...Then this piece (which was brought to my attention in an adult forum I'm a member of) may change your mind: HIV-positive porn performer speaks out "...Burts, who grew up in Whittier and Hemet, graduated from Hemet High School and a hotel management school in Florida and worked as a hotel manager and cruise ship magician before becoming a porn performer for the money. He said he earned $200 to $800 for filming a straight scene and $1,000 to $2,000 for a gay scene. Looking back, he said he wishes he had known more about the risks of contracting sexually transmitted diseases in the industry. "Making $10,000 or $15,000 for porn isn't worth your life," he said. "Performers need to be educated." -------- Please develop your minds instead of abusing your bodies kids. And NEVER allow things to slip to the point where you feel it's *'necessary' to sell yourself short for any reason--especially on the say-so of those who've no respect for your humanity nor empathy for your condition. You are special and you are unique for there is - and will only ever be - one person exactly like you. (*hug*) *"Necessity is the excuse for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of the tyrant and the creed of the slave." - William Pitt, 1763
I read about this article yesterday. It's causing a lot of stir because AIM, the adult industry-run health care and testing group, is claiming that the Los Angeles AIDS foundation is using this guy as a poster child to continue their very strong assault against unsafe sex in the adult industry. (Frankly, I think that claim is BS.) The bigger issue here isn't porn, but the lack of safer sex practices among younger people in general. I can't tell you how many guys I've talked to who simply don't think safer sex is necessary and who sleep around with all sorts of people without taking precautions. While I think his claim that he got HIV through unsafe oral sex is unlikely (transmission is thought to be pretty rare through oral means), nonetheless, he received strong encouragement to bareback, and all of the points he makes (clean test results are not a reliable indicator of safety; there are lots of STIs other than HIV, which is usually the only one people test for) are important, and ones that I've felt were rarely discussed. Thanks for posting about this article.
I too have observed an increasing 'bareback is sexy & cool' trend in the attitude of more young gays. A few days ago on a popular 18+ web cam site, a couple of on-camera 18 (or 19)-year-old college boys started to have unprotected anal sex and a war of words erupted between the hundreds of salivating observers whose posts were roughly 50/50 pro & anti-bareback. I was stunned. It was like they were arguing the pros & cons of drunk driving. I couldn't believe it! :-( Fortunately one of the boys had second thoughts and fetched a condom. But it was close...
There are three related pieces linked to the one in the OP. Since the Los Angeles Times has a policy of archiving articles after a while and then charging a fee for a printout, here are the links to those other three stories: Former porn star Darren James speaks out about latest HIV case http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...n-james-speaks-out-about-latest-hiv-case.html Porn actor with HIV didn't infect any other adult performer, clinic says http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-porn-hiv-20101106,0,7222583.story Porn industry clinic comes under fire for its handling of HIV case http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/15/local/la-me-porn-hiv-20101015 Some older articles for context: See No Evil (2003) http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jan/12/magazine/tm-porn More porn HIV cases disclosed (2009) http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/12/local/me-porn-hiv12
^ This happened to my friend in college. He found out he was like the 268th person that this other guy had slept with, and they had had unprotected sex. I was like, Jesus, I don't even know 268 people. So not only was my friend sleeping with this one sleazy guy whose history was questionable, he was sleeping with these other 268 guys whose histories are completely unknowable. Not. Good. My friend got tested and was fine (thank gods) but seriously...you don't know where some people have been. You gotta be careful, it's a jungle out there and unfortunately true to the stereotype, some gay people are promiscuous as hell, for one reason or another... If Daddy doesn't accept you being queer and it causes you to act out sexually, being HIV positive is not going to help your case. Just sayin'.
One of my friends just had a scare. He had hookup sex (bottoming) with someone one time, several months ago. They used a condom, but it was ill-fitting in the first place and it broke, but the top didn't notice until he was finished. Over the weekend, the hookup called to say that he had just received test results that he was HIV+. Needless to say, my friend freaked out. He got tested today, and his test result was negative, and it happened long enough ago that the result is pretty definitive, so he is OK. But the lesson is this: In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, HIV education/testing counselors told clients to ask detailed questions about their partner's sexual history before it was time for sex, and to assume that everyone you have sex with is HIV+. At the time, it was meaningful because HIV was pretty much a death sentence then. Today, in addition to the nonchalance young people have about safer sex, people assume that if they use a condom they're home free. But condoms break, and transmission can happen even when condoms are used. So you owe it to yourself to really educate yourself, to talk in depth to your partner, and to think meaningfully about the risk you are taking in choosing to have sex. While HIV is no longer a death sentence for most people, it is miserable. Treatment is expensive, side effects are numerous and very unpleasant, HIV+ people often feel stigmatized, and there are lifelong health challenges that HIV+ people will likely face. It is not, as some people naively assume, a simple issue of "Oh, you take a few pills and you can manage it fine." I know I preach about this a lot, but I've met so many people under 25 (and even under 21) who are HIV+ that it just breaks my heart.
If I am young and HIV+ I will get a gun and drive to the middle of nowhere and shoot myself because if aint worth a life of having to take pills and not being to bear back or get rought and tumble.
You still necessarily shouldn't have unprotected sex with your HIV- boyfriend either. Whether we like it or not, things happen, your boyfriend could cheat, could share needles, who knows...even if he's the most trustworthy boyfriend ever, you should still practice safe sex with your boyfriend too. And as for this whole situation with the porn thing, it's true, you can go onto dn a popular 18+ site and the number of young gay men on there who have "When Appropriate" under their safe sex preference. It's ridiculous how many young gay men are putting their health at risk. I'll admit I had unprotected last year, but I smartened up and realized that at that time that I was being so stupid. Luckily I'm ok, and healthy, but none the less, we have to remember that we need to keep being safe when having sex....
There goes career choice number 2. :dry: Honestly though, it's sort of weird to see porn stars actually talking about something important - and they're even using full sentences!
Those stereotypes aren't always true. I know of a former porn star with a Ph.D, another who is an MD, quite a few with masters degrees, and countless ones with bachelors degrees. (These are likely the ones who were smart and wore condoms on their shoots...
