I think there’s a tremendous sense of complacency in the LGBT community. AIDS has lost the edge of horror it possessed when it swept through the world in the ’80s. Today’s generation sees it more as something to live with and something to be much less fearful of. And that comes with a sense of, dare I say, laziness. We need to be really vigilant and open about the fact that these drugs are not to be taken to increase our ability to have recreational sex.”
— Zachary Quinto in an interview with Out magazine
frshmn
After years of trying to destigimatize HIV statuses, people are getting upset that with successful treatments people are able to move on? That people are able to have sexual relationships with one another without fear of infection? I don’t understand the stance.
ggreen
Zachary please keep your opinions to yourself. Slut shaming and the holier than thou attitude looks terrible on you.
Apparatus
I don’t think he’s slut shaming. I think his point is just that you can’t expect to do anything to excess and live a healthy long life, and that includes sex.
DonW
The complacency was pretty rampant even before the advent of PrEP. Except for a brief period in the ’90s, fear hasn’t been very effective at reducing infections. Let’s focus on promoting health while accepting the reality that gay men naturally tend toward sexual exuberance (“promiscuity,” if you prefer).
vive
Mr. Quinto should stick to what he knows, namely (not even much) acting.
What is wrong, pray tell, with “increasing our ability to have recreational sex” without the “edge of horror” Mr. Quinto would prefer us to have? Even the Catholic church isn’t preaching much against “recreational sex” any longer. Come to think of it, among gay men, besides “recreational sex,” what other kind of sex is there?
Stache99
@vive: It’s an old prudish term to demonize those that have sex for fun or outside of marriage.
Paco
Sorry Mister Quinto, but the days of stigmatizing hiv+ gay men by using them as the horrific examples of promiscuity and unsafe sex are long over and thank goodness for that. Guess you will just have to find a less “lazy” way to get your message out there about hiv prevention. Or just shut up and stick to acting, Mister Quinto.
Trippy
Please. After he finishes finger-wagging at us, will he then lecture women about not being slutty whores just because they have better birth control options than their mothers and grandmothers did?
robirob
Have some self respect, guuuurl. *waving my finger like some sassy black girl*
Trippy
He’s an actor or something, right? Don’t you just love how celebrities lecture everyone on topics about which they know absolutely nothing.
Just once I’d like to read an interview in which one of the beautiful people says to the GQ or People reporter: “Gosh, I don’t know the answer to that… I majored in theatre, so maybe you should call the CDC and ask an expert. I’m just an actor.”
Cam
The thing is, there is so much out there. You can’t keep people terrified of something for decades without a little fatigue setting in.
vangelis
Kudos to him. Apparently there are still some gay men using their upstairs brain every now and again. Unlike all the the little Andrew Sullivans commenting here with their tired little “slut-shaming” routine.
“Erasing the stigma”= Sullivanspeak for HIV+ men like himself whose only care in the world is to start barebacking with anyone they please again, thanks to PrEP. As for the so-called “lecturing”, how about HIV+ men (like Sullivan, Mark King etc.) stop promoting PrEP and lecturing others on how not to get the virus? It’s not like they’re some kind of shining experts on prevention.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that facilitating mass condomless sex in an urban/technological environment that affords endless opportunities for sexual encounters with countless partners is a certain recipe for another mass STD epidemic or a new mutant strain of an existing one. Get your head out of the sand boys. Start behaving like responsible sexually active adults instead of sexual terrorists.
Stache99
@vangelis: Actually, Mark King is a shining expert on HIV prevention. He’s done allot of HIV activism so he’s not a good example for your little sex shaming rant.
Trippy
@vangelis: 1995 called… it wants its fear-mongering back.
vangelis
@ Trippy
1965 called…There are still hippies who believe in magic pills.
vive
@vangelis, I am no fan of that right wing nut Sullivan and his ilk, but what a stuck up little drama queen you are. If PrEP prevents infections and reduces fear and horror, what is the problem? That people are fighting HIV with methods other than chastity? You sound like a similar kind of right wing nut, to be honest.
vangelis
@ vive
The only thing PrEP may reduce is prevention through condoms which is the most effective way to prevent a whole shitload of STDs. Who talked about chastity?
So apparently if someone is not convinced that all gays should be medicated just because they’re gay, he/she is a prude? Shouldn’t this be called “prude-shaming”?
