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We’re not about scaring you into a cluster fuck of worry that abstinence is the only true path through the gauntlet of this epidemic. It wouldn’t be practical, because intense fear of HIV is a distraction from taking a specific and realistic view of risk. It fixates gay men on an ideal of safety that nearly always feels elusive if you enjoy casual sex. But casual sex isn’t about “staying safe” anyway. It’s fun to live with a sense of adventure and excitement, the pleasure of discovery and the unpredictable jolt that comes from taking a risk and not knowing what will happen next. A friend recently told me about fucking a guy in the back alley of a bar. I mean, characterizing that as “safe sex” just because they used condoms somehow makes the sex sound boring. I’m not suggesting that everyone go fuck without a condom or that people not be afraid of HIV at all – just that sex is full of risk, not safety, and that’s part of what makes it so fun. A great infectious disease doc, Demetre Daskalakis, coined a better term than safer sex: smarter sex. It’s what we can now do, 30 years into the epidemic and looking down the road at the future - we can take information, access the menu of prevention options, and then choose what suits us to prevent infection and eventually end the epidemic.
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A Discussion with an HIV Counselor - Gawker
This quote is taken from a really wonderful conversation with HIV Counselor and Harm Reduction Coalition consultant, Bryan Kutner. Interesting conversation with lots of great questions. The discussion covers a range of topics from HIV phobia and stigma to basic and not-so-basic prevention to structural inequalities that are driving the epidemic. It’s a great little read.
