Although the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of disorders more than 35 years ago, homophobia among physicians is widely prevalent.
Many specialists dealing with sexually transmitted infection (STI) patients are not immune to these feelings of aversion, even if they have experience with the larger spectrum of human sexual behavior and desire.
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Even today, homosexuality is considered aberrant and a danger to society in many parts of the world. Antihomosexual feelings, prosecution, and exclusion of homosexuals have led to undeserved suffering and threaten the health and well-being of many individuals, as well as society at large. Health care workers should do all they can to alleviate the vehemence and take a stand against homophobic attitudes and practices in society.
In the first part of this contribution, I shall address MSM as an epidemiological risk group for relatively newly occurring STIs like lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), hepatitis C, and multidrug resistant N gonorrhea strains. The second part is dedicated to STI related proctitis and STI-related diseases found often in HIV positive MSM, such as anal carcinoma and neurosyphilis. The final part concludes with recommendations to reduce the STI burden in MSM.