@ Stache99
Gee, I wonder how he got it if he is such a shining expert. Does his expertise only work with others?
Stache99
@vangelis: I don’t think you can hold blame to someone that got it eons ago. Even still so what. Doesn’t negate all the good work he’s done since.
The better question is what have you done or doing besides just pointing the finger at everyone?
vangelis
@ Stache99
What is he doing apart from promoting the mass medicating of gay men?
It certainly is no coincidence that the most vocal proponents of PrEP are HIV+ themselves. I will take no lecturing on prevention from people who couldn’t protect themselves and obviously have their own agenda. For someone who is on a daily medication, the way to “erase the stigma” is not to push the same medication down everybody else’s throat.
Re “sex-shaming”, “right-wing nut” etc.: It’s time for Truvada proponents to stop using cheap talking points and cheaper personal insults and start coming up with arguments.
Sammy Schlipshit
WOW!!!!! Such anger, you guys.
Calm down.
He’ just giving his observational opinion.
I didn’t read where he was telling anyone what to do.
What I did read was his reaction to seemingly acceptable, complacent sexual activity.
Somehow, I did live through the 80’s and the 90’s. It was a horror time.
The collective gay family finally came together to support all of our sick friends while kicking the ass of the medical establishment.
We did it in spite of this country’s populous attacking us in any/every way possible.
I, too, am surprised at how a lot of the young’uns just disregard any concern about getting infected.
The attitude seems to be that there are pharmaceuticals who will take care of any exposure.
HIV isn’t the only infection to be aware of.
Numerous STD infection rates have climbed dramatically.
I guess no one learned any lessons from us older farts. Our history and experiences are being ignored.
Such as it is with young people.
I know. I was once that arrogant but the AIDS outbreak woke everyone up.
alterego1980
@Trippy: I don’t blame him for his opinion. I blame gossip news who wants to know what some actor is thinking on every subject every day of their lives. Talk about ridiculous!
Imagine if someone asked you about some random worldly item every time you went out and then postered it on websites everywhere. I certainly wouldn’t want that for me. I don’t think I agree with him completely but it’s his opinion and his alone. And despite who he is, it carries no weight.
DonW
Can you imagine if PrEP had been introduced in the ’80s or early ’90s? There would be rejoicing in the streets of WeHo and Chelsea (well, back then the West Village). No one would dream of shaming anyone for taking it.
Paco
His “opinion” came off as very calloused toward those that do live with the disease. His “opinion” is from the dark ages of the illness when people were actually dying and desperate for the medications that would restore some semblance of normalcy to their lives. To expect the death and fear messaging of the 80s and 90s to remain effective when the treatments and survival rates have dramatically improved makes no sense.
People like him that lament the passing of the old days of AIDS, almost seem to be placing blame for the current complacency on people who are hiv+ that are looking too healthy and living too long. The people who are benefiting from advances in medicine and trying to live normal lives. He seems to be saying that hiv+ people should still be feared and not look too healthy or normal, so that his outdated ideas about hiv prevention doesn’t need to evolve with the current scientific and social reality.
Back to your deathbeds boys. Ms. Quinto thinks you should be feared and sick so she doesn’t have to change her outdated ideas about hiv prevention.
CATTMAN1
Having survived the horror(s) that was AIDS ( the horror(s) being the disease and the lack of concern from the majority of the str8 population) in the 80’s and 90’s, I support his view.
bnard620
the rate of infections is climbing among men you have sex with men, if condoms were used as regularly as they should be then I highly doubt that the rate of new infections. While the rest of the country is seeing lower rate’s, among gay men its increasing. While I am happy at the advancements in medicine to live a normal life that does not mean that we shouldn’t to try to prevent it as much as we can.
I love condoms
I think Zachary Quinto’s comments are spot-on. The LGBT community has become mind-boggling complacent about HIV/AIDs, and the rising rates of new HIV infections and other STD’s are proof of this complacency.
I don’t think anyone is trying tell gay men to adhere to a certain morale standard when it comes to sex…or as some would refer to as the stigmatizing or slut-shaming of gay men…but what is puzzling to some of us is why has “safe sex” become such a bad thing? It is possible to be promiscuous and still have safe, protected sex. Promiscuity doesn’t have to equal unsafe sex.
aliengod
He’s exactly right. So many gay men have lost the fear of AIDS. Hell, I’ve seen comments from some that make it seem as though they’re proud to be able to say they have HIV. That’s certainly nothing to be proud of. It’s a deadly disease that is preventable. Don’t have unprotected sex and don’t practice IV drug use and you have virtually no chance of contracting it. How is that so hard?
