For many years in America, the disease was regarded as a 'gay' disease and since at that time there was still widespread discrimination against homosexuals, little attention was paid to those who were living with the syndrome. And while the national and international HIV epidemic has developed, ironically primarily through heterosexual sex, attitudes to homosexuals have continued to be stigmatising and discriminatory.
Yet were it not for the American homosexuals who, horrified at the decimation wrought by the new disease, demonstrated against government and fought for treatments to be found and made available and for experimental drugs to be released early for use, today we would have very few treatments for HIV.
UNAIDS reports that men who have sex with men (MSM), a term which includes gay and bisexual men, heterosexual men who engage in male-male sex, and transgendered males, remain among the 'at risk' and neglected four key populations in HIV messaging and programming. This fact begs us to find how much is really known about homosexuality and sexual orientation.
