The Unspoken Death Penalty - Young Black Gay Males Lead In New HIV Infections

AJC: Young gay men lead in new HIV infections

TIm Ward (left), an HIV positive volunteer at Evolution Project, chats with
Antoine Bates as they package free condoms at the drop-in community center
for young black gay men between 18 and 28 years of age. Ward is among the growing
number of black gay men who account for 61 percent of new HIV infections in the country.

From The AJC story

After years of ignoring advice to get tested for HIV/AIDS, Ward finally submitted and in the winter of 2002 he got his answer.
He was 18 and HIV positive.
The news put him in the company of those who, experts say, make up the largest segment of new HIV infections in the nation: 13- to 29-year-old men who have sex with men.
In the years since his diagnosis, Ward has worked tirelessly to reach as many teens as he possibility can -- to warn them about the virus and against teenage sex and to teach them to how to protect themselves.
"That's what drives me," he said.
Thirty years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, gay and bisexual men of all races remain most affected by HIV in the U.S., said Tracy Elliott, executive director of AID Atlanta.
For instance, in 2009, he said white men accounted for the largest number of new infections -- 11,400 –- followed closely by black men – 10,800. In Georgia, there were 1,366 new HIV diagnoses in the same year. Of those, 49 percent were among gay men, with blacks accounting for 74 percent, whites 21 percent and Hispanics 5 percent.
“It’s frightening beyond belief,” Elliott said.