I love condoms
And for those of you who can’t understand why some of us have a hard time embracing PrEP and going condom-less, then you really need talk with someone who lived through the early 80’s and 90’s…when the AIDS epidemic in U.S. was like the Ebola epidemic of today in West Africa.
bnard620
@I love condoms: My thing with PrEP is that getting people to use condom on the regular obviously isn’t working. Its not enough anymore, at least that’s what the stats are telling us. But if this drug is able to do the job and get the numbers down then ok, although I am still completely weary of them because of the possible side effects
Kieru
I don’t know why people are upset – he’s not saying anything that any medical professional isn’t already saying. HIV in our community is on the rise, PrEP is being promoted as a way to address the issue. It is NOT being prescribed because you want to stop wearing condoms. PrEP is not recommended by any physician as an alternative or replacement to prophylactics. It is considered an additional line of defense.
Yet look at these comments … that seems to be how some members of our community see PrEP.
Even WITH proper condom use he’s RIGHT. The younger generation has grown apathetic over HIV. It’s completely treatable now for anyone with insurance, and people just don’t seem to worry about the possibility of infection. The disease is so incredibly preventable … there is no excuse for its infection rates increasing.
If you’re going to have sex use a condom. If you’re adamant that you’re never going to wear a condom consequences be damned get on PrEP now. If you’re going to get on PrEP so you can throw your condoms away do your research and make a better life choice.
demented
@vive: I assume he means sex outside of a committed relationship?
Anyway, I don’t think he meant it in a condemning way. Actors are usually pretty bad at speaking their thoughts.
Saint Law
Is he suggesting this complacency is a recent thing caused by the availability of Truvada? Because as anybody who’s out there having ‘recreational’ sex knows dat aint the case.
In Gay London anyway there have for a long time been a lot of men having unprotected sex with each other. In my personal experience and from my direct observation, for many men it is the default.
If the backback chemsex brigade start necking Truvada – (and why not? It’s less toxic than their customary diet of G and Tina) then that might go some way to diminish fresh infections – of HIV anyway.
But as has been already pointed out to a chorus of cat-calls, HIV is not the only disease that can be incubated and transmitted through a concentrated pool of men having unprotected anal sex. It isn’t ‘slut-shaming’ to point this out – it’s biological fact.
For this reason – and that I am not about to pollute my body with a medication whose long term side effects may be detrimental to my health, I am going to stick with condoms thanks.
jason smeds
Man-to-man sex anal sex is fine. In fact, it is perfectly fine. It’s not special, either. Tons of men and women have anal sex all the time. Just because it’s man-to-man, it doesn’t mean it’s more risky.
What IS more risky is the nature of the “gay scene”. The “gay scene” concentrates people. It creates a stagnant, concentrated pool of basically the same men who return to the same place week after week to socialize and sexualize with other men. Herd immunity is lost when this happens, and risk is increased as a result.
The risk comes from the nature of the male-male scene, and not from the sex act.
bnard620
@jason smeds: actually anal sex carries a higher risk of infection and higher more if ur the bottom. Couple that with the fact people aren’t being as careful and then the numbers go up. sex in general carries its own risk
Larry
I agree with him also and we let the media, including queerty classify and label us. We are just a diverse as everyone else. We also do not vote and that is what Republicans who hate us STILL are in office trying to make us 3rd class citizens who pay 1st class taxes with less services.
Charlie in Charge
If prep was causing rates of infection to go down that could certainly be celebrated. Are infection rates going down?
bnard620
@Charlie in Charge: its too soon to tell either way, there’s still a huge stigma in using the medication.
gauty
Unsurprisingly, the comments on this article validate what he said more than anything else ever could have. Slut-shaming is a real thing, but to see it used here as an excuse for being the lazy, complacent fucks that you guys are, is really quite offensive. While HIV is still so problematic, and such a complex issue, you imbeciles will jump on any new flavor-of-the-month drug like prep or Truvada to still be able to unabashedly fuck anything that moves without a care in the world. THERE IS NO CURE YET, THERE ARE JUST CERTAIN PREVENTIVE MEASURES THAT EXIST NOW, NONE OF WHICH WILL GUARANTEE YOUR TOTAL PROTECTION AGAINST THIS DISEASE. IS THAT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND!? JUST. BE. FUCKING. SAFE. PUN INTENDED
Stache99
@Matt: Do you ever get tired of being the one man no anal sex show. I get. It’s not for you. It’s just that I’ve listened to you over the years and it’s the same tired BS. Not one person ever agrees with you. Yet you keep coming back with the same Shtick.
