About ACON

You Just Don't Know

One way guys try to avoid picking up or passing on HIV is by attempting to have sex with guys who have the same HIV status – either both negative or both positive. However, lots of guys get it wrong because sometimes you just don’t know.

Many of us make mistakes when we guess or make assumptions about HIV status and we can all take action to reduce the times that this happens.

If you're HIV negative and only have sex with other HIV negative men then you won't catch HIV from sex. The problem is you might be wrong because you just don’t know that the men you’re having sex with really are HIV negative.

If you're HIV positive and only have sex with other HIV positive men then you won't pass on HIV to uninfected guys during sex. The problem is you might be wrong because you just don’t know that the men you’re having sex with really are HIV positive.

It’s hard to know exactly how many gay men in NSW have HIV but we do know that between 350 and 400 people are diagnosed with HIV in NSW every year and over two-thirds of them are gay men or men who have sex with men but don’t necessarily identify as gay. We also know that there are more men with HIV in some areas than others, especially inner-city Sydney.

Many people think they will be able to tell if someone has HIV, but in most cases you won’t know for sure. There are no visible signs or sexual behaviours which will inform you that someone is HIV positive or negative, even if you’ve guessed right in the past. There are also many reasons why someone may not tell you their status, including the fact that up to 13% of HIV positive men don’t know they’re infected.

If you are sexually active and have taken even small risks in the past, the only way to be sure of your status is to have an HIV test.

This campaign provides men with specific detailed information so you can get the facts and help stop the spread of HIV.