In the United States, more than half of the cumulative total of adult male AIDS cases are among men who have sex with men (MSM)(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2001). Even with an increase in reported AIDS cases among injection drug users (IDUs) and heterosexual men in the past decade, MSM continue to constitute the largest proportion of annually reported AIDS cases in this country. In the most recent CDC report, a total of 31,901 adult male AIDS cases were reported. Of these, the largest proportion of cases (42%) was among MSM compared with 16% among IDUs, 9% among heterosexuals, 5% among MSM IDUs, and 28% whose risk was not reported (CDC, 2001). A similar pattern exists in HIV infection rates among males. Cumulative rates of HIV infection for MSM exceed those of IDUs and heterosexuals (CDC, 2001). Even with new HIV infections, MSM are still the largest subgroup among males (CDC, 2001).

In the United States, however, the AIDS epidemic has had a disproportional impact on racial and ethnic populations. Today, it is people of color who carry the burden of this disease. In 2000, for example, the US AIDS rate among non-Hispanic Blacks was 57 per 100,000, among Hispanic/Latinos the rate was 22 per 100,000, among Asian-Pacific Islanders (APIs) the rate was 3 per 100,000, and among Whites the rate was 6 per 100,000 (CDC, 2002; US Census Bureau, 2002). As we enter the 3rd decade of this epidemic, MSM of color represent the largest number of persons living with AIDS in this country.