Matt
The problem in the gay community for males, not lesbians, is that they feel they have to have anal and it should be done without condoms. And now this pill comes along and you’re supposed to take the pill as well as use condoms and that’s just not going to happen. Truvada has some serious side effects. If bottoms stopped emasculating themselves and tops stopped emasculating them, we’d never be in this predicament.
jason smeds
bnard,
If two people do not have STD’s, anal sex between those two people is not going to cause STD in those people. Where does the STD come from? The sky? The toilet? The dog-kennel?
Like I said before, anal sex between two STD-free people is fine. You are not going to catch an STD from someone who doesn’t have an STD.
The problem is in the population dynamic that is created by a gay scene. The gay scene is confined and concentrated. It concentrates people and their potential pathogens. Concentration leads to a loss of herd immunity. The chance of choosing a partner who carries an STD is therefore greater than in a non-concentrated paradigm.
I know this might sound unpalatable to a lot of you but the truth is this: the gay scene/community increases your chance of catching an STD.
Matt
@jason smeds: Jason, anal is not fine. We need to abandon that primitive, vile, and unhealthy practice. Many gay couples who get HIV or STD’s are in what they thought were monogamous relationships. If gay men could just face the fact they don’t have their version of a woman’s vagina the gay world would be a lot healthier and there’d be no need for condoms or Truvada.
vive
@Kieru, nobody is having any problem with Quinto’s statement that gay men are complacent. What we are having problems with, apart from his nutty reference to “creational sex,” is that he is blaming PrEP for it. Only a vanishingly small percentage of gay men are on PrEP as yet, so how can that possibly be a cause for this widespread complacency? Apart from this, PrEP is an HIV prevention tool that is at least as effective as condoms, so his blaming PrEP for complacency is as nonsensical as blaming condoms for complacency.
I actually suspect that he is confused and is blaming HAART, not PrEP, for keeping poz people healthy. He seems to prefer that they get sick, to put the fear of god into the rest of us again.
vive
*REcreational
Apparatus
Boy this topic is bringing out all the crazies.
jar23666
PRIDE = POWER and “If you don’t vote, don’t bitch!”
frshmn
Since we can’t procreate, isn’t all gay sex “recreational”?
Saint Law
@Matt: I’d suggest you douche, deary. Except you already are one.
Jeton Ademaj
Quinto is shamefully ignorant of several basic truths:
1) ALL sex not strictly done for making babies is “recreational”.
2) the medication currently approved for PrEP, Truvada, has over 15 years of data for each of the two drugs in the pill…and an extremely low rate of side effects, overwhelmingly reversible in the tiny subset of people that DO get those side effects.
3) while many of our gay org’s are indeed “complacent” about HIV, the community itself is not…it is simply in denial and badly misinformed.
4) Quinto is now contributing to that misinformation and denial.
5) wanting The Great Dying to begin again is a bizarre implied hope of many *failed* HIV activists, and HIV prevention has completely moved away from the mindless fear-mongering that Quinto endorses here.
6) Quinto should educate himself thoroughly and do something credible about HIV himself before he ever again opens his (alleged) molly-trap about HIV “complacency”…because his little mentally lazy tirade here is the very definition of it.
too bad he only PLAYS a logical thinker in movies.
Jeton Ademaj
it’s a shame that the shaky and uneven censorship and “moderation” on this site obstructs the kind of comprehensive, soul-devouring flame well-deserved by treacherous imbeciles like “Vangelis” :-/
Jeton Ademaj
@bnard620: condoms may be both a great tactic (tool) AND a great strategy (overall plan) for preventing HIV for yourself and many others, but in the gay community as a whole, condoms have proven an excellent tool (tactic) for some, but a completely FAILED HIV prevention plan (strategy) for the gay community as a whole.
the toolbox has expanded, and now includes Biomedical Prevention (Treatment for +, PrEP and PEP for – ), and clearer guidelines for behavioral prevention tools like seropositioning and serosorting.
anyone demanding that the Prevention Toolkit remain limited to condoms is a traitor to the gay community, because they push an overall plan (strategy) that has grievously failed.
