Abstract
This project was undertaken to explore and understand why men who have sex with men continue to be the largest total population of total HIV/AIDS infections and the highest rate of annual new infections. Men who have sex with men include men who self-identify as gay, bisexual, or as straight, but who engage in sex with other men, while keeping this practice a secretive or private behavior. The goal of this research was to discover underlying factors that cause this population to have the highest rate of new annual infections. Despite the knowledge of how HIV is spread, infections continue to occur among this population, and at increased rates among minority and young men. This researcher conducted interviews with professionals who work directly with patients living with HIV/AIDS. Findings included that HIV/AIDS is viewed as a chronic illness, not a fatal disease and that some men disregard safer-sex practices for reasons including a sense of inevitability of infection and because they love their infected partner.