The San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center is starting a program this month with a $150,000 city grant that will help newcomers to the city find housing and work and foster a social network [in reaction to the perceived unwelcoming nature of the SF gay community]. That isolation can lead to depression, which itself can lead to substance use and abuse and risky sexual behavior.
A young man from a state like Kansas may feel safe having unprotected sex with people of the same age and reserving condoms for encounters with older men, because it seemed safe to do that elsewhere.
“That’s a harm reduction strategy, but there’s a higher risk in San Francisco than in Kansas,” says Jason Riggs, spokesman for the Stop AIDS Project. Nearly a quarter of all gay men in San Francisco are HIV positive, according to city and federal statistics. “Risk assessments and studies indicate that living in San Francisco less than one year is a predictor of high risk (for HIV).”
Popularity: unranked [?]