Andrew J on HIV
HIV is here, it is real, it is uncurable, and it is scary. It's a bitch.
All through our teens and 20s, guys my age were bombarded with AIDS prevention messages. "Wear a condom", "practice safe sex" . It was part of the Lord's prayer, an unwritten 11th commandment. It was on cereal boxes. It was on our driver's test. And in our SAT prep material. Most of us came out of the closet with those messages playing in the background.
And we listened to them, no matter how much we despised them. We rolled our eyes at them, as they soon started sounding like tired old radio commercials. Not to mention they made the already uphill ordeal of coming out of the closet even more uphill.
On the flip side, the messages saved my generation from what our gay friends 10-15 years older than us had to deal with: we didn't watch our closest friends die of AIDS or go to hospitals and funerals on a weekly basis. To us, AIDS wasn't a mysterious illness first called 'gay cancer'. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to be a gay man in his 40's or 50's today, during those dark, horrible years in the early and mid-eighties. Talk about heroes.
In my adult life, I have lost 2 close friends to AIDS. One in 1998, and one in 2002. Several of my friends currently live with HIV, and another is currently living in the valley of the shadow of AIDS. I have also watched with grief as a few of my friends recently sero-converted.
As far as I can tell, there are only 2 ways to get HIV: ignorance, and recklessness. The stories of many gay men who recently sero-converted seem to fall under the latter category. ("It was just once..."; "It must have happened when I was high"; "He was sooo hot"; "I didn't ask, I just figured he was negative..." ). I judge no-one, and think no less of anyone for a temporary lapse in judgement. Lord knows I've had them. I am merely striving to find a lesson for myself, and for anyone else who cares to listen, from the experiences of others.
And here's what I figure. The only way you can have lots of sex with lots of men is to play safe, and to keep it simple. And to stay informed and in control. Among my favorite sexual activities: kissing, touching, j/o. And of course, BJs. Since I enjoy watching cum spurt all over the place, I generally don't eat cum or cum inside anyone's mouth. Anal sex is on my list, but is very rare, and only with someone I've known long enough to trust them to be completely cool with condoms, particularly when we're in 'the moment'. 'The moment', when sexual passion and lust tend to impair judgement in the best of us. "Please, just this once, just to see how it feels?" No thanks, too slippery of a slope for me.
I am HIV negative. I am 'Poz friendly'. Like most citizens of San Francisco, I celebrate the rich heritage and diversity of our city, in which HIV/AIDS, and HIV-status diversity is a day-to-day reality. In particular, I am humbled by the strength of spirit of many people living with HIV, who, despite their personal battles, live exceptionally rich lives, and inspire me to embrace life, which, for a gay man, includes sex, and the realities of HIV.