Hey guys, what’s up!? This is Brandon, The Sword’s new winter intern! When they asked me what I wanted to write about for my first post, I remembered something my first Journalism Professor said last semester: “Write what you know.” So, today I want to talk to you guys about barebacking and HIV.
I’m not HIV-positive now, but if I ever were to become positive, I sure as hell would want to know. Wouldn’t you? That’s why it’s important to get tested regularly (every six months) if you’re sexually active. And it’s especially important to get tested even more regularly (every three months) if you’re having bareback anal sex, which is the only kind of sex I ever have. Know your status!
The debate over bareback sex is going to rage on weather you get tested for HIV or not, so ignore the haters who are trying to control your decisions and just take care of you first and formost by getting tested and knowing your status. Last I checked, the science is still out on all the who/what/when/where/why/how of how HIV is actually transmitted, so I’m not going to let anyone else tell me how to protect myself unless their a doctor at the HIV testing clinic. And speaking of doctors, even if I did become HIV positive, the doctors are almost finished making a vaccine that prevents HIV, so I can just take that.
But make no mistake, a vaccine might not be possible for everyone, even with Obamacare and lowered Health Care costs, so that’s why it’s still important to get tested and know your status. Like they say, knowing is half the battle. It truely saddens me to see commenters here attacking gay porn stars like Dean Monroe or Brent Corrigan who have bareback sex or worked with bareback studios, because how do you know that these performers aren’t taking care of themselves and getting the proper tests done to protect themselves and others? You don’t know.
I’ve learned a lot in my 19 years, and one of the things I’m most proud of is knowing how my body works and knowing what feels good to me. It doesn’t matter if I’m topping or bottoming (and in case you’re wondering, I’m mostly a top), the feeling of a condom is gross, I’m sorry to say, and that’s why I will never use them. Plus, I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to latex so I can’t use them even if I wanted to. Starting college last year and having bareback sex with dozens of hot new guys on campus has definately enriched my life for the better and given me the freedom to explore my sexuality in ways I never could have even imagined before. Luckily, I learned early on that it’s totally possible to have hot, raw, seed-planting bareback sex that is both responsible and pleasurable because I get tested and I know my status. Do you?
Get tested! Know your status!
Thanks guys.
–Brandon
[Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article are the opinions and views of the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of TheSword.com, NakedSword.com, or any of its partners and affiliates. Protect yourself. Get tested and know your status.]
The satire was pretty bad. However, the delicious irony here is seeing the guys who took to the comments section to post their outrage were all the ones echoing the satirist’s intent. Barebackers know better, and it shows.
Though the posting is satire a recent study showed only 50% of guys on hook up sites Grindr, etc, use condoms. This satire is a little too real, unfortunately.
Clearly, this is satire. Bad satire at that.
Furthermore, if it ain’t bareback I ain’t interested.
As funny as this article is, it’s still not as funny as the number of retards who don’t realise this is a joke.
Just have to say, this was too misinformed, and the spelling is too bad, to be Zach. LOL I hope.
If it was you, Zach, I am SO going to personally slap you upside the head.
With a name like Lichen, you are hardly the arbitrar of good humor.
Brandon, regardless of the inaccuracies of some of your ideas, this was well-written, and I wish you the best at TheSword during your internship! (Work on your spelling LOL)
For everyone – the issue is not that you know YOUR status, but what about the other guy? You just going to take his word? Dumb. Having bareback sex with “dozens of guys” is Russian Roulette. Brandon is correct that to do so is no one’s decision but his own, but I think it is important to be accurate here in a public forum.
Fact is, as Brandon says, some – SOME – of the science around HIV transmission is still in development. For example, it is likely so rare to acquire HIV infections from oral sex that it is perhaps silly to use a “dental dam” or some such thing unless you are certain that someone is positive for HIV. However, it is certain – CERTAIN – that HIV is transmitted through semen/blood via anal sex. Another fact Brandon is not considering is that any HIV test comes with a delay in time – it is possible to test negative for a time (time period depends upon specific test) when you are in fact already infected. During this time, you may be infecting a partner. Conversely, when that guy you’re with says he just tested negative, he may in fact be carrying the virus.
Another big issue is the transmission of non-HIV STD’s through barebacking. For example, a big one is the HPV virus – this is more commonly “genital warts”. Although a guy may never show symptoms, he can carry it, and #1 his chances of anal/rectal cancers are raised substantially, and #2 sex with a woman, should he partake, can render her infertile. A condom blocks transmission of this virus as well as HIV.
There is nothing “safe” about bareback sex. Ever. We all need to be clear about that. The statement is in fact backed by medical science, and (I do have medical training and so can speak to fact) it is a medical fACT that HIV can be transmitted this way.
Question: Everyone knows there is such a thing as a non-latex condom, right? So allergy to latex is not an excuse.
