Throughout his years in practice he has noticed too many men taking risks, so he uses the time he has with every patient to teach about safe sexual practice and sexually transmitted diseases. But when he noticed how many in his New York practice were ignorant about basic facts concerning sexually transmitted diseases, he decided to write a book. Each day in my office I meet men with questions they have carried around for too long, either because they were afraid to ask or because no physician could answer them. I searched bookstores for a book to recommend but found none that dealt with gay sexual practices from a medical standpoint. My hope is that this book will fill a void in the gay community.
Drugs are the biggest barrier to safe sex.
Your high keeps you from focusing on safety and instead you only think about getting off. Gay men have also been listening to healthcare workers and activists preach safe sex for over a decade, and like background music, they are no longer hearing the warnings. It lulls them into a false sense of security with the idea that even if they catch the virus, it won't kill them. Young people also have not witnessed so many of their peers dying from AIDS as my generation did. HIV, herpes and venereal warts.