Do you think people are becoming reckless re: HIV?

[HansNZ]

From what I have seen there are drugs available now to treat HIV which can reduce the virus in the body to almost undetectable levels.

There is also much talk of an AIDS vaccine within 10 years (although vaccine doesn't necessarily mean cure does it?).

Do you think that this has made people less cautious because HIV is no longer perceived to be a death sentence?

 

[danielson]

yes and no

are people better educated about sex- yes

is everybody - no




i think promiscuity has been bombarded upon us in the media, but the safe sex aspect of it hasnt. and that may be responsible. i also think peoples perceptions of risk have always been low

one things for certain....i wouldnt sleep with a bar slut unless i knew i had protection, others might. however i would actualy need to learn where and how to pick up barsluts first

 

[musclebrains]

The incidence of unprotected sex is skyrocketing in America among younger people. I don't have the stats at hand but my partner is a public health scientist whose job is to measure behavior and design intervention studies in young populations. (He is also a guinea pig in a vaccine study.)

These people are not uneducated. They know perfectly well that unprotected sex can get them infected. Personally, I don't think you can explain the increase by use of drugs in recreational sex or by the idea that HIV is now a treatable disorder.

I think it relates more to the "official" attitude toward sex promoted by gay media, which has become quite conservative and sex-negative, promoting monogamy, gay marriage,e tc., as the highest virtues of gay life. This in turn leaves younger gay men with a sense that they can't talk openly about their "promiscuous" behavior and, consequently, they don't learn how to negotiate themselves as effectively in sexual situations. I've seen this repeatedly with clients.

The grandest example of this was the case of HIV-positive Andrew Sullivan last year. After making his name with the book "VIrtually Normal," an argument for the value of marriage and monogamy, he turned out to be advertising for unprotected sex all over the internet.

 

[dballer]

nice.... real nice.

 

[Julez]

People are definetly more complacent, in my experience. I am 28 and I remember 10 years ago there was all the hysteria about AIDS..... very few would fuck without a rubber- it was everyone knew someone that was dying with AIDS(I knew several).

Now, you goto the sauna's, the cruising areas and it is virtually the norm to do the barebacking thing(I even know a married guy that NEVER use's a rubber when he's crusing). I think now that the double/triple combination therapy's have proven so successfull, people think of HIV as a 'treatable illness''- much like diabetes.

 

[MtnMedic]

BwaaaHaaahaaa!! Ever see on those dating shows how those animals go at it after a coupla beers known eachother for maby only a few hours.....

 

[az_guy]

Most definetly. That is the reason for a web site called bareback.com. Many gay men feel that the newer medications make HIV more like a treatable chronic condition . It may well be for some long term survivors, but not all. In the midst of all the education and news reports about drug resistant strains, I guess the libido is more powerful than the brain for some.

 

[al1602]

Want to see something really freaky!!!! ? do a search on google about the "Bug Chasers" if i can find it i will post it. Talk about being reckless.... these people are nuts

 

[JerseyDevil]

Yeah I read something in a magazine called INSTINCT about "bug chasers". I myself couldnt understand why someone would actually try to get any disease. One "Bug Chaser" even told his story and how if he could take it back he would because of all the medication he has to take.