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Gay-on-Gay Shaming: The New HIV War

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53 Comments

Robert Schantz

Peter: Thank you for writing this wonderful article. I agree with much of the content. Unless the gay community begins to practice the mindfulness surrounding HIV/AIDS, then I believe the stigma will live on until a cure is found. I too was one of those that denied that I could be concerned about HIV/AIDS until I tested positive. Now I get it. Took me a while. Again, thanks. I hope one day to meet you. Robert

January 21, 2015

Chad

I asked all the right questions. I gave a much older man oral sex and did ask. I told him if he was poz i would give him a massage or hand job. NOt throw him to the curb He lied to me and at the end told me he was 70 and not 55. I never acted better than anyone and now i am suffering from really bad symptoms of spine and organ damage from associated inflammation. There is no excuse and dont say watch out phobes, i would never throw guys to the curb for a disease. But im dying from a 30 sec encounter

August 3, 2014

Alan Johnson

Thanks, Peter. Get this. I was at a bath house recently. I noticed on three occasions that men interested in playing left my room quickly after leaning into my crotch. I had abdominal surgery and resulting thin, crimson scar line below my waist. Drainage tubes left two hole-punch scars above my pubic hair line. In low light, I guess it appeared I had a staph infection or some other "disease-related" issue. It seems I now have a visible marker for illness. Do you think they were just turned off by the scars? I think not. I'm 52 now, living with HIV since 1999. I first paid attention to the virus in 1983. I remember ACT UP and all the courageous warriors like yourself. You made it better for us who tested positive later. Thank-you. Maybe you should start an advice column. I need help for terminal singleness. Bravo to you! AJ, alansokay@yahoo.com

July 25, 2014

Jereme Scott

Liked your article. I wish it would have been more direct and authoritative. We have a major problem with stigma, discrimination, and shunning around the world. But, in our own community? It breaks my heart. This is my 30th anniversary with HIV and I have seen a lot of things I scream about. But, you thought on AIDS fatigue is true and I don't see young people picking up the torch. Sad isn't it? Jereme Scott

July 16, 2014

uhhuhh

Getting to bareback HIV-negative men without their informed consent is not a civil right, no matter what clever rhetoric you try to sell it with.

July 9, 2014

robert

it's more likely that when this war is over there will be two kinds of people with HIV. 1. Those who managed to avoid being arrested for having HIV. And 2. Those in jail convicted and labeled a sex offender because their job did X lover claims they were never informed that their partner was HIV positive. In some states even telling your partner that you are HIV positive is no defense. Even if you use a condom and even if HIV is not transmitted you can still go to jail and be labeled a sex offender for the rest of your life. I live in a state where thank God the law reads the only way you can go to jail is to intentionally try to infect someone. I wish that were true in every state but it is not. Avoid the test avoid arrest.

July 6, 2014

Peter Staley

Thanks, Jeton. If folks want to trash the anti-meth activism I and others did in NYC in 2004 and 2005, please provide evidence of harm. Just saying it caused harm is not evidence.

June 30, 2014

Jeton Ademaj

how unshocking that daniel reeders continues his habit of willful distortion and strident, sanctimonious microaggresion. as a resident of Chelsea from 2004 to 2010 and active in the raw scene, i declaim loudly to this day that there was in essence a METH CULT in formation, a coalescing of a militant, organized effort to get guys hooked. to this day meth is the only street drug i've never tried, and only because guys so often tried to force it on me in myriad aggressive and obnoxious ways. when i finally saw the old US Govt propaganda classic film Reefer Madness a few years ago on HULU, it wasnt campy or shrill to me at all...it was a horrifically white-washed version of reality. *IF* one replaced cannabis with meth, that is! none of this would get any press, and that campaign was the bare minimum needed to start turning a tide of public consciousness among gays. driving meth use underground is far better than watching it become a dominant cultural force, and THAT was well on its way to happening. HIV infections piggy-backed readily upon that vehicle. to hell with that, and any enabling of it. NOW more traditional harm reduction has a chance at success and not be an absurdity...thanks in part to that campaign Peter was a part of.

June 30, 2014

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