Jeton Ademaj
@I love condoms: you need to understand that Quinto’s statements are falsehoods, and the US Center for Disease Control has expressly declared that successful HIV Treatment for those who are HIV+, adherent PrEP for those who are HIV-, and adherent condom use are all independently “safe”, whether or not any of these 3 options are used together.
furthermore, condoms have big disadvantages and a big advantage:
their 2 biggest disadvantages are that they are FAR less forgiving of missed uses and less-than-perfect adherence than PrEP or Treatment-as-Prevention (TasP) are.
their advantage is that, if you DO use them with very high adherence, they protect against many different STD’s besides HIV.
Jeton Ademaj
@Kieru: you should not pretend to know what you’re talking about.
PrEP guidelines from both the CDC and the New York State DOH both state that PrEP should be offered with counseling, regular blood tests for STD’s and drug side-effects, and a full range of additional safer sex options, INCLUDING condoms.
that is NOT what you have claimed, and NOT what many critics of PrEP claim. both sets of guidelines say that PrEP must not be denied to patients who do not, can not or will not use condoms.
even more pointedly, when the FDA panel that approved Truvada for PrEP voted on various groups who would be good candidates, the group that received the strongest vote was specifically gay/bi men who do NOT use condoms, or who use them unevenly.
so, please stop lying…believing the lie you tell doesn’t make it true.
Trippy
Theories and feelings aside, there is a growing increase in unsafe sexual practices in the gay community. That’s not hate, it’s simply fact. For those who are comfortably locked away in wedded bliss, take a quick on A4A (or most any other hook-up site) and you’ll see just how many men (Tops and bottoms) are looking for BB encounters. And that doesn’t include the number of men who hide their desire for BB until they arrive at your house. I’m a bottom, so I know what I’m talking about. You hand a guy a condom and 90% of the time he looks at you like you’re a missionary handing him a Bible.
With that said, PrEP/Truvada and any other drug coming in the near future can only help. It certainly isn’t making it worse. And no, HIV is NOT a death sentence anymore to most people, but it can be if a man doesn’t have proper medical care. And who knows what else might be laying in wait for us 5 to 10 years down the road. No one saw HIV coming, so I’m certain we won’t see the next plague either.
Do what you want, but take whatever precautions you need to take to protect yourself. Most importantly, be honest with your partners… you don’t need to lie about your status to have great sex. There are plenty of poz guys out there and they even have poz hookup sites to play on.
Jeton Ademaj
@gauty: babble is babble, ALL CAPS or not.
the CDC says sex on PrEP (JUST PrEP) is Safe Sex. if you’re angry about that, go fight them…i’m sure they care what you think. 😉
jantheman4903
have been there when the first case was announced on television. disregarding his statements, what the community has lost regarding aids is…community. i was 20 yrs old and helping dying men survive. there are still dying men, and just old gay men, who need help and i don’t see the younger generation recognising that and stepping up. drive someone to the store..help do laundry every couple weeks.
Jeton Ademaj
@Matt: your personal shame and disdain for anal sex is your own personal problem…but your lies about PrEP will get shot down every time i see them.
Truvada is a pill combining 2 drugs, each with over 15 years of history clarifying that the side-effect profile is about as serious as ASPIRIN.
enlightenone
@frshmn: No! When you become a sophomore maybe you will get it though sometimes it takes until senior year and even then, the post-adolescent male still doesn’t get it! Until then, keep asking questions.
Jeton Ademaj
oops, in my answer to “i love condoms” i only included ONE of the two big disadvantages with condom usage for HIV/STD prevention:
most people find the sexual experience with condoms inferior to sex without condoms. many despise them as a result, and many cant keep wood with rubber.
OOH, OOOH….one more major disadvantage is that condoms ultimately must be accepted by the penetrating partner, even if they are insertive condoms (aka “female condoms”).
in contrast, a big advantage for PrEP is that women and bottoms can take it without ever having to ask their penetrative partners, or even let them know.
Stache99
@Matt: About the only time you ever post is when it’s about sex or HIV. It’s always about shame. You’ve got some serious mental issues around sex.
TrueWords
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/7b/46/87/7b46874d5e8c664958f8536f34bb9825.jpg
Well, if you say you haven’t, you’re a prude. If you say you have, you’re a slut! It’s a trap.
