Seen Queen Features: Bareback Porn Made Me Do It

A recent independent survey on 500 gay men at Soho Live revealed that 21% of gay men 'blame' Bareback porn for encouraging them to have unSafe Sex. The rest of the results can be seen below:

Q: What single factor do you think is mostly contributing to the rise of barebacking:

BAREBACK PORN 21%
LACK OF FREE CONDOM DISTRIBUTION 18%
BOREDOM OF SAFE SEX/CONDOMS 18%
THE INCREASE IN SEX-ON-SITE PREMISES 16%
INNEFECTIVE SAFE SEX EDUCATION 13%
DISINHIBITING RECREATIONAL DRUGS 12%
OTHER 2%

The small number of respondents who said OTHER were generally split between 1. Thinking that many of the reasons given contribute but not being sure which of the reasons would be the single biggest contributor 2. Not being sure whether any of the reasons have contributed 3. Having a general impression that people are complacent or think nothing bad will happen to them.

Once again gay men are playing the blame game for having unsafe sex. People who have unsafe sex do so because they want to...it is a simple as that. They can blame whatever and whoever they like, but in the end they are the one making the decision to have unsafe sex. Take responsibility for your own actions!

Anyone who wants to have unsafe sex with me I assume are: 1. HIV positive or 2. Are lying/in denial about their status or 3. Don't care about contracting HIV and most likely soon will be.

What HIV negative man would want to have unsafe sex? Even if thier parnter 'promises' they are HIV negative I file them under reason '3' above. If they are barebacking with you, they are barebacking with others. Simple rule. Simple truth.

Love is not a condom...Love would respect someone elses safe-sex decision, Love does not stop HIV, safe sex does!

I alone am responsible for the sex that I have. I alone can stop unsafe sex.

1. BAREBACK PORN: Oh please! No one is forcing you to watch Bareback porn. If you blame bareback porn for encouraging you to have unsafe sex, then why are you watching it? If it is on in a venue simply don't look at it or leave...after all, we are talking about your life here. There is plenty of safe sex videos out there...and horny ones too. Alcoholics can't blame the bars and pubs for making them alcoholics, and they can't blame the alcohol either. You have to work on it to become a alcoholic and it all starts with drinking! Knowing something will cause you harm and then doing it says one thing about you...you want to cause yourself harm. Perhaps you need to look at the reasons behind that than blaming how you manifest that harm.

2. LACK OF FREE CONDOMS: Give up beer, cigarettes (they are killing you too you know) or drugs for a week and buy some condoms! Blaming the lack of FREE condoms is the same as saying my life ain' t worth shit! If you place a value on your life, are you trying to say it is not worth a few £ to buy some condoms?

3. BOREDOM OF SAFE SEX: Have to agree with you on this. Nothing is more than an erection killer than having to struggle to open a condom, get it on, shove it in and reduce the sensation of fucking. But ask yourself this...do you want an erection killer or a life killer? Safe Sex, however does not have to be boring. Remember, only boring people have boring sex.

4. INCREASE OF SEX-ON-SITE PREMISES: If going to these places encourages you to have unsafe sex, don't go. Simple. The choice is clearly yours.

5. INNEFECTIVE SAFE SEX EDUCATION: The fact that you know safe sex education is 'ineffective' already puts you in a place to make better decisions about having safe sex, otherwise how would you know them to be ineffective? Essentially, what is there you need to know? Have Unsafe Sex= Get HIV . The end.

6. DISINHIBITUNG RECREATIONAL DRUGS: Once again, if you know taking certain drugs affects your decision to have safe sex, don't take the drugs. Surely your life is worth more than feeling a little high. If you know that drugs affect your safe-sex decision, then every time you take them you are deciding to put your life at risk. You can't blame the drugs, there is only one person responsible here, and that is you. The questions is...just how much do you think you're life is worth. Your own actions will determine that. So stop blaming and take control! (BN)

Responses

1. Thank you for your fantastically level-headed response to the 'Soho Live\' survey: BAREBACK PORN MADE ME DO IT! Whilst you may feel that this kind of response is hard-hitting, it's actually only this kind of no-nonsense tell-it-as-it-is opinion that is likely to make any difference to people's high-risk behaviour. The blame game will always have bad consequences. Now that coffee cups say 'may contain hot fluids' on them, perhaps we should all be wearing t-shirts with \'may contain infected fluids' written on (not being serious!). It's so easy to pretend you don't know what is plainly obvious. Just my 2ps-worth. Paul

2. I agree that HIV ads need to empower people into resopecting and protecting themselves, because once they are made aware through these ads that HIV is not an option, then it is down to them to take responsibility and protect themselves. The problem has been that there have been no ads of this kind for a few years now, and so gay men have not been empowered to respect and protect themselves. That has got to change, especially with a third of under-25s seeing HIv as no more serious than a dose of clap! All the best, Gary