HIV/AIDS: How it Disproportionately Impacts the LGBTQ Community in the U.S.

By Laura Norman

History of HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, is a pathogen that prevents the immune system from functioning by attacking white blood cells. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. HIV reached the United States in the late 1970s and became heavily known, feared, and stigmatized by the early 1980s. There were several cases in which people who acquired HIV were discriminated against. For example, Ryan White, a teenager who contracted HIV through donated blood, was banned from his middle school in Indiana. This was during a time where people did not understand how HIV spread. There was also stigma surrounding the types of people that contracted HIV. Because a large sum of people that contracted HIV during the time were gay men (especially black and hispanic men), HIV was labeled as a “gay disease”. At the time, it was often referred to as Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, or GRID. Rock Hudson, a gay actor, announced that he had AIDS on July 25, 1985. He was not out to the general public before this, and announcing his diagnosis was essentially him “coming out of the closet” to the American people. While he unfortunately faced homophobic backlash, he also received a myriad of support from supporters and Hollywood actors. He passed away in October at age 59. His death and the death of countless others, including Ryan White, pushed the United States government to raise awareness surrounding HIV/AIDS, research the disease, and support patients and people in the healthcare system that are on the frontlines.

Current Impacts of HIV/AIDS on the LGBTQ Community in the United States

HIV affects every single demographic, but there is a disproportionate amount of cases in men who sleep with men, particularly black and hispanic men. Since the 1980s, more than 330,000 black and hispanic men with AIDS have died (CDC). 

HIV infections among men who sleep with men in particular have been stable, despite improvements in medical technology that can help prevent and treat people with HIV. Why is this? Ever since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, HIV prevention, treatment, and research programs have often been poorly handled and funded due to homophobia and the stigma surrounding sexually transmitted infections (Human Rights Campaign). 

Discrimination against LGBTQ people makes them particularly vulnerable to HIV because the stress of facing discrimination often leads to risky behaviors that make the likelihood of contracting HIV higher. In 17 states, there is no legal protection that protects transgender people from discrimination in the workplace. Therefore, many transgender women have to rely on sex work to make ends meet. The risk for contracting HIV is higher in sex workers because they have multiple partners and tend to “engage in unsafe sexual activity” (Hall 2016). Another reason that LGBTQ people tend to have higher HIV rates is because they are often neglected in sex education curricula. In general, sex education in the United States is very inconsistent between states and local governments, resulting in an increased rate of STIs and teen pregnancy in states with less comprehensive sex education curricula. Since the 80s, around the time when HIV reached the United States, sex education has been less focused on contraception, abortion, sexuality and gender expression, consent, and decision making, and more focused on abstinence, STIs, and the menstrual cycle (Scales). Only some states actually require sex and/or HIV education.

Even fewer states explicitly require sex education for LGBTQ students. Only 17 states and D.C. claim to have inclusive sex education in at least half of public schools (Gabriel, et al). Only six states explicitly require sex education for LGBTQ students. 

In fact, North Carolina law states that sex education programs must emphasize that “abstinence and a faithful, monogamous heterosexual marriage” are the best ways to avoid sexually transmitted infections (Hoover). Because of the stigma surrounding STIs in general, sex education in the United States is not the best quality. However, it is much worse for LGBTQ people because they are seen as an afterthought.

Conclusion

Homophobia and transphobia are often overlooked, and sometimes encouraged, within the communities, schools, work settings, and the government. People often use religion and personal morals to justify their beliefs, but the reality is that someone’s personal moral code should not justify discriminatory behaviors. Justifying discrimination only perpetuates negative stigmas such as the ones surrounding HIV. Therefore, It is important to normalize the existence of LGBTQ people, especially at a young age.

Works Cited

“CDC Fact Sheet: HIV among Gay and Bisexual Men.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 2019, https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/factsheets/cdc-msm-508.pdf.

Hall, Alexis. “Sex Workers and Stis: The Ignored Epidemic.” IQ Solutions, 22 Feb. 2021, https://www.iqsolutions.com/section/ideas/sex-workers-and-stis-ignored-epidemic#page  

History.com Editors. “AIDS Crisis Timeline.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 June 2021, https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/hiv-aids-crisis-timeline.

“HIV and the LGBTQ Community.” Human Rights Campaign, Feb. 2017, https://www.hrc.org/resources/hrc-issue-brief-hiv-aids-and-the-lgbt-community.

Hoover, Sydney. “What Is Taught in NC Sex Ed? State Law Promotes Abstinence, Heterosexual Relationships.” News, Wilmington StarNews, 27 June 2022, https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2022/06/27/nc-sex-education-promotes-abstinence-heterosexual-relationships/7625425001/.

Maranzani, Barbara. “Why Rock Hudson's Decision to Come out Marked a Turning Point of the AIDS Epidemic.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 30 Mar. 2021, https://www.biography.com/news/rock-hudson-coming-out-aids.

Movement Advancement Project. "Equality Maps: Employment Nondiscrimination Laws." https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality_maps/employment_non_discrimination_laws. Accessed 09/27/2022

Russ, Stephen. “Only 17 States and DC Report LGBTQ-Inclusive Sex Ed Curricula in at Least Half of Schools, despite Recent Increases.” Child Trends, 2 Nov. 2021, https://www.childtrends.org/blog/only-17-states-and-dc-report-lgbtq-inclusive-sex-ed-curricula-in-at-least-half-of-schools-despite-recent-increases.  

Scales, Peter. “Sex Education in the ’70s and ’80s: Accomplishments, Obstacles and Emerging Issues.” Family Relations, vol. 30, no. 4, 1981, pp. 557–66. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/584345. Accessed 22 Sep. 2022.

Morris, M. The Limits of Labelling: Incidental Sex Work Among Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Young Men on Social Media. Sex Res Soc Policy 18, 855–868 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-021-00603-9

https://www.stigmaindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/USA-SI-Presentation-Louisiana-2017.pdf