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August 31, 2001
AIDS
Go Dan Savage. This week he makes a brutal commentary on the lax standards of today's HIV educators. It also alludes to a growing trend amongst gay youngsters (that's what I call 20-year olds these days) to have unprotected sex, and to even glorify it in "bareback" chatrooms, Web sites, and parties. Dan equates a partner of unknown HIV status insisting to have unprotected sex to an abuser. I agree totally.
Back when I was in my early 20's, we were barraged by HIV education at college. They went so far to try and scare the bejeezus out of us. When I arrived in DC five years ago, I would see HIV educators out at the dance clubs trying to scare the bejeezus out of us. I don't see much of either these days, and kids are back to barebacking.
Today, I appreciate the efforts of educators who scared the bejeezus out of me. It took that and a near miss with a partner in Wisconsin who later admitted his positive HIV status for me to wake up. Well, that and a case of crabs, which I got a couple times since. I was lucky to only have gotten the little fuckers, and not anything else since.
And don't forget, kids, but there's plenty of other nasty things you can catch while messing around. Here's Jimbo's attempt to scare the bejeezus out of you. Please comment if I missed something, or was inaccurate:
- syphilis: imagine flames shooting out of your penis
- yeast infection (men get it too!): yellowish goo coming out of your vagina or dick, that smells strongly like poorly-prepared bread dough
- herpes: imagine a second-degree burn, with oozing blisters, on your penis or in your ass. Said blisters come back for a visit every time you get stressed out
- crabs: like fleas on a dog, but you can't wear a flea collar forever! You have to chemical bomb your house and laundry to get rid of them. And you can feel them crawling all over you.
- genital warts: hard little warts all over your dick, in your ass, or vagina
- amoebas: sorta like diarrhea, but with really bad gas that clears out a party in a jiffy
- AIDS: imagine dying of a fungus infection in your brain, or watching your life drain away down the toilet as you shit blood all day
Posted by jimbo at August 31, 2001 2:19 AM
Comments
Thanks for the safe sex warning. Good to get the word out.
However, reading your descriptions of other STDs is not advisable first thing in the morning. I almost tossed my Cheerios.
Posted by: Bubba at August 31, 2001 2:32 PM
The colors. Jeezus.
I had similar scary teachings, and of course with girls it's coupled with pregnancy scare tactics. In a way it's too bad guys don't get pregnant, maybe they'd start using condoms more, especially since there's no sperm control pills. heh.
Anyway given the 85 person syphilis cluster that popped up in the news yesterday from LA, all linked to bathhouses, and back rooms *everyone* should be scared. Girls especially, syphilis often has no symptoms in women until it's practically untreatable.
Everyone should also have a gander at some of the disease vector clusters among gay men if you want to get a quickie birds eye view of what you *don't* know about your sexual partners past.
Wrap up those toys and cocks boys and girls, we want you all around for a long healthy while.
Posted by: jimbo at August 31, 2001 2:44 PM