Gay Bloggers Andrew Sullivan, Dan Savage on HIV Serosorting = Good Prevention
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The word about the fabulous effectiveness of HIV serosorting; positives having sex only with other positives, and how it's reduced new infections by a projected 33% in America's AIDS Model City, a.k.a. San Francisco, is spreading around the gay blogosphere, thanks to this little blog getting the good news ball rolling.
Over the weekend, from Washington, DC, gay conservative Andrew Sullivan blogged about the very large estimated reduction of new HIV transmissions because of serosorting.
And today, gay Democrat and sex advice columnist Dan Savage weighs in the topic, with a great headline, "Sero-Sorting Works," from The Stranger's blog up in Seattle:
And who deserves credit for this “prevention success”? Average, rank-and-file, commonsensical gay men that adopted the practice without any “institutional support.” Credit shouldn’t go to AIDS prevention orgs—at least not until they adopt sero-sorting.
Hey, Andrew and Dan, thanks for using your platforms to bring attention to serosorting as a valid means of HIV prevention. I'm most pleased Dan dishes some deserved criticism at the AIDS groups.
Now if only the HIV prevention groups would finally speak honestly about serosorting, we'd probably see even further drops in new HIV infections.
Now if only the HIV prevention groups would finally speak honestly about serosorting, we'd probably see even further drops in new HIV infections.
Serosorting is fine for HIV+ men. But when people start promoting it for HIV negative men, it's total BS. Many, many neg guys are putting "HIV- UB2" in their ads as though they can screen out guys with HIV! ANY discussion of serosorting must emphatically state that it works ONLY for positive guys.
ReplyDeleteHow on earth can you trust casual contacts -- and their casual contacts, and their contacts', and so on -- in order to trust sero-sorting? As far as we can tell, there are only two trustworthy responses to the question of status: positive and unknown.
ReplyDeleteHey Michael, long time no talk to. Thanks to you (and Andrew and Dan) for spreading the good word on serosorting. It goes to show that when the people take personal responsibility for how they live, good things can happen, institutional support or no.
ReplyDeleteFrom my gay brother Peter in LA:
ReplyDelete-----Original Message-----
From: petermcquaid@sbcglobal.net
To: mpetrelis@aol.com
Sent: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 1:32 PM
Subject: Re: Andrew Sullivan, Dan Savage blogs: HIV serosorting works
Interesting. But boy does everyone love to beat up on
HIV positive men - and yeah, some of us are
world-class shitheads - and if HIV negative guys could
be educated to get it through their heads that they
need to insist on condoms, that they have something
worth protecting, and that it's foolish to depend on
anyone else to protect it, the shithead HIV positive
guys among us would only be shitheads in thought,
rather than deed.
And I find it highly amusing that Savage seems to
regard lesbians as some paragon of healthy behavior in
the face of Homophobia. No, Dan, they don't crawl into
the sling at Z, what the sexually compulsive lesbians
do instead (being girls) is break off their current
relationship every time they run across a newer,
hotter girl - because (being girls) they confuse lust
with love. Destructive? You betcha. And lesbians with
substance problems don't do meth, they drink - also a
very dangerous, destructive drug. So, brother Dan, the
next time you start generalizing, take a closer look;
Lesbians can be every bit as self-destructive as Gay
men, they just use a different set of tools.
And I'll repeat my mantra on AIDS, one which seems to
interest exactly no one. "What about a cure?"
I agree; status can really only be "poz" and "unknown" in discussions in casual dating or hook-ups. And this is part of a larger discussion of, When is it safe to bareback? And with whom?
ReplyDeleteAs a man in a 5-year relationship with someone of a different status, I disagree with serosorting. That just excludes people based on status, not on character. It isolates poz men and gives a "respectable face" to poz-phobia, stigma, and rejection. I liked it better in the 90's when there was safer sex, or Negotiated Safety, which is barebacking only after being tested together.
I am glad to see that this discussion is getting some attention. Not only does it have a practical aspect in epidemiological terms, I think that positive/responsible conversations about HIV are always shoved aside in favor of topics like barebacking and the down-low.
ReplyDeleteAlso I think that serosorting is, in it own way, an antidote to the idea of "seeding" which has been making the rounds. Implicit in serosorting is the underlying conversation that HIV is still a disease that leads to disability and death. The young generations are so lulled by drug-maker advertising to be completely blase about it - or when the talk about being "seeded" that it is just "part of being gay".