ZACH…
This fake posting, apparently intensed as satire, is entirely irresponsible. Many people will read this and take it as a truthful advice of a “hot” young guy pictured as the intern, and they won’t get that you are trying to be funny, thought-provoking, or whatever it is you are trying to do here. If you are going to write satire that evokes a response, make it broad enough to be OBVIOUS in its intentions. Too many young people ARE barebacking without regard for their health, and think that being HIV+ is just a cakewalk now; take a few pills…some steroids…get all muscly…AND get your ass creamed with abandon. In fact, all too many poz guys still know the horrors of constant diahreea, wasting syndrome, etched faces, nausea, and not being insureable.
Oh, and there is that dying thing.
You have a powerful platform here that reaches a lot of young people who will think this Brandon guy is real. I think it is entirely irresponsible for you to use that platform in a way that may make them think barebacking is safe.
Yo Brandon dude, you must be on Grindr more than in class. Check your post … It is whether not weather and they’re not their. But more importantly, I remember you from the campus pride events, dancing without your shirt on. You wouldn’t give me the time of day a d now I am so happy that you didn’t. I’m HIV+ but didn’t know until recently so given your post I easily could have given it to you (I like to bottom but guys see my privates and demand to be fucked). You dodged a bullet — this time.
Dear Brandon, If this is truly what you are thinking I ask you to please speak with healthcare professionals about everything you say in paragraph 3. There are so many holes in the logic that I have a concern for your future. I know it’s not my business and I am just wanting to say a few points of clarity.
When they come out with an HIV vaccine…it won’t work if you’re already poz.
Just because you know your status, so what? Especially those times you bottom I hope you witnessed the clinic handing your sex partner his neg status.
If you test every 3 months then if you get infected soon after a test how likely will you spread it to others since you’re mostly a top. That is my greatest concern.
I’m a counselor but not a health professional so I just ask that you protect yourself and all those cute handsome bottoms you’re fucking.
good god come on you guys lighten up.
obviously its a joke……..and hilarious as well.
can’t wait for brandon’s next post!
This writer is obviously a complete FAKE. Seriously The Sword, why are you guys making up characters and much less promoting the bareback sex lifestyle. Firstly, the guy claims to be 19 but says something about being advised by his journalist professor, it’s obvious that he’s probably older than the actual age he stated. The experience related in the post is just speaking of fakeness.
I’m sure that in a few weeks this person is going to exposed as a fake, a persona fabricated by the editors to draw attention to the site.
You be the best bug chaser you can be!
Back in the olden days (say, 2008) when I would pathetically scan for figure-skating partners on Manhunt, I was always amazed at how many guys would say to me, “I’m an HIV-negative top, but I have a latex allergy so bareback only.” Um… No. There are plenty of real Brandon’s out there, even if this one isn’t. Now when I look for men to help me work on my triple-lutz double-toe loop on Scruff, they usually just ask about the last time I was bred… I’m wondering how many of these guys are actually out there pulling this shit and how many are just jerking off thinking about it. The world may never know.
I am flabbergasted that so many people have missed that this post is satire and that Brandon does not exist. So much so that I think it apparently needs to be rewritten to be even more ridiculous. Because if so many people thought it was real, I am sure there are a subset of people who were nodding their heads in agreement with Brandon.
Are you serious? You think whether it’s “real” or not makes a difference? The point is not many young guys are going to understand that and will read this thinking it’s an invitation to act like morons and sets up the idea that unsafe sex is an option. WORDS HAVE POWER whether they’re real of not. Think before you type people…
Unbelievable. Not one comment supporting the idea that people should actually get tested. Gotta let you in on something guys: there are many POZ people in this world who don’t know that they POZ. And all you can say to them is, use a condom. Let me change what I said: Un-fucking-believable.
The issue here is mainly the use of testing as an excuse to have bareback sex…
I absolutely believe that regular testing is COMPLETELY necessary, but I also think to come here and encourage young men to engage in a practise which almost guarantees contraction of HIV, but also the spreading to others of the disease is uncontionable. This guy needs to be removed from any kind of public forum before he does some real damage.
Gay men, young and old, are already having TONS of bareback sex. Hopefully this article will actually make them listen, finally a voice more similar to their own.
Ummm…maybe it is me but…It seems Chelsea has been reincarnated as Brandon. Same pose, same backpack, same stupidity.
Steve
Students from campus brochures for all the intern positions!
How did this drivel and utter tosh made it through the editorial board? Brandon is a confirmed plonker!
Darn it. I forgot. I love your backpack, Brandon ! See you soon. :-(
I realize this was meant as a satire, Zach, but a) it’s not really effectively written enough that it’s clear that it’s supposed to be satire, and b) I don’t think this is a subject one should even attempt to be funny about, considering that so many people above have not understood that it is supposed to be satire.
That’s exactly what I was thinking.
The real problem is that many people actually agree, satire or not satire…
Well said…..HIV isn’t something to be flippant about. It kills people and to be promoting unsafe sex in this day and age goes so far past being irresponsible.
Yes, because satire is the perfect medicine to stop the scourge of AIDS.
