As part of the desperation to drive forward PrEP, condoms have sometimes been demonised in the most wicked and false way.
In fact, if you insist on using a condom you’re probably at the safest level gay condom users have been at for 35 years since HIV first became a major issue. Here’s why…
* A large percentage of HIV+ men are undetectable for the virus now due to their medication. So the chance of picking up HIV from them when fucking with a condom is effectively zero.
* A positive man who uses condoms consistently probably tends to care more about his own health in general. For that reason he is more likely to be careful about taking his meds and thus more likely to be undetectable. In this way you tend to avoid flaky positive men whose infection level has increased without them realising it. Bingo: less risk.
* Due to being obsessed with the bareback fetish, high risk HIV+ and untested men won’t want to have condom sex with you. Thus you avoid them and the various risks they pose.
In 2015, 40% of syphilis diagnoses, 24% of chlamydia, 20% of gonorrhoea and 74% of diagnoses for LGV amongst men who have sex with men (MSM) were in those living with HIV (source: THT). And despite that group being just a few percent of all MSM nationally. Whilst we certainly shouldn’t demonise all HIV+ men, nevertheless it’s clear there IS a problem with a large percentage of them not using condoms.
* Guys who don’t look after their health in general (heavy drinkers for example) and are out of control in various ways will think you’re boring for using condoms and won’t want to meet you. Be a proud condom user, ignore them and (sadly) leave them to their fate. Choose men who have a healthy lifestyle across the board.
As we have said before, as soon as you start barebacking you fall off a cliff into a swamp of illhealth and much higher risk for everything.
* PrEP users who bareback are NOT “responsible” individuals. Similarly, men who are undetectable for HIV but who don’t use a condom are NOT “responsible.” These are people who have personal issues regarding self-worth, are unable to enjoy a varied full sex life due to the bareback fetish, or who still haven’t learnt their lesson after becoming HIV+.
These fools are compromising their own health, spreading sexually transmitted infections and speeding the day when drug resistant sexual diseases and new strains of HIV become a threat to all of us. So one must suspect that they are selfish uncaring individuals, shallow or just a bit thick. Whatever, they are people to avoid and keep out of your life.
The gay (ill) health organisations will never encourage you to look at the situation in this way. They are obsessed with the high-risk, barebacking underdog and don’t want to alienate and “stigmatise” him, because that’s where all the lovely funding is, which keeps them in a health charity job. There is almost no money to be made in getting you to use a condom…
You are not an individual to them. You are just a number and if the stats move in a way which gets them funding, but happens to ruin your life personally, they won’t care one little bit.
So, whether you are are negative or positive, if you want to safeguard your future health you must cut through the bullshit, see the bigger picture and do what is right for you and keeps you healthy.
Will you be an individual or a sheep for the prep-aganda from the money-making vested interests?