Hello Mr. Petrelis;
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog and hard work regarding information on the popular HIV Prevention and Harm Reduction method of Serosorting. I never realized how hard it would be, telling people that there are THREE (3) methods to Serosort, and TWO (2) involve safe sex, in a world deliberately censored by the HIV agencies, organizations, departments, "experts and professionals."
Therefore, I wanted to add my latest letter to your blog, and hopfully, others will benefit as a result. In any event, people (gay and straight) will have more information to add to their debates:
From: bppnyc@hotmail.com
To: mike@michaelmoore.com, cdcinfo@cdc.gov, duane@senate.state.ny.us , Clatts@ndri.org, pal09@health.state.ny.us, dao03@health.state.ny.us, jmk08@health.state.ny.us, wdk01@health.state.ny.us, Gdestefa@health.nyc.gov, mfreeman@health.nyc.gov
CC: LucileS@poz.com, Silke.Abele@northonetv.com, listenercare@xmradio.com, steve@cablepositive.org, ventune@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu, Jason.Euren@ucsf.edu, kshults@FITA-MHRA.ORG, SWeinst254@aol.com, jefferytaylor@circuitnoize.com, bestrin@lagaycenter.org, acarswell@lagaycenter.org, CGrov@chestnyc.org, isheid@club-internet.fr, editor-in-chief@poz.com, letters@hivplusmag.com, editor@advocate.com
Subject: Serosorting STOPS new HIV transmissions - GUARANTEED!
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 18:29:46 EDT
Hello Mr. Moore,
Thank you for bringing "SICKO" to our nation's attention, your project brought to light what I suspected for almost ten years regarding the "business" of HIV, I realized that the HIV agencies, organizations and departments nationwide do NOT wish to stop the spread of HIV. But then again, this is "just my opinion."
If you have an opportunity...please let other HIV- people know about this:
WHY is this important HIV prevention information NOT being promoted to the HIV- community by the HIV experts, professionals, agencies and organizations?
Serosorting facts:
1) When HIV+ people have safe sex with other HIV+ people, NO HIV- person gets HIV.
2) When HIV+ people have unsafe sex with other HIV+ people, NO HIV- person gets HIV.
3) When HIV- people have safe sex with other HIV- people, NO HIV- person gets HIV.
Serosorting PROMOTES the following:
1) Regular HIV testing for HIV- people,
2) Encourages those who are NOT tested, to GET tested,
3) Communication about HIV and other STD's
4) HIV / STD awareness
5) Lowers the stigma of HIV, HIV testing and sexual health. Thus, Serosorting increases public awareness, sexual safety and HIV / STD prevention. To promote Serosorting is to promote a new communication method for the 21st Century.
6) Safe sex
7) Harm Reduction
8) And an unlimited number of benefits yet to be realized.
Therefore, Serosorting STOPS new HIV transmissions - GUARANTEED! You DO want to STOP the spread of HIV, right?
Read articles about Serosorting:
http://p104.ezboard.com/fbrandonspozmsmsocialboardfrm25.showMessage?topicID=2.topic
WHY is this important HIV prevention SAFE SEX information NOT being promoted on a national scale by the HIV experts, professionals, agencies and organizations nationwide? Are they GUILTY of: NEGLIGENCE? ACCOUNTING FRAUD? Why is this HIV SAFE SEX information NOT being promoted to People of Color? Therefore, are the HIV experts, professionals, agencies and organizations deliberately ENDANGERING the lives of others?
Do they want to stop the spread of HIV?
Please think about these questions next time you and your friends attend one of the HIV fundraisers. Thank you for your attention to this. Keep up the good work.
Working to STOP HIV worldwide;
Robert Brandon Sandor
FOUNDER
Brandon's POZ Party - NYC
www.poz4poz.com
A word about serosorting from a HIV doctor - just because you both are HIV+ doesn't mean you have exactly the same virus.
ReplyDeleteLet's say you've been on the same meds for 10 years with an undetectable virus. You have sex with someone who has been through 5 medication regimens in 10 years, non compliant with all of them, and now has a high viral load with a highly resistant virus. You catch his virus. Now you have two strains - your own, which was being nicely suppressed by your own meds, and his, which is a resistant fucking monster of a strain. His now takes over yours and your T cells begin to go down. I have patients with virus so resistant we can't treat them - we just wait for new drugs to come out and cross our fingers.
Please remember that - the virus mutates so often that no-one has the exact same virus as anyone else. There are some pretty bad strains out there. Be careful.