Los Angeles Times - September 3, 1995
BETTINA BOXALL, Times Staff Writer

It is only the topic that is jarring--not because he is talking about sex, but because he is talking about sexual practices that he knows could eventually lead to his death. He engages in them anyway, simultaneously informed and oblivious.

He has agreed to forsake his boyfriend for an hour this Saturday night to take part in a national survey of young men who have sex with men. Echoing various other studies, the preliminary local findings speak to levels of unsafe sex that threaten young and minority gay males with new HIV infection rates two to three times that of their older, white counterparts.

Analysis of the partial Los Angeles County data indicates that about half of the 15- to 22-year-olds had engaged in high-risk, unprotected sex in the last six months. Testing revealed that 10% of the group was infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"Not only is that high," said Wesley Ford of Los Angeles County's HIV epidemiology program, but "these are kids with relatively short sexual histories. What will this [group] look like 10 years from now when they have another 10 years of sexual behavior under their belt? . . . That's scary. A lot of them are going to be infected."

Combined with concern that older gay men are also straying from the safe sex message they know so well, the high infection rates are stirring discussion, and to some extent, a rethinking of AIDS prevention approaches that recognizes the difficulty of sustaining safe sex over a lifetime.

Berkeley psychologist Walt Odets, one of the more provocative voices in the debate, goes so far as to argue that AIDS education has in many ways been a failure, offering a simplistic message that ignores complex emotional needs.

Precautions Ignored

The gay male identity has become so entwined with AIDS in the second decade of the epidemic, Odets contends, that for many, the mantra of "always use a condom" has become an empty chant.

"The issue is not to tell men to use condoms," he said, "the issue is to help men to clarify why they're not using them."

The reasons are many and varied. But ignorance is not, for the most part, among them.

Bobby Gatson, who supervises the team conducting the Los Angeles portion of the multi-city, federally funded young men's survey, says those interviewed can recite the rules of safe sex like a math table.

Certainly, Mark, the 20-year-old, is aware of AIDS. "I know no one's immune," he said.

"I think about it a lot when I'm out here," he said, sitting in a West Hollywood coffeehouse after giving blood (for an HIV test) and intimate details to the research team. A few feet away, the sidewalk is jammed with men strolling by, garbed in the casual gay uniform of a snug T-shirt and jeans.

"I wonder how many of these people are infected with HIV," he said. "I just keep my fingers crossed and hope it doesn't happen to me."

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