“I can’t believe he lied to me!”
Recently, even in the PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) Facts Forum, a participant remarked that one of his tricks lied to him about being on PrEP. “How can this happen?,” he pondered — it does all the time.
Two years ago on the online site Manhunt, I was contacted by an HIV- guy even though my profile said “HIV+ only.” Dialogue ensued that he was really HIV+, and he explained why he lied: “You know how cruel people can be.”
David Fawcett reports from a recent conference that: “Of all the many obstacles to prevention and treatment worldwide, stigma remains the most challenging.”
In spite of this reality, the AIDS Health Foundation’s (AHF) just launched a very stigmatizing and paranoia-based campaign: “Trust Him?”
It is a lot easier for gay men to have sex then talk about it. Online hookup sites make it very easy with stats, HIV-status and pictures to find your man in a few clicks.
Unfortunately for safer sex advocates, their message may come too late.
We still react when individuals show up that do not match their online profiles in appearance or HIV status, but yet we continue to trust the information presented.
Does this environment encourage a discussion about HIV?
Online I can read the HIV status of a potential hookup. Guys, we do this all the time to sero-sort for HIV- or HIV+ and even ‘HIV- on-PrEP.’ How does this fit into the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recent HIV prevention campaign: “START TALKING. STOP HIV”? I suggest this is yet another campaign dreamed up by individuals with good intentions, but isolated from the reality of today’s gay life.