Get TESTED!- Page 6

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:20pm

Doodle...go check out the Shut Up thread. ..besides, some points need to be made again...and again...and again..until it sinks in.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:22pm

I was teasing dear...that's what the smiley face was about.

My post was simply to show admiration for Dreamer.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:22pm

When you date as much as I do it's best to make several assumptions: All men are gay until proven otherwise, all men are married until proven otherwise, all men are poz or have an STI and all men will eventually break up with you (he said, not jaded in the least and with a giggle).
Updated On: 11/30/06 at 01:22 PM

[Mamie]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:29pm

All men are gay until proven otherwise

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:30pm

Mamie... if you want to find straight boys, hang out with me. I have developed this talent for finding the straight boy in the gay bar.

[Mamie]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:31pm

I should go with you. I can almost guarantee that I'll turn 'em gay.

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:31pm

I found the straight boy on the cruise ship chorus line! What a waste of 20 minutes of flirting that was.

And as far as I know, he had no STDs, to keep it topical.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:34pm

Well, dont give him any, Calvin!

While not an official disease, it is sexually transmitted:

Amy Poehler as Brittney saying "crotch crickets" made me pee myself.

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:39pm

Nobody has to answer this but I'm just curious as to why one uses "POZ" as opposed to "POS" or "POSITIVE"

And, DD, I didn't know that you were positive. You really seem like a good role model, good for you!

[RobbO]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:40pm

here's a great resource for many of the issues discussed in this thread; remembering, of course, that hiv/aids does not discriminate based on gender or sexuality.
gayhealth.com

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:40pm

And a bitch to rid yourself of if you are of the hirsute persuasion. Sometimes shaving is the only way to go.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:42pm

trust me...shaving IS the only way to go...those damn little combs!


Oops!

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:43pm

There was a great article in the paper just two days ago about AIDS being the fourth ranking cause of death and QUICKLY rising to number three behind heart attacks and strokes. And still, most people don't care.

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:46pm

I think a lot of people feel like it's not their problem. I know plenty of straight people who feel that way and a frightening amount of gay guys who feel the same.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:46pm

AIDS currently ranks 4th on leading killers worldwide, if rates of infection continue at the pace we're on, it will claim the number 3 spot in the next 25 years.

10 years ago they expected rates of infection to be on the decline. Unfortunately, I think we've become lax, with awareness, education and precaution.

I am considerably worried for the current youth. They're not receiving the HIV/AIDS awareness education programs that those of us who were in grade/middle/high school 10-20 years ago received. To far too many of today's youth, AIDS seems like an old dead dinosaur and certainly not an issue that they even consider when entering into sexual activity. This is an issue that needs to come back into our schools and back into the forefront of the media. It's still out there, it's still real, it still kills and the only hope we have of exterminating it at this moment is to stop HIV infection before it starts.

I personally get tested for HIV and other STIs at least once a year, and that was even when I was in a monogamous relationship with my boyfriend of 6+ years. You can't be too safe, and it was covered by my insurance, so why the hell not.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:51pm

Well... lets bring into the mix the so-called bug chasers.

Yep, guys who want to get infected simply to "get it over with." The media has made it seem that HIV/AIDS is now a manageable disease, so they figure it's no biggie, pop a couple of pills a day, and they're good to go.

They're obviously not thinking that a) many people don't respond to treatment well, b) the virus strain you're infected with could be resistant to many of the available drug options, c) you have to take pills EVERY day, not miss a dose, d) side effects that can range from nausea to your body not processing fat correctly (due to the strain on your liver), lypoatrophy - facial wasting, when you lose fat in your cheekbones, and many more.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 1:59pm

DD, I think there may be a bit of bug chaser in some of the ostriches that refuse to deal with the existense of AIDS. BTW, there are many who chase so that they can have the same status as a partner. ER did a great eppie a few years ago dealing with this phenom.

Like many have said, live life as though you are positive, or that everyone you sleep with is positive.

BE SAFE! GET TESTED! CROTCH CRICKETS ARE NO PICNIC!

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 2:03pm

There was a big scandal a few years back regarding an article about bug chasers. I think it was Rolling Stone. If I'm not mistaken, the author fabricated a lot of his sources. I'll have to check.

Maybe I'm just more informed than the average joe, but while I'm always thrilled to see advances made with treatment, I've never thought HIV/AIDS was less of a big deal because it's more manageable. I read that a lot and I wonder, "Who are these people that think that?"

I'd also like to join the others and give you a thank you, DD, for contributing so much to this conversation. If more people living with HIV would be as open and "militant" perhaps we'd see more progress on the front to combat it.


Edited: Here's the article I was talking about.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939950/bug_chasers

And here's an article critical of the article

http://www.thebody.com/asp/mayjun03/lazarus.html

Updated On: 11/30/06 at 02:03 PM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 2:07pm

Threadjack!

*ducks*

Not Really!

I caught "Where Sky Meets the Sand" on Logo, about the history of Fire Island...it's a great doc, imo, and the part about the 80s had me crying, being a new New Yorker in 1984. Terrible and Wonderful times...when a community had to take care of itself...and did.

And it made me love Larry Kramer even more.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 2:10pm

I lived in Chelsea from 1983 to 1985 and they were indeed wonderful but terrifying times.

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 2:13pm

It is heartening to hear stories about the era (which was slightly before my time as a sexually active gay male) and the community spirt it fostered, not only between gay men, but between gay men and lesbians as well.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 2:31pm

"not only between gay men, but between gay men and lesbians as well."

and it forged alot of friendships with the straight community as well.

Some of that has eroded with the lessened awareness of AIDS within the community, but I believe the strength fostered is still just below the surface (and that's as Pollyanna as I will get today.)

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 2:32pm

Kringas - I have been made aware of a couple of 'conversion' parties.

[RobbO]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 3:05pm

i think no matter how safe i am or aware as i try to be, there's always that doubt as a gay man that it is inevitable to get hiv. recently i went to my family doctor (that i told i was gay years ago) because of a problem i have been having ever since my surgery in september. i love this doctor and the office, but after hearing of the reason for my visit, my symptoms, and looking over my medical history he said something to the effect of "well considering your lifestyle..."

it was like a slap in the face. so now he was making me think (rightfully or not) that the problem may be due to my being gay. and then MY mind always jumps to the worst case scenario.

it turns out that i just got a very common infection from the antibiotics i was on before, during, and after my surgery. but it's that nagging doubt in the back of my mind as a gay man that says, "when is it going to be my time..." coupled with some ignorance on the part of the doctor, i think, that always makes me wonder.

Updated On: 11/30/06 at 03:05 PM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/30/06 at 3:17pm

more ignorance on the doctor's part, Robbo...tho it's unclear what he meant by that weird remark.

I know that feeling well, but think it comes alot from guilt for me and many others. There is alot of guilt carried from being spared, in any situation, and when you have done the same risky things as a best friend, and they get sick and you dont, it's human nature to feel guilty about that.