‘One in four straight men think they can’t contract HIV – I was once one of them’

‘I thought it was almost impossible for me to even contract HIV.’

For years, Allan Batcock thought HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, was something that happened to ‘other people’.

He’s a man, he thought. A straight man. A cisgender man. There was no way he’d ever be one of the 113,500 people living with HIV in the UK.

Then in 2010, he received a positive diagnosis.

‘I have only known this world for 15 years, but even in that time, living with HIV has changed massively,’ he told Metro.

Allan was once one of the quarter of heterosexual men who believe they cannot contract HIV, a study by the HIV test manufacturer Newfoundland Diagnostics last month found.

The majority of men also admit to never having tested for HIV, despite over a third (37%) having regular unprotected sex.

Of those surveyed, 34% believe they are unlikely ever to contract HIV, and 20% said they ‘can’t be bothered’ to test for the virus.

‘I was one of those people, and I come across people like that every day,’ Allan said.

Since 2022, the number of new HIV diagnoses among straight people has been higher than for gay and bisexual men; testing among straight men fell by 10% last year.

Daniel* knows this all too well. ‘I thought it was almost impossible for me to even contract HIV,’ he said. Daniel was diagnosed with the virus recently.

‘This dangerous myth of immunity is still around because HIV prevention messaging has historically focused on gay communities,’ Daniel added.

‘In all honesty, I’d say this widely held belief that HIV just doesn’t impact straight men ultimately led to my late diagnosis. I didn’t understand the signs or even think I was at risk.’

He added: ‘Before my diagnosis, HIV was something that happened to “other people” – gay men, people that used drugs, sex workers. I never thought it could happen to me as a straight man in the UK.’

The late stage of an HIV infection is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The AIDS epidemic that erupted in the early 1980s saw officials describe those living with the condition as ‘swirling in a human cesspit of their own making’, while newspapers dubbed it the ‘gay plague’.

Campaigners say that straight men not testing for HIV is an echo of decades-old homophobia, when the stigma of the disease and the fear of shame caused many people to avoid being tested.

‘HIV is a virus that can affect anyone, regardless of gender or sexual orientation,’ Frederick Manduca, co-founder of Newfoundland Diagnostics, he told Metro.

‘The misconception that heterosexual men are not at risk has led to lower testing rates and a lack of awareness.’

Allan and David pointed to the health campaign slogan ‘U=U’, or ‘Undetectable = Untransmittable’, as one way public attitudes to HIV have changed since they got their positive test results.

The phrase refers to when someone living with HIV has no risk of transmitting the virus to a partner because they are on antiretroviral treatment, which suppresses levels of HIV, called viral load.

‘U=U isn’t really understood in most of my circles of friends,’ explained David.

‘For my mates that do know about my status, I’ve had to explain a few times what exactly it means, how I can date women that aren’t HIV positive themselves and that there isn’t any risk as long as I take my medication.

‘My closest mates get it now, but it took a lot of difficult conversations for them to get there.’

Paul* was diagnosed with HIV 20 years ago. ‘I was in Lisbon with my girlfriend, and she got pregnant. We went to this screening to check her health, and the doctor said he wanted to speak with me,’ he recalled.

‘I thought it was strange, and he comes to me and says: “Your daughter has tested positive for HIV. So you need to be tested, too.

‘My girlfriend wept, cried her eyes out. We had a million questions.’

The couple flew back to their home in Manchester and doctors quickly wrote Paul an antiretroviral therapy prescription. The drug regimen was invented nearly 40 years ago and can sometimes be a daily pill or a monthly injection.

‘It was a shock,’ Paul added, ‘but life goes on.’

Paul, who is being supported by the HIV group George House Trust, says that talking about his diagnosis is not an easy thing for him to do as a straight man, especially when the men in his life feel it’s a ‘gay thing’.

Only his close family knows his status, he added. His colleagues, meanwhile, are ‘out of the question’.

Stigma around HIV remains decades on since the AIDS epidemic. Knowledge about treatment options can be patchy at best – only two in 10 Britons can identify the main ways people acquire the virus.

Efforts are underway to combat dated views that it’s only gay men who contract HIV. Last month, Sir Keir Starmer became the first G20 leader to publicly take an HIV test, which Metro was exclusively invited to.

Labour MP Kevin McKenna later spoke to Metro about how he contracted HIV while working as a frontline nurse in London hospitals.

‘I know people who think that way,’ Paul said. ‘Even now, after telling them it’s not true, it can happen to straight men and straight men – anyone – they don’t believe even what the doctors are saying about HIV.’

People like Allan are hoping to change that. Living with his wife Marie, he attends local HIV groups and regularly works with charities to squash the stubborn stigma.

‘I am brash enough to educate as I go,’ he said, ‘and I have the full support of my family behind me in doing this education work.’

*names have been changed

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