THIS IS HOW EVERYONE HIS AGE TALKS! so many guys are getting HIV now, huge population under 24. you would think they would know to wear condoms and protect themselves but they don’t. Because it’s not “cool” or they know they’ll get HIV eventually, so why bother. Well said Zach… I hear this conversation over and over and over with my young gay friends. 6 out of 10 guys in SF are positive. If you’re negative – you’re a minority. Not sure what to think anymore…
My first journalism professor told me a) you need to have some intelligence to go into this field and b) if your going to to have little regard for your own life, don’t bother even coming enrolling into this school.
Brandon, I would advise you to head on over to Treasure Island and embark upon a career in Death Sex so that you may maximize your pleasure.
And who told you health care costs were going down? Premiums just soared by double digit rates Jan. 1. The amount of money I spend on meds each month equates to a car payment for most people.
God..I miss me
I had to read a whooooooooooooooooole long way down this fucking page, but I finally found something funny.
Thank you, Ghost Chelsea.
P.S. Boo!
Brandon: You’re strategy totally makes scents…and dude, I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to latex to, because I fart alot after I drink milk.
The writer of this moronic post deserves what he has coming to him.
Oh god! I hope this one dies faster than Chelsea!
She was too – after all- killed by a cum load that grew inside of her
So is this the feeling and thoughts of our college enrolled gay men today? If it is they have learned nothing from my generation, a generation in which we could go to a funeral for one of our friends almost everyday! We are not dying now at a regular pace but the drugs cost a fortune and don’t do much for the lonelyness from being single because people arn’t into positive people that much.
What are you going to do when your status changes, you will not be the most welcome partner with your barebacking friends. Probaly wont be getting too many invites to the next big party. And I can tell you it is when not if your status will change. Please do some research and educate yourself to the cause of Aids, it is HIV and it is passed throught sex!
I can’t believe that anyone in this day and age could write such a dangerous and ridiculous article. The only way to prevent contracting HIV whether gay or straight is with safe sex and to come on a public forum and spout this kind of irresponsible and uneducated drivel is going to cost impressionable young guys who come on here thier lives. You should seriously look at your way of thinking “Brandon”. You need some serious re-education on what being a responsible writer is all about.
where’s Ghost Chelsea? i luv her!
Two words: Josh Weston.
Is this a joke?
This is the worst written, riddled with spelling errors, article ever. No fact checking (a vaccine is right around the corner?), irresponsible article I have read in a long time. “it’s totally possible to have hot, raw, seed-planting bareback sex that is both responsible and pleasurable because I get tested and I know my status.”
Every sexual encounter could change that status, and if you are “seed planting”, (gross term), what a great opportunity to spread the virus until your next “status check”.
Who writes this crap? I know this is a porn site but this article is a new low in misinformation and “permission” to act without a care for anyone else. And, by the way, there are non latex condoms for people with latex allergies.
HIV will have a nice long life until there really is a cure and a vaccine because of the behavior of “gay” and “men who have sex with men” who have driven there infection rates to new heights (check the Centers for Disease Control for the actual figures) because of this behavior.
Unless you know for certain your status AND the status of your partner, it’s playing roulette with your health.
You can lose a lot of things in life, but health is not one you want to part with. Oh yes, you can take pills and be fine and depend on people to pay for them and hope they work. They often don’t.
clearly you’re new to the site.
I’m bored with this new personality of yours Zach. When will we see Zombie Chelsea make her debut? Or from Chelsea’s aborted baby(ies)?
Why don’t you use polyurethane condoms since there are other STIs other than HIv? Hep C, herpes, and HPV are just some of the incurable ones. I couldn’t help noting “their” “definately” and “truely”. Generations of gay men did wear red ribbons for years because of a holocaust. Your public school education is showing through.
It’s a joke article by a fake college student.
I didn’t bother to read the stupid article but who is the cute guy in that picture…yummy
haha that’s exactly what i did.
So what are the odds that when this one dies in childbirth after being knocked up by a bumfights-looking guy, it will be in the process of having an AIDS baby?
It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, HIV transmission is really rare. If an HIV+ top accidentally unloads into an HIV- bottom, the gay male body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.
LMAO!!!
Yeah like how rape victims shut down gay babies. Didn’t you know that lesbians can’t birth gay males? It’s a scientific fact. I heard it from Chelsea The Intern. She knows everything. Wise girl she is. Glad her replacement Brandon is here. Much cuter and a tighter hole.
HAHA too funny
LMGDAO! Yes, this will be his only saving grace from the sound of it.
This will end well.
Zach,
I wouldnt be surprised if you were behind one of those Manti Te’o scandals. Stop making up stupid characters all the time. I know all you have is this blog, tacos and chihuahuas.
You’re right. One minute he’s writing an article about not having HIV and then the next article he magically has HIV and then when things start getting out of control they decide to kill him off. Seriously, do a google “search by image” and you’ll see that’s a generic stock image used by colleges and universities.