Getting "Pozzed"

[Queersetti]

Well, I couldn't find any links to cruises that actually advertise that neg men can be converted on board. However, there are several that advertise that they cater to the HIV-positive men, and their "friends and families." Seems like that would be as good as anything for a man who wanted to catch HIV, yes?

And may I introduce oujray, the newbie in our midst? He's the guy who first told me about all of this. He's not a regular at lit by any means, but he's been a good friend of mine for years. I asked him to pop in here to make sure I wasn't making a complete idiot out of myself, and to correct and flesh out what I was trying to say.

In the meantime, here are some more links to worthy (in my opinion) reading material:

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

http://www.thegiftdocumentary.com/

http://www.optionsri.org/may2001/articles/status_of_the_hiv_negative_gay_m.htm

http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php3?table=old&section=current&issue=2003-02-01&id=2744

http://aids.about.com/library/weekly/aa070401a.htm

There is a world of difference between events and facilities that cater to those who are HIV positive and the still unproven claims that there are cruises or other large scale events designed for the purpose of spreading infection.


Welcome, Oujray!

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

After reading this thread, i can honestly say that i am completely baffled. I have lost 3 very dear friends to AIDS..my closest friend was 24 when he died. The thought of someone willingly going out to attempt to catch this disease is sickening and frightening to me. If it is a known phenomonon within the gay community then i am even more appalled. The fact that i have never met anyone like the *bug chasers* described in the aforementioned articles leads me to believe that this is a miniscule group of gay males but even that is too much. I am glad this was a topic of conversation though i am honestly frightened by the thought that any body would knowingly put themselves into that kind of danger. Thanks everybody for sharing and for giving me something new to think about. Take care.

pet

 

[Luna_Wolf72]

After reading this thread, i can honestly say that i am completely baffled. I have lost 3 very dear friends to AIDS..my closest friend was 24 when he died. The thought of someone willingly going out to attempt to catch this disease is sickening and frightening to me. If it is a known phenomonon within the gay community then i am even more appalled. The fact that i have never met anyone like the *bug chasers* described in the aforementioned articles leads me to believe that this is a miniscule group of gay males but even that is too much. I am glad this was a topic of conversation though i am honestly frightened by the thought that any body would knowingly put themselves into that kind of danger. Thanks everybody for sharing and for giving me something new to think about. Take care.

pet

 

[Etoile]

Case in point. Nevada voted down same sex marriages. Now, if you are familiar with Las Vegas at all you know about our numerous wedding chapels. It would make perfect sense, and in fact would go right along with our freewheeling reputation, to legalise same sex marriages, perform them here (tax the shit out of them) and recognise them if they were performed elsewhere. However, the "Protect Marriage" act passed last year making all forms of same sex marriage illegal here. This measure passed because of the absolute hysteria stirred up by the conservative elements in this state (and please don't kid yourselves...Nevada is very very right wing) when it was suggested that Canada "might" be thinking of legalising it. Now quite frankly, I don't know how many gay couples were thinking of getting married in Canada then moving to Las Vegas but that is literally what they wanted to forestall.

I am just guessing here, but I always thought the renowned Las Vegas wedding chapels would be happy to perform same-sex ceremonies. You just don't get the marriage license part. I figured they'd be happy to take the money of any two unrelated adults. Then again I guess there wouldn't be need for www.GayChapelOfLasVegas.com if that were the case. Hmm.

 

[lorddragonwolf]

my wife's uncle is gay and has aids he will not date have sex with anyone who does not have the aids virus . he also tells anyone he dates that he is positive as well.

 

[Etoile]

my wife's uncle is gay and has aids he will not date have sex with anyone who does not have the aids virus . he also tells anyone he dates that he is positive as well.

That's good, very responsible of him.

I've heard of the same thing happening with those who have herpes.

 

[lorddragonwolf]

That's good, very responsible of him.

I've heard of the same thing happening with those who have herpes.

yes and if i am not mistaken there are dating services for both groups.

 

[69forever]

I got tested, because of previous unprotected sex. I wanted to know where I stood with my health, as well as any encounters
I would have in the future.

Being bi, the thought of getting HIV from a m/m encounter, and
then being with a woman who may want to get pregnant at some
future time, is out of the question. I'm fixed. But the virus would
still be passed on. I couldn't live with that.

I dislike raincoats. They are a fact of life. For someone to go out
and intentionally get HIV, then probably spread it intentionally.
That gives all of us a REAL bad time.

 

[Etoile]

Raincoats? Is that a euphemism for condoms?

 

[69forever]

Yes dear it is.

 

[Etoile]

Heh, okay, thanks. Was just checking.

 

[69forever]

Hate the damn things. They create an awkward moment in the
heat of the moment. Thought I didn't have to worry about that
after getting fixed. With my m/f encounters/relationships.

It's a whole new ball game now. lol

 

[MzChrista]

Yeah there are a lot of very disturbed people out there and there might be a few that would deliberately get infected but the idea that there is a whole movement or something makes my bullshit detector go off REAL loud.

 

[oujray]

Pozzing Nomenclature

Thanks for the intro, NemoAlia. The Gift documentary post was a good one--I think they're playing that at the OUT-OK film festival this year. It's sposed to be all about fetishizing poz-ness. I'm shit at saving links, but I have been searching around and have read some interesting stuff myself. The phrases I've seen used for this phenomenon/fetish are:

Pozzing
Conversion
Getting Bred
Gift-Giving
Bug Chasing

So if ya'll wanna know more just google one or more of those.

