Transmission patterns vary by race/ethnicity.In 2017, Blacks had the highest age-adjusted HIV death rate per 100,000 – 6.6, compared to 0.9 per 100,000 whites. HIV death rates (deaths for which HIV was indicated as the leading cause of death) are highest among Blacks.19 Despite these declines, HIV was the 6th leading cause of death for Black men ages 25-34 and 8th for Black women ages 35-44 in 2017, ranking higher than for their respective counterparts in any other racial/ethnic group. 18 The number of deaths among Blacks with an HIV diagnosis decreased 8% between 20. Blacks accounted for more than 4 in 10 (44%) deaths among people with an HIV diagnosis (deaths may be due to any cause) in 2017.The latest data indicate declines in both the number and rate of annual new diagnoses among Blacks in recent years, including among women.14įigure 2: Rates of New HIV Diagnoses per 100,000, by Race/Ethnicity, 2018 population, 13 they accounted for 43% of new HIV diagnoses in 2018 (see Figure 1) and an estimated 42% of people living with HIV. Although Black Americans represent only 12% of the U.S.Today, there are more than 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S., including 476,100 who are Black.8, 9 However, given the epidemic’s continued and disproportionate impact among Blacks, a continued focus is critical to addressing HIV in the United States. Despite this impact, recent data indicate some encouraging trends, including declining new HIV diagnoses among Blacks overall, especially among women, and a leveling off of new diagnoses among Black gay and bisexual men.A number of challenges contribute to the epidemic among Blacks, including poverty, lack of access to health care, higher rates of some sexually transmitted infections, smaller sexual networks, lack of awareness of HIV status, and stigma.Among Black Americans, Black women, youth, and gay and bisexual men have been especially hard hit.population, Blacks account for a much larger share of HIV diagnoses (43%), people estimated to be living with HIV disease (42%), and deaths among people with HIV (44%) than any other racial/ethnic group in the U.S. Although they represent only 12% of the U.S.Black Americans have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS since the epidemic’s beginning, and that disparity has deepened over time.Note: “McInturff, Steve Book, Delaware O. Photo strip, undated, 35 x 27 mm, provenance: US, (image courtesy of the Nini-Treadwell Collection © “Loving” by 5 Continents Editions) Photograph, 1951, 121 x 83 mm, note: “1951” “Davis & J.C.” (image courtesy of the Nini-Treadwell Collection © “Loving” by 5 Continents Editions) Photograph, Undated, 96 x 67 mm (image courtesy of the Nini-Treadwell Collection © “Loving” by 5 Continents Editions) Cabinet card, circa 1880, 167 x 109 mm, provenance: US, The book, Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s (5 Continents Editions), is available online. When we see them as connected, we feel more whole, and that’s what love is about for many of us anyway. Seeing ourselves in the past is as much about being certain of our present and, dare I say, our future. What do images of men in love during a time when it was illegal tell us? What are we looking for in the faces of these people who dared to challenge the mores of their time to seek solace together? Flipping through the book, it wasn’t that I felt that I learned a great deal about being LGBTQ, but what gave me comfort was the feeling that we’re not going anywhere. While the majority of the images hail from the United States and are of predominantly white men, there are images from Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Japan, Latvia, and the United Kingdom among the cache. The collection belongs to Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell, a married couple who has accumulated over 2,800 photographs of “men in love” during the course of two decades. In Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s–1950s, hundreds of images tell the story of love and affection between men, with some clearly in love and others hinting at more than just friendship. Hunter” (image courtesy of the Nini-Treadwell Collection © “Loving” by 5 Continents Editions)Ī beautiful group of photographs that spans a century (1850–1950) is part of a new book that offers a visual glimpse of what life may have been like for those men, who went against the law to find love in one another’s arms. Postcard, circa 1910, 90 x 141 mm, note on front: “E.