You want to but you can’t but when you do you wish you didn’t, right?
Jimmy
I don’t even know who this guys is. Question – Is he gay? Regardless – his statement is pretty fucking stupid. It makes me want to kick his ass but I’m not a violent guy unless some idiot like him says something so stupid regarding me and my people! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……………
Charles
Well… Yeah were’ complacent(more or less) becuse while it’s a big deal, it’s not a death sentence anymore. People should take HIV seriously, which is what PReP is for, what is the problem here?
@vangelis: You do realize being HIC+ doesn’t make one incpable of helping other prevent it right? Ad homnium much?
And it’s pretty fucked up for you to try and imply that HIV+ guys are just looking for an excuse to infect others. Fuck you sir
Xzamilio
Oh, no, Zachary… why didn’t you spin this like you spun that blurb about James Franco? I notice how preachy some gay guys in Hollywood get after they come out after being closeted for years.
stanhope
She ain’t the one to be preaching! Do something concrete then perhaps someone will listen.
Charles
He is basically saying “you all just want to prevent yourselves from getting HIV so you can have an excuse to be a slut”
What exactly is wrong with PeRP? It’s a tool to battle HIV.
jwtraveler
Thanks for speaking out, Zach, even if your comments fall on the deaf ears of child-men who want to take no responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
kfolger
@Kieru: Actually PrEP is considered an alternative to condoms. Less than 15% of gay men, currently report using a condom every time. I can tell from what most of the naysayers have said that they have not read one report concerning PrEP. Here are a few:
http://www.iasociety.org/Article.aspx?elementId=16083
http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/iPrEx_OLE_results_1667_25922.shtml
http://www.iasociety.org/Article.aspx?elementId=16064
tardis
This is more than slut shamming. The reality of the situation is that the more sexual partners you have the more likely you are to be exposed to other STDs. Be a sex dog. It’s your life, but that’s the reality. No slut shamming here.
Jeton Ademaj
@jwtraveler: i really wish this website would let me call you the pathetic idiot that your comments indicate that you are, but since it doesn’t, i’ll just refute you.
Zachary Quinto made a series of false statements regarding how much is and is not known about PrEP, he has made claims that essentially invalidate all gay sex, and he has displayed massive hypocrisy in calling out “complacency” while complacently making idiotic statements himself.
no wonder you agree with him, dodo’s of a feather bump into walls together.
Matt
@Stache99: Of course I don’t get tired of being anti anal. It’s been proved time and time again that gay men who don’t do anal live healthier and more productive lives. The pro anal crowd are the ones who keep infecting each other and making us all look bad.
Stache99
@Matt: Yes I’ve seen this study before on another site. Extremely flawed too.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to break it down into percentages first (age, sexuality, family history, and screen them for any STD’s) before you make a sweeping conclusion?
I’m absolutely sure I’ll get prostate cancer because it’s in my family. All the male members get it after a certain age.
The only thing she proved was that the less you use it the more chance of getting it. The fact is it comes down to ejaculation. You need to use it. That’s why virgins also have a high propensity for getting it.
Stache99
@Matt: Anal sex is good for you. Anything that gets you motivated to use it and often is good for your health.
Now go back under your rock troll.
Matt
@Stache99: Being anti anal is not a mental issue whatsoever. It’s a health issue and common sense issue. You guys who emasculate each other and infect each other with HIV are the ones with mental issues and you need to be shamed. As long as you keep believing the hole between gay men’s legs are gay vaginas we will never get anywhere in society.
http://www.frontiersla.com/frontiers-blog/2014/10/31/excessive-butt-sex-linked-to-prostate-cancer
I love condoms
Can someone tell me where I can find real-world data on the following:
1.) Newly HIV infected urban male top(s) who are in denial about their sexuality and have never been tested for HIV.
2.) Who has a high viral load.
3.) Who is not on any anti-viral meds.
4.) Who is having unprotected anal sex with a bottom on PrEP?
In all the studies I’ve read, they never seem to include this real-word scenario.
If there are any studies that include the outcome of highly infectious tops having unprotected sex with bottoms on PrEP, please share this data with all of us.
vangelis
@Charles:
I never wrote they’re “trying to infect others”. What I’m saying is that they use PrEP-aganda as a licence to start barebacking with anyone they like regardless of status. For their own selfish “recreation”, not necessarily because they want to infect others. Also in their minds, when every gay man starts htaking the same pills they do = no stigma. That is their agenda.
