ABSTRACT
Walt Odets, a psychologist in San Francisco, uses the term "homosexualization of acquired immune deficiency syndrome" to describe psychological and social processes through which identities of gay men have become entangled with the identities of those infected with human immune deficiency virus (HIV). It is easier to overlook this phenomenon in HIV-negative men than in those who are HIV-positive because the uninfected men tend to be unknown. Many gays have lived a life unaccepted by heterosexual society and now being HIV-negative frequently put one outside one's own gay community. HIV-negative men may wonder why and how they remain negative when they engaged in many of the same unsafe sexual behaviors as the HIV-positive members of the community. The numerous hospital visits and memorial services feel relentless and endless. The fear of becoming infected by engaging in unsafe sex also raised a whole range of problems around sexuality.
