It’s great to see that in every comment thread across the internet gay men aren’t accepting the simplistic propaganda about someone being undetectable for the HIV virus.
The information from the gay (ill)health organisations and gay media is a classic example of how giving half the story can be misleading and downright dangerous to those gay men who are naive, even if the selected basic facts themselves are true.
Yes it’s true that if a person really is undetectable for HIV they are highly unlikely to pass on the virus to you. But here’s the difficult part they don’t like to mention…
Trusting a gay man to tell you the truth has never been a reliable way to keep yourself safe. He could be lying about being undetectable. He could know that he is highly infectious. How do YOU know?
Even if he’s the most honest, lovely man in the world, medicines fail sometimes. So he could be infectious and a threat to you without realising.
You can protect yourself in the situations above by using a condom effectively. But that isn’t the message the gay (ill)health organisations and gay media want to give you. At best these people are stupid and at worst they are downright evil: putting their ideology ahead of the safety of some who will read their half-truths and end up a victim as a result.
Ask yourself: why are these people so obsessed with HIV stigma and chemsex? Why isn’t the message condoms? Or PreP with a condom?
These organisations are jam-packed with men who are HIV+, who hate condoms. They always did. It’s why they’re positive. They want all of us barebacking, ignoring HIV status, and other health risks.
It’s the HIV+ men who want bareback sex and who refuse to use condoms who face the most stigma. Join the dots!
There’s no way to know if a man is positive or negative for HIV, or undetectable, by looking at him. You can’t believe what any gay man tells you. Don’t fall for this! The best way to ensure great protection against HIV and avoid the uncertain future health risks associated with PrEP is by using a condom.
If you have bareback sex without condoms or PrEP then sooner or later you will end up positive for HIV. It could be next week, next year or five years from now.
However we don’t recommend PrEP. We’re concerned that there may be side effects for health in years to come. It may cease to be as effective in the future, and possibly before we realise it, leading to surprise HIV infections. It doesn’t protect you against other STIs, some of which can be serious, particularly with antibiotic resistant infections becoming a concern.
The message is use a condom every time, just as it has been for the last 35 years. If you do then you’re very unlikely to contract HIV whatever the circumstances. If he really is undetectable then that’s a bonus.