I also find it a little bit rich when people who managed to get infected themselves start lecturing others on “prevention”.
You know what else is rich? People who complain about “slut-shaming” and then use “fuck you” as an insult. I will fuck and get fucked. With a condom on. Thank you very much.
DonW
@Matt: Naturally you will cherry-pick any research that advances your anal-sex-is-icky agenda. You might have a great future as Tony Perkins’s research assistant.
The study you reference, just reported and unreplicated, was conducted at a Catholic institution in Quebec, and one of its co-authors (Marie-Elise Parent) is the graduate of a Catholic seminary. You have to wonder about their agenda.
Among its other claims are that (1) men with more than 20 female partners have lower rates of prostate cancer; (2) virgins are twice the risk of developing the disease. How do you plan to integrate those findings into your sex-negative world view?
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
WE MUST ALL LEARN TO LOVE THE VIRUS
WE MUST ALL LEARN TO LOVE THE VIRUS
WE MUST ALL LEARN TO LOVE TNE VIRUS
WE MUST…
jlfbman
Now is a good time for lots of Gay men all over the world to take a good hard look at themselves and their lives. Being a Gay man is NOT all about sex and being a Gay man is NOT a free pass to become the depraved, sex addicted, slutty pigs that so many Gay men have decided to be and call it ‘ Fun ‘. Sexual expression? Great. Self indulgent little boys who think they are ‘men’ sad. Grow up boys. Get some true self esteem to replace the rampant egos/insecurity and fear damaging so many lives leading to depression and allied dysfunctional behaviour. I’m a proud, healthy, happy Gay man and have worked long and hard to get here.
jlfbman
@Stache99: Wow!! You just stated you are absolutely sure you will get prostate cancer because it is in your family?? Talking yourself into believing that is so negative!! Talk yourself into believing that you will be healthy for a start!! We do have choices.
vive
@jlfbman, you can’t prevent or cure cancer with magical mental powers. I wish people would stop blaming cancer sufferers this way.
jlfbman
@vive: Do some research, yes you can. If you have a negative victim mentality, you already have lost the battle. Cancer has a lot to do with anger and resentment towards the self.
spiffy
Granted my scope is very small and limited; but I have yet to meet or read about someone who’s on PrEP AND also use condoms every single time they have sex.
Funny that when condoms were the only choice, you didn’t hear all these “problems” with condom usage — people actually made it work, imagine that.
Matt
@Stache99: Do you even have a GED? An act that’s infected and killed so many in our community is not good for you. It’s not rocket science.
enlightenone
@Matt: “…An act that’s infected and killed so many in our community is not good for you. It’s not rocket science.”
Having read all your comments, it’s clear to me that these guys need to be more sensitive in their “reply” to you. “It’s not rocket science” that you were anal raped by a priest and/or had failed “pray the gay away” treatment. It makes so much sense now. There is competent, gay-affirming, licensed therapy treatment in the State of California and the State of New Jersey. Do better research, take your pick, and get help. It’s not too late!
DonW
@spiffy: When you talk about a time when “condoms were the only choice,” you mean just over two years ago, since PrEP was only approved by the FDA in July 2012. You didn’t notice that HIV rates were spiking and condom use dropping long before that? Your scope must be “very small and limited” indeed.
SteveDenver
Quinto is right, but his statement won’t be popular.
Gays aren’t actually “lazy,” we are preoccupied with other things: pop culture, fashion, the hot new place, the hot new boy.
According to the tests, a good percentage of the sample failed to take the pill as prescribed. If some gays can’t be bothered to put on a condom, it’s doubtful many will remember to take a pill that costs upwards of $100 each.
Sammy Schlipshit
@SteveDenver:
Finally, someone has a rational, common sense comment.
Thank you.
It has been disheartening to read a lot of the previous comments. This topic has generated more back and forth than the article Queerty had about circumcision.
It does have some to do with being preoccupied but I chalk a bunch of it up to they fact that we’re dealing with young people.
Ya know, youth that rarely considers mortality, pays attention to anything that we dinosaurs have to say and the overriding philosophy that they will live forever.
A lot of ‘merican males suffer from the Peter Pan syndrome but it seems to be far more acute among our brothers.
Been there, did that.
Thank you again.
