National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Date in the current year: September 27, 2024

The initial cases of AIDS in the United States were a number of homosexual men who showed symptoms of previously rare diseases, such as Pneumocystis pneumonia or Kaposi’s sarcoma. At one point, the general press coined the term “gay-related immune deficiency” (GRID). Although it has long been proven that AIDS is not isolated to the gay community and that people of any sexual orientation can contract HIV, gay and bisexual men still remain a high-risk group.

From 2005 to 2014, HIV diagnoses increased in the US by 19% overall, but increased 6% among gay and bisexual men, driven by increases among Hispanic/Latino and African American representatives of the group. According to statistics, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men make up only 2% of the US population but more than a half of people living with HIV.

The main way of transmission of HIV among gay and bisexual men is unprotected anal sex. A lot of people living with HIV are reluctant to seek health services because of homophobia, stigma, and discrimination, which aggravates the situation. National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was created to raise public awareness about the group that is severely affected by HIV and to remind of the importance of safe sex and regular testing.