 

[Rhys]

I am just guessing here, but I always thought the renowned Las Vegas wedding chapels would be happy to perform same-sex ceremonies. You just don't get the marriage license part. I figured they'd be happy to take the money of any two unrelated adults. Then again I guess there wouldn't be need for www.GayChapelOfLasVegas.com if that were the case. Hmm.

That is the only place I know of that will do it and honestly, I have no idea where in town its located.

But, they broadcast on the net so I am sure they are around somewhere...

 

[Rhys]

Check that I do know where this is. Its the Viva Las Vegas chapel.

I suppose they are getting by on the Civil Union wordage. I know of no other wedding chapel that performs a same sex "civil union" in this town. Hmm. Something to look into just for fun!

 

[Cleopatra]

A few nights ago, I discovered a trend I'd never heard of before: I heard that in the gay (male) community (I'm not sure about gay women) some folks seem to think it's a sign of dedication to the lifestyle to become HIV positive. Apparently there are even cruises where non-infected people go to expose themselves to this nasty virus. As I would imagine, this seems to have caused quite an uproar. What gives?

First off, I, personally would change the wording from "nasty virus" to "death sentence".

Secondly, borrowing from Meatloaf. "I would do anything for love...but I won't do that."

I guess self-preservation isn't as strong a survival instinct anymore?

 

[Etoile]

Re: Re: Getting "Pozzed"

First off, I, personally would change the wording from "nasty virus" to "death sentence".

Secondly, borrowing from Meatloaf. "I would do anything for love...but I won't do that."

I guess self-preservation isn't as strong a survival instinct anymore?

That's just the thing, though. HIV and AIDS isn't a death sentence anymore. Thousands of people are living with HIV and leading happy, mostly-healthy lives. People think they can manage life with HIV or AIDS. Dying from it is a thing of the past, or something that only happens to those who can't get medications.

 

[oujray]

Death Sentance

Actually, that's a common misconception. While I don't really care for the term "Death Sentance" as it suggests that HIV/AIDS is a penalty for a crime, HIV/AIDS still does kill, and not only those that don't have access to current medications. The cocktails don't work for everyone, especially those with newer strains or mutations of HIV that are more resistant to the gallery of drugs out there.

 

[oh21]

Re: Re: Re: Getting "Pozzed"

That's just the thing, though. HIV and AIDS isn't a death sentence anymore. Thousands of people are living with HIV and leading happy, mostly-healthy lives. People think they can manage life with HIV or AIDS. Dying from it is a thing of the past, or something that only happens to those who can't get medications.

I'm not usually one to nitpick but I disagree with the statement that AIDS is not a death sentence.

Because dead or not, it really takes your life from you, I mean you become a slave to medicine, you literally live by a clock telling you when to take this or that, you cannot really have sex with anyone without worrying, you always have the thought in the back of your mind that you have a killer virus in you, I don't call that much of a life. Sure you may eventually learn to be at peace with it, but it's certainly never the care free life you enjoyed before.

There are still thousands of people all over the world who die of AIDS because they simply cannot afford the medication.

 

[oujray]

Reading Suggestion

Ok, with all this talk of AIDS as a "Death Sentace," I've got a book I'd like to recommend. Susan Sontag's Illness as Metaphor/AIDS and Its Metaphors. I dunno if it's just because I'm into semiotics and social theory, but I really enjoyed this and it's changed the way I think and talk about illness. I also think that the social impact of metaphor is the genesis of this whole "conversion" phenomenon. Here's an amazon link, or visit your local library!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...=sr_1_23/002-9763587-2976853?v=glance&s=books

 

[Etoile]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Getting "Pozzed"

I'm not usually one to nitpick but I disagree with the statement that AIDS is not a death sentence.

Because dead or not, it really takes your life from you, I mean you become a slave to medicine, you literally live by a clock telling you when to take this or that, you cannot really have sex with anyone without worrying, you always have the thought in the back of your mind that you have a killer virus in you, I don't call that much of a life. Sure you may eventually learn to be at peace with it, but it's certainly never the care free life you enjoyed before.

There are still thousands of people all over the world who die of AIDS because they simply cannot afford the medication.

The important part is that to the bug chasers, it is not a death sentence. They don't see it as a "killer virus" - who would contract something that you are 100% certain is going to kill you within a decade? I know that thousands of people are dying in Africa and elsewhere because they can't afford AIDS drugs, but they're not the ones we're talking about.

 

[Cleopatra]

For clarity - I didn't mean "death sentance" in the way of punishment for a crime. I meant it in the way of something that will cause your death. I'm not up on my knowledge of HIV cocktails, but from what I understand, people with HIV/AIDS still die eventually from the failure of the immune system. It may not be immediate, or even 10 years, but it's still something you will always have - and it *will* cause your death. I'm with Oh on this - it's not a way I'd want to live, but then again, I'm not in the lifestyle.

 

[brownhairedboy2]

What a coincidence.
This from today's BBC website.

Some disaffected gay men in London are deliberately exposing themselves to the HIV virus in the belief that it will give them a "badge" of belonging, a researcher has claimed.
The claim was made by researcher Dr Melissa Parker, a medical anthropologist at Brunel University.


Parker is studying sexual networks and HIV transmission in the capital and says anecdotal evidence from in-depth interviews is revealing deeply disturbing information about some individuals' behaviour.

Gay men in HIV concern

 

[ExistentialLuv]

All I have to say is

GET THE BUG SPRAY, THIS IS A SCARY SUBJECT