Say, do I know your name from HuffPost comments?…or just from this site?
spiffy
@DonW: I don’t understand your attempt at throwing me shade… Were you pitying me because I hadn’t met guys who had issues with condoms?
I am old. I meant late 80’s/early 90’s onward, when condom use was only one of the very few options for HIV prevention. And please don’t tell me that close to three decades, all this time people are not using condoms and guys are getting infected right and left.
LiamCregg
I think he is spot-on. There is a prevalent mentality, especially in the younger community, an attitude iof ‘so what, if I get AIDS, there’s drugd for it’. Do you *really* want to spend the rest of your life taking a drug like prep, one that concerningly enough, is made by a pharmaceutical company with a blatantly Biblical name; Gilead just so you can bareback? And how anyone here managed to read ‘slut shaming’ into his comment is beyond me.
He pushed a lot of buttons here and as usual, the indignant troll queens came out in droves.
vive
@SteveDenver, you are spreading misinformation; most people who get PrEP via health insurance (with or without copay assistance) or Medicaid don’t pay $100 per pill. My copay for Truvada used to be $20 per month; lately with the copay assistance it is $10 per month, I believe.
And no, taking a pill in the morning with your vitamin is much easier for most people than using a condom every time, AND using it correctly. And some studies have shown condoms to be less than completely protective (only somewhere between 80% and 90% if I remember correctly), so it makes sense to combine them anyway; in fact condoms are starting to appear less protective than taking only PrEP consistently.
vive
@jlfbman, there is a special place in hell for people like you who blame cancer sufferers for their own disease and death.
jlfbman
@vive: Blaming?? Quite the opposite and obviously you are an idiot with no desire to grow and expand your mind.
vive
@LiamCregg, you are confusing PrEP (an HIV prevention p!ll, analogous to the birth control p!ll women take to prevent pregnancy) with HAART (the HIV c@cktails used for infected people). But I think Quinto is also confusing the two actually.
Jeton Ademaj
@jlfbman: you sound like the scumb@g New Age hucksters who bled the accounts of AIDS patients dry in the 1980’s covering them with crystals and blaming the victims, “you’d beat this thing if you really loved yourself” said the poisonous 1diots…over and over.
jlfbman
@Jeton Ademaj: No incorrect…..your anger is very misplaced. Obviously beyond your understanding. Sad.
Alton
@Kieru: You are 100% correct. Unfortunately, the voice of reason is invariably shouted down on Queerty, home of privileged gay youth who’ve never experienced real homophobia, never witnessed the horrors of AIDS, and who bristle at the merest hint of judgment while engaging in constant judgment (of bodies, clothes, dick size, etc) themselves.
These children aren’t interested in the fact that PrEP was never intended as a stand-alone defense against HIV infection. No, all they see is a magic pill that will protect them from any and all consequences. Dealing with sex in a mature and responsible manner is for slut-shamers and homophobes!
Here’s all Quinto was saying: pop all the PrEP you want. Have all the sex you want. But wear a condom, you stupid, stupid boys.
arthurb3
Yep! They sure are. When they rather take a pill instead of being responsible and not having risky sex with unknown strangers! If you get HIV its your own fault!
Jeton Ademaj
@Alton: Alton, don’t lie.
PrEP has ALWAYS been studied as a stand-alone option that could and would and IS offered A LA CARTE with the entire range of prevention options.
PrEP is absolutely, positively NOT “required” to be used with condoms. the FDA said otherwise, the CDC says otherwise, the States that have PrEP guidelines say otherwise.
try not to LIE…srsly.
EquesNiger
@Kieru:
That was extremely well put.
Nice to see your moderate, thoughtful view, along with a few others, amongst the majority that seem more emotional and angry.
It might be worthwhile pointing out that a lot of the anger cast at this subject is probably based on fear and cognitive dissonance.
I am terrified of a return to the malignancy of the disease of the 90s – either through rising infection rates due to reliance on prevention methods that don’t work or even, god forbid, a strain that resists the current forms of treatment that are shown to be so effective. We feel as a community we are both conquerors and veterans of this disease – that it is behind us and not the subject of the constant vigilance it once was. This may prove to be true – but the unspoken fear in all of us is likely that it possibly also may not.
Hence, even raising this issue results in angry diatribes, as re-emergence of this issue is too terrible for most to even contemplate.
Classic cognitive dissonance.