What are the biggest issues facing gay men in Malaysia today?
Raymond: Local HIV screening among gay men indicates that 10 percent of those tested in the past 12 months are HIV positive. We are also getting an alarming incidence of gay men being warded in hospitals with AIDS which means they did not know of their HIV status for many years and only found out when they got admitted to hospital with opportunistic infections. We are now conducting a venue based HIV prevalence study among MSM to ascertain the actual prevalence and to use this study to seek more resources to convince gay men to practice safe sex. Related to the increased rates of HIV in Malaysia is the widespread use of recreation drugs such as ecstasy during sex. We know that in many such instances, the use of condoms is often compromised or not used correctly; this has lead to higher incidence of unprotected sex among gay men. Coupled with the rise of group sex parties and bare-backing, the scenario for gay men in Malaysia is very worrying. The marginalisation of gay men in Malaysia
