Gay men said seeking HIV

[dArKeR]

MANCHESTER (Reuters) - A researcher says many young gay are flouting safe sex and trying to catch HIV/AIDS in their search for identity.

But Europe's biggest HIV and AIDS charity dismissed the claim, saying there was no evidence to support it and that it would only serve to further demonise gay men.

Melissa Parker of Brunel University said on Tuesday the booming gay sex pub, club and sauna scene in London had been growing since the mid-1990s, with unprotected sex with multiple partners the rule.

Catching the AIDS precursor HIV was not just a risk, it was a goal, she told reporters at the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/24by7panews/page.cfm?objectid=13390311&method=full&siteid=50143

Obviously Parker is a member of the Bush Crime Family but could someone tell me exactly where she fits in? Thanks.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Got a link ?

Interesting

[dArKeR]

3. Ooops, Sorry.

[lazarus]

2. link?

Link, please.

[LeftCoast]

4. Um, it's embarassing to admit

but it's true. Some gay men hate themselves so much that they do actually go out and try to become infected. It's called being "gifted" as in receiving a gift. It is a very small group of people who practice unsafe sex in such an aggressive manner, but they do exist.

On edit: clarification on the admission. Refers to the fact that I'm a member of the gay community, not that I am looking to get HIV.

[Doug Decker]

5. This is more propaganda , Parker herself...

said:

snip
Admitting she had no figures to support her claim, Parker said her research consisted of several years of interviews with a large number of sexually active gay men.
snip

This means she can't back up this statement with any accurate data. Sorry, this still doesn't pass smell test, no matter how many times it is posted here.

Isn't there some evidence of how studies can be done to prove one's own prejudices? Isn't that why we need reliable data, not the opinion of a researcher who doesn't even publish her data?

[arwalden]

14. It's Outrageous That This Type Of ANECDOTAL "Research" Is Given Press...

... I know of a lesbian who went and bought a gun for the sole purpose of committing suicide. Does this mean that ALL LESBIANS who buy guns are suicidal? Puh-leeze!

This is a non-story that's easily spotted for what it is. BIGOTED GARBAGE!

[Guirigui]

6. Didn't Rolling Stone Magazine . . .

. . . recently run a similar story? IIRC, much of the story was later debunked.

Found some links:

The original Rolling Stone article.

The debunking here or here, among others.

[Dookus]

7. yes....

does the phenomenon exist? yes. I'm sure some gay men try to get infected.

Is it common? No. Is it even worthy of newsprint? no. It's a purely right-wing attack on homosexuals.

[Doug Decker]

8. Thank you for posting this...

Great work.

And welcome to DU.

[tedoll78]

9. I've heard of this.

It's called "bug-chasing." HIV is also known as "The Gift."

...

[Paschall]

10. There's a new film out on this subject with that title

"The Gift."

HIV, like the plague, like cancer, has generated a lot of marginal beliefs and behaviors. Witness gay conservative Andrew Sullivan's declaration that the "epidemic is over" and his own bareback sex practices as exposed by Michelangelo Signorile.

http://www.signorile.com/articles/lgsull.html

[TeeYiYi]

12. I found this through Google . . .

Although much less common, there are some HIV-negative men who willingly bareback with other men who they
know are HIV positive (even when they know the risks). There are many reasons for this including:

1.Some men like to "live life on the edge," and get pleasure out of taking their chances. You can say that these men
are "sexual daredevils."

2.If a guys boyfriend is HIV positive, he is sometimes willing to bareback with his boyfriend as a way of showing
his love, even though he knows that he can become infected himself.

3.Some men do not mind getting infected, as long as they get infected only from their boyfriend. They see HIV as a
special way to further bond their relationship with their lover.

4.Positive men often have their own social circles and friendships. Some men allow themselves to get infected in
order to get into these social circles. Being positive can give some men a "sense of belonging." Some HIV
negative men have also commented that "people with HIV get all the attention, so why am I missing out?"

5.Being positive sometimes brings with it an increase in social services and benefits (housing, food, public
assistance, etc.). A person who is HIV positive sometimes qualifies for more social services than someone who is
not infected.

