Refusing to Have Sex With HIV-Positive People: Why It's Not a Prevention Strategy

Reposted from Trevor Hoppe's Trevorade Blog

I was having drinks with a friend of mine -- we'll call him Patrick here -- this weekend when the subject of having sex with HIV-positive men came up. "Oh, I would never have sex with an HIV-positive guy," he casually remarked -- as if such a thing were already obvious. I was shocked not just by Patrick's statement, but also by the categorical bravado in his delivery. To have sex with HIV-positive men, as he went on to explain, was to expose himself to unnecessary risk of infection. I've been replaying this conversation again and again in my head. How could he be so outrageously calculating in his cooly expressed exclusionary strategy? Today I want to spend a few moments reflecting on these kinds of statements, because I think many people would uncritically read them as legitimate prevention strategies. I will argue here, however, that in reality that these kinds of strategies that are totally bankrupt in terms of actual risk reduction. Moreover, what I think this kind of statement actually tends to do is not actually promote any real reduction in risk, but rather to reinforce and reproduce harmful stigma against HIV-positive people.

Read the rest...

Sadness When I Expected Anger: On Public Health and Gay Men

via Trevor's blog, by Trevor Hoppe

I was shocked last weekend in Chicago at the LGBTI Health Summit when I began to cry in the middle of a workshop. It was my fourth session of the summit, and I was feeling a bit worn thin from the weekend's intensity. Nevertheless, I did not anticipate the power of the emotions I felt as I described my anger and intensity over Public Health's treatment of gay men's sexualities.

The workshop was titled, "Destroying Public Health: for the Good of LGBT Health: Critique. Alternatives. Discussion," and was a collaboration between myself and Bill Jesdale. He was going to do a piece on risk, and I was going to do an analytic-polemic piece on the need to destroy Public Health. I had given a similar presentation before at an academic conference (audio; slides), then-titled "Resisting Public Health." But I felt the need to rev things up a bit, so I opted for a more loaded verb.

Read the rest.

Men Who Bareback Should Be Made Partners in Health Promotion, Not Banished

Nice post on Trevor Hoppe's blog by Tony Valenzuela. Don't forget to come hear Tony speak at Risky Business on August 17th!



The tone of the online debate has been, well, impolite following the announcement by International Mr. Leather to ban the promotion and distribution of bareback porn at the weekend event's leather marketplace.

"Fascists. No wonder they like uniforms," wrote a man identified as Liam Cole reacting to the ban on Treasure Island Media's blog "You're just a bunch of sick people who need help," countered an anonymous poster on the same blog.

On August 17th at 6 pm at the Center on Halsted in Chicago, I will be sitting on a panel called "Risky Business? Reclaiming Pleasure," to discuss what effect bareback porn has on men's desires, fantasies and behaviors. The forum is not about IML's ban but will throw a wider net on the discussion of porn, sex without condoms and desire.

As a guest on Trevor's blog, I'd like to focus here on the IML ban that, once again, brought into focus the raw feelings that surface when gay men talk about raw sex. I should state my opinion up front: I disagree with IML's decision, don't believe it will affect behavior, and fear it will further marginalize a group of high risk men who need to be brought under the tent of community wellness, not banished.

"I never thought I'd see the day that IML is used as a vehicle for censorship," said one anonymous source at the Chicago Free Press website. "I don't like being treated like a child at an adult event." Disputing this charge was Colin at Gay Men's Social Crisis blog (GMSC) who said, "I have a hard time with this [censorship] argument. I find bareback porn in direct conflict with health education, even if it does present what can and should be recognized as a fantasy scenario."

Maybe the better question isn't whether or not IML's new policy is censorship - it is by definition - but whether censoring bareback porn from the IML marketplace, however offensively this may strike some of us, is worth the presumed outcome of "social responsibility" and health?

Read the rest at Trevor Hoppe's blog.

How is Trevor Hoppe healthy?

What keeps me alive, thriving, and sane is quite simply my friends. I have been blessed over the many years to have a wonderful group of queer men and women (and everyone in between) in my life who have kept me sharp and critical in the face of a culture that would rather me as a gay man tell straight folks what to wear or how to style their hair (two fabulous professions, to be sure, but neither of which suit me).

I stay healthy by celebrating the mind-blowing sex I had last week over cocktails with my friends. I find pleasure in talking about sex and exploring what makes it so powerful for me, and my friends keep me sane by facilitating an open, honest discourse about our sexualities. My friends believe that sex is good, healthy, and potentially transformative -- and that shared approach is what bonds us together.

I stay healthy by hopping in a car at 11 PM on Friday nights to head to Detroit with a gaggle of gays in search of a religious experience on the dance-floor. The heavy bass moves through our bodies, keeping us moving, reminding us that we are alive and fabulous by exploding our senses through dance.

I stay healthy by resisting the push for me as a gay man to be "straight acting" and reject gay culture's most radical and destabilizing elements. If I am flamboyant or eccentrically feminine today, it is a statement against the pathologizing bullshit I put up with for years as a young queer who was urged to keep my wrist stiff and my voice monotone. Being a sissy is a politics for me, and it is that queer femininity that I share with my gay brothers that brings me joy and a passion to thrive.

In short, I stay healthy by celebrating what I believe being gay is all about: good sex, good friends, and a healthy skepticism for the status quo.

-- Trevor Hoppe
Ann Arbor, Michigan


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Resisting Public Health: Working Within the Gay Men's Health Movement to Produce Change

via Trevor Hoppe

1) Why resist public health?
2) How have others resisted pathologizing / marginalizing scientific discourses?
3) What do I believe as an activist-researcher?
4) How have I put those beliefs into practice as a researcher?
5) What are the big questions to consider as we move forward?

Check the slides out.

Bottoms of Color, Step Up!

"The Bottom Monologues" is explicitly seeking gay, bisexual, and other men of color who have sex with men to submit their stories online about bottoming. With the deadline fast approaching, the organizers have noticed a distinct lack of submissions from Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, and other men of color in the response pool. The site features a questionnaire with a few simple, sexy questions about your experiences. The organizers will use the stories submit to create a stageplay based on your stories and experiences. They're hoping to collect more stories from guys of color so they can accurately portray their lives on stage.

If you're unfamiliar with the project, here's a bit of background:

"The Bottom Monologues" will be a play based on your stories. That's right - you can have a hand in the writing of a play about your experiences! We're hoping to collect submissions from gay, bisexual, queer, and trans men from across the world. We could write our own play without your help, but it wouldn't reflect the complexity and diversity of experiences that we know are out there. We need your help to make sure that no bottom gets left behind! Submit your story today!

What We'll Do With Your Story

Once we've collected the responses, the three of us will sit down and pour over them for a month or two. We're going to read every word you've generously provided us. We'll be reading for a few things: 1) Similarities that pop up in many of your stories; 2) Major points of conflict or disagreement; 3) And finally, we'll be hunting for particularly evocative, exciting, or compelling stories.

Once we've finished reading, we'll put similar kinds of stories into theoretical blenders and turn the narratives of dozens of men into one "composite character." You may not find your word-for-word story about that amazing night in Paris' Le Depot in the final product, but you can rest assured that it has influenced that direction of the project.

Who Should Submit

Anybody who has anything to say about gay/bi/queer/trans bottoms. That includes guys who identify as a top, bottom, versatile, and those who don't identify at all. We're even interested in hearing from straight-identified folks! Wherever you are. Whoever you are. And whatever kind of sex you have.


We want you!

Ready to Submit?

Click here to be connected to