Congrats USA Over 1 Million Chlamydia Cases..

[wexy]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:24pm

We have something to proud of as Americans are contracting STDs at a record pace.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-STD-Rates.html

[shira467]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:27pm

Good grief.

[tazber]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:28pm

I knew we could do it! Congrats to all who helped out by having unsafe sex!

[Liverpool]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:30pm

hey taz, wanna go be irresponsible?

[tazber]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:31pm

Not wise Liv, I have genital warts.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:34pm

I've never been prouder to be an American.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:34pm

Love in the time of Chlamydia.

Updated On: 11/13/07 at 09:34 PM

[justagirl2]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:36pm

Keeping it classy, America.

[tazber]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:36pm

LOL SM!

[mauriposa]

Posted: 11/13/07 at 9:37pm

Ha, SM2! That was great.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:01am

I sleep alone in my own bed every night.
Depressing? Maybe...
But at least you know I don't have Chlamydia.
And that s*** is everywhere.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:40am

Updated On: 12/23/09 at 02:40 AM

[DG]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 2:42am

This is seriously distressing to anyone who has lived through what I consider a plague - only to discover that no one ends up caring about safe sex.

We failed.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 7:32am

And all those millions of dollars worth of abstinence education failed too.

[tazber]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 8:37am

As if there was any doubt

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 9:41am

All I can say is: You're welcome, f**kers!


BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 9:47am

Want me to sic Tubgirl on you again, 'boy?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 10:25am

This is seriously distressing to anyone who has lived through what I consider a plague - only to discover that no one ends up caring about safe sex.

We failed.

Oh for frack's sake. Seriously. For frack's sake. I took a dip in this thread to see what the temperature of the dialogue was going to be, and why am I not surprised to see the kind of moralizing that plays right into the anti-sex tenor of the times?

The person who actually nails what's going on is Roscoe. Others, however, take either a mocking "getting an std is tacky" tone, or float up above it all like DG, with his "I lived through AIDS and therefore I shall now pontificate as if I am some kind of fricking elder who knows it all" BS.

I'm sick of it. There is a sexual health movement in this country that has a very difficult time of it given the political era we're trapped in. Not long after W took office, mention of condoms was completely removed from the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (please note the name of that organization and think of the irony of the new boss telling people who care about such things that they can't do their jobs).

But instead of saying "We live in a time when health-promoting and life-saving information is restricted for no reason by know-nothings who are anti-science, anti-rationality and anti-intelligence'" so many here play right into the superior moral tone of the very people whose actions sabotage the work of people who understand that sex is a drive, more like eating and breathing than "lifestyle choices."

It's easy and cheap and very moralistic to say "we failed" when apparently we have no understanding of context and critical thinking.

Really pisses me off.

Updated On: 11/14/07 at 10:25 AM

[DG]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 10:29am

The 'we' I meant was the whole of society - not any particular sub-group. And I think we failed because of the very reasons you listed. I'm not 'floating' myself above anything - as I consider myself a part of that 'we'.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 10:30am

Yeah? Then what are you doing about it? You know, other than writing what appears to be a judgmental post and then insisting that it's not?

[DG]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 10:37am

All I do is give money to charities - and honestly, I couldn't tell you what they do, or how effective they are. It's the perfect example of doing something to assuage guilt, rather than to achieve any positive goal.

Hence, my failure. I gave up saying, "But at least I give money" a long time ago.

And honestly, Namo, I'm not sure what it is about my post that disturbs you so much. It IS distressing - and that distress is exacerbated by having an awareness of the past. And the 'judgement' is of a collective - no assigning of blame. But if you read that as something negative, I'm sorry - it's not intended.

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 10:47am

I will tell you what I found distressing about you post, DG. It was conflating the plague that is HIV/AIDS with these other diseases.

A couple of years ago, after I took an HIV test which turned out to be negative, I was asked to participate in a discussion group of gay men who are sexually active but wish to remain negative. During those 10 weeks at the Callen/Lorde Center in NYC, nine of us discussed sex, love, intimacy and the risks we take when we engage in sexual encounters. It was utterly beneficial to me because it helped me establish boundaries and gave me very real information regarding HIV and other diseases. It was with this information that I was able to make choices based on what risks with which I'm comfortable. I decided, for myself, that there are certain acts that may expose me to things like the diseases listed in the article that I was willing to take. And it gave me the information to protect myself as fully as possible against diseases I wasn't willing to risk getting.

I guess what bothered me about your post was that it was emotionally reactionary, rather than logically reasoned. And that's ok. We all do it. But I think there is far more information available to people about disease and sexual acts that would allow them to live full, exciting sex lives without feeling guilty or shamed. Or like they're taking their lives in their hands every time a part of their anatomy become engorged.

[DG]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 10:55am

Ok, I'll buy that. In my ignorance, I just assumed that if the awareness and message of how to protect yourself (as much as possible, anyway) had gotten out effectively, then these statistics wouldn't be pointing in this direction. I really didn't intend to equate diseases, I just associate the safe-sex movement with that particular thing.

I certainly didn't mean for it to come across as a 'why, oh why, aren't they just not having sex to stay safe!' kind of thing. I've never agreed with that approach. Never.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 10:55am

But I think there is far more information available to people about disease and sexual acts that would allow them to live full, exciting sex lives without feeling guilty or shamed.

The information is there, but reactionaries prevent access to it. There are not diseases that come with values attached to them. Chlamydia is a bacteria. Getting it is no more or less "moral" than catching a cold.

I guess what bothered me about your post was that it was emotionally reactionary, rather than logically reasoned. And that's ok. We all do it.

That to me is the failure. When an out gay man goes the "tsk-tsk" knee-jerk route, I find it way more frustrating than the Chlamydia report. Because I read that report and thought, "What needs to be done to solve that?" I read DG's post and thought, "Ugh, this is hopeless."

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/14/07 at 10:58am

True. And the fact that it took me to age 27 to truly investigate and learn healthy ways to negotiate my sex life is utterly ridiculous.