6.Some men simply do not care whether they get infected or not.

7.Some men think that if they get infected, they will no longer need to use condoms (not knowing about the
problems associated with HIV reinfection, or other STDs).

8.Some gay men are fatalistic. Some of them think that getting HIV is inevitable, so they do not try to avoid it.
Some men feel that trying to stay HIV negative is too stressful, and ultimately allow themselves to get infected in
order to "just get it over with." There are even some men who think that AIDS is "just part of being gay."

There are several slang terms you may sometimes hear related to barebacking:

Barebacking parties = group sex parties where condoms are not allowed to be used. There are different types of
barebacking parties:

a.all positive barebacking parties (where everyone at the party is HIV positive)
b.all negative barebacking parties (where everyone is supposedly HIV negative)
c.Conversion parties (see below)
d.Russian Roulette parties (see below)

Bug chasers = men looking to get themselves infected with HIV.

Gift givers = men with HIV who are willing to infect bug chasers.

The gift = HIV

Conversion parties = group sex parties where bug chasers allow themselves to get infected by gift givers.

Russian Roulette parties = barebacking parties with both positive and negative men. Negative men take their chances
that they will be infected when having sex with the positive men there. Depending on the circumstances, the
participants may or may not know ahead of time who is positive and who is negative.

Bug brothers = a group of positive men.

Charged cum or poz cum = semen from an HIV positive man.

Fuck of death = intercourse where HIV infection takes place.

More: http://www.thebody.com/sowadsky/barebacking.html

TYY

[NickB79]

11. As to the booming gay sex pubs

I would say that the increase in unsafe sexual practices could be more easily explained by the fact that the new generation of gay men has been lulled into a false sense of security because of the new anti-HIV "wonder drugs" now available, rather than being due to numerous gay men seeking HIV. You see people like Magic Johnson still alive after years with HIV, hear how he has no detectable HIV virus in his blood, and think he's cured. What they don't tell you is how HIV virus can still be detected in his fatty tisues (a newly discovered reserve of HIV virus that drugs can't reach) and will come back if he stops his drug treatments. Unfortunately, many of them also don't realize it costs $10,000-$20,000 per year for treatments in the US and that missing just a few of the 15-20 pills you must take daily could generate drug resistance that rapidly. They didnt have to grow up seeing their friends and lovers dying off of HIV like their predecessors in the mid-80's. And the cycle repeats itself.

[xchrom]

13. ok -- a little reality injection here

people fuck -- people fuck with condoms and without.
some years more people fuck with condoms some years fewer.
when it comes to sex -- you can't predict human behavior it's all over the map.
that includes straight folk as well/ plenty of them engage in non-safe sexual pratices -- and some always will.
that's why a search for a cure is so important -- as well as never letting up on the safer sex message. though -- being human -- i'm guessing even the safest amoung us is liable to slip now and then.

[piece sine]

15. a few more facts...

to add your otherwise fine analysis. The virus also hides -- or rests-- in brain tissue. Part of the effectiveness of wonder-drug Sustiva is that it penetrates brain tissues and kills (some) virus there. That's why so many folks on Sustiva can get dizzy or trippy...it's in their head! But at least it's working.

This concept of "buig chasers" is much bigger outside the gay community than within. I've yet to pair-up with another guy who wasn't totally careful and cautious about what we were doing. It's true the sex clubs are making a comeback and raw fear about HIV-AIDS has lessened, but its wrong for pundits to imply that caution has been thrown to the wind.

The problem with the Fab 5 and other sterotypes is how they mask the vast majority of the gay community who are less frivolous, more "every-day" hard working and profoundly less vain. We are tough lot, given the daily onslaughts of prejustice and jibes, but we soldier-on.

[Robb]

16. While the phenomenon may exist

I think defining it as a "trend" is more RW B.S....

Build up a gay boogeyman. Reminds me of (although not completely analogous to) the "Planned Parenthood puts holes in its condoms" crap from the 1980s.