App users engage in unsafe gay sex: survey

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

NEW YORK — A new survey on gay and bisexual men who use hookup apps such as Grindr, Scruff and Manhunt to find sex partners found that nearly half had engaged in unprotected sex, according to a Huffington Post report.

Conducted by New York’s Community Healthcare Network, “Zero Feet Away: Perspective on HIV/AIDS and Unprotected Sex in Men Who Have Sex With Men Utilizing Location-based Mobile Apps” found that although 80 percent of respondents said they were knowledgeable in how HIV is transmitted, 46.4 percent admitted to having bareback sex always, often or sometimes.

Responders who said they’d barebacked most often said sex didn’t feel the same with condoms, the Huffington Post reported.

The poll received responses from men in Australia, South America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S.