Is Homophobia a Factor in HIV Racial Gap?

I serve on the local Ryan White committee and the brother of one of best friends in college heads up the HIV/AIDS program at Eastern Virginia Medical School and, based on all I have seen and heard, the answer to the question posed in this post is a loud YES! In this area, other than the Kool-Aid drinkers at Pat Robertson's coven of crazies at Regent University and CBN, no one is more loudly anti-gay and homophobic than the local black ministers. The pontificate against every pro-gay piece of legislation proposed and worked overtime for their white masters at The Family Foundation to pass Virginia's vile Marshall-Newman amendment which wrote religious based discrimination into the state's constitution. The same cynical manipulation by racists occurred in the Prop 8 battle in California. The result? As is the case nationally, HIV/AIDS is an epidemic in the local black community - for BOTH men and women - and for the most part the black churches do nothing except rant against gays. These "men of God" are killing their own people and time and time again allowing themselves to be manipulated by the descendants of the segregationist of the past. It drives me crazy! Here are highlights on the problem from MSNBC:
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Among gay men in the United States, blacks are more likely than whites to believe that homosexuality is "wrong" - and these feelings might be contributing to the black men's higher risk of HIV infection, researchers suggest.
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According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2006 African-Americans accounted for nearly half (45%) of new infections in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Also, according to recent estimates, they account for a disproportionate 24 percent of reported HIV cases among gay and bisexual men in the U.S. The reasons are not clear. Studies have not found a higher rate of risky sexual behavior among black men versus white men -- but a range of factors are likely at work.
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Using data from a U.S. health survey conducted periodically since 1972, the researchers found that, in general, African-Americans were more likely than whites to report a negative attitude toward homosexuality. In 2008, 72 percent of black adults said that homosexuality was "always wrong" -- a rate that had changed little since the 1970s. Among whites, 52 percent expressed that view in 2008, which was down from 71 percent in 1973.
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A similar pattern was seen among men who reported having sex with other men. Of these men, 57 percent of African Americans said they believed homosexuality was always wrong, versus 27 percent of whites. When the researchers looked at the men's reported rates of HIV testing, they found that those who regarded homosexuality as wrong were less likely to have ever been tested: 36 percent, versus 73 percent of those with a more favorable view of homosexuality.
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This pattern . . . does raise that possibility, they say. For one thing, men who know they're infected with HIV are likely to change their behavior to avoid infecting others. Also, they're likely to seek treatment. According to the researchers, other studies have shown that black men who have sex with men tend to prefer other black partners - who would inevitably bear the brunt of any reluctance to go for HIV testing.
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Roque did agree that homophobia, in general, may be a factor in HIV transmission among gay and bisexual men. Men may be less likely to take care of their health, he told Reuters Health, "if they are hearing that they don't matter, or if they don't feel good about themselves." One issue, according to Roque, is the lack of positive media representations of gay and bisexual men of color.
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Even if the researchers' suspicions are confirmed, homophobia is certainly not the only factor to blame for the particularly severe burden of HIV in American blacks. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its web site that it is presently "conducting research to better understand and plan interventions to address the social, community, financial, and structural factors that place many African Americans at risk (for HIV) and hinder access to prevention and care."
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Once again, we see religion as a force for evil. One has to wonder if and when the black churches will wake up to the damage they are doing.