who read this blog.

HIV infection rates are increasing amongst young people. It's no just your sugar Daddy's disease and part of the problem is that most young people think it will never happen to them.

Some studies suggest that the current infection rate is around 7%. While that might not seem very high thats 7 people out of 100 or if my 2 best friends and I hook up with 5 guys each then at least one of us will have been exposed to HIV.

One way that young Gay men try to lessen the threat of exposure is to have monogamous relationships. Most relationships start with partners having safe sex but as trust builds and guards are dropped condoms come off. The problem is that 25% of those infected don't even know that they are carrying the disease.

Until you have both been tested then there is no real assurance that you are both safe and even after testing you must trust that your partner is being "truly" monogamous or using condoms outside of your relationship.

Your best protection against contracting this disease is to always use condoms and lube when having

moreless