If ever you think self-loathing and self-destructive behavior in a minority group can get worse we have this article from Advocate: They’re Peddling Death
Basically: Black and latino closeted gay men pay to go to condom-optional parties to have anonymous sex with whoever they want. With the spike in HIV infections among blacks and latinos this is a bit troubling. It’s the illusion of consequence-free sex mixed with thug-life pretense and The Down Low delusion.
Supposedly this hasn’t spread to the rest of the country yet – or is it just another sex panic?
But is this any different than lots of white men screwing all tweaked up at a Circuit Party – or is it because that’s for HIV charities that it is okay? Well it is different in the context – more private, more underground, cooler. Is it much different than a bathhouse? Supposedly if you have condom-free sex at Steamworks they throw you out and you are banned from all their venues, but what if you rented a room to yourself and your partner(s)?
As Larry Kramer said (I think it was him), as long as gay men keep giving eachother AIDS then the homophobes get excited about the destruction because they are doing it to themselves. Many minority groups do this to themselves – implode. There’s another article in the Advocate about the spiritual side of crystal meth – give me a break – it’s a drug that turns you into a walking rutting hardon – it doesn’t have to have a spiritual side. As the Right Reverend Chris Rock says: “Drugs sell themselves.”
I think consequence-free sex is a delusion. In a world where syphillis spreads cross-country and can be tracked through chat rooms, we are more highly networked than ever – and so is our health. Our global health. Medical advances have made HIV much less of an instant death sentence and the numbers of people surviving with HIV are growing – but so are new infections – especially among minority women. Just another ticking timebomb here in Apple Pie America.
So much of this would be transformed if families fully accepted their gay sons and daughters. There’s be less need for a whole other community of support – less isolation. Less worry hinged on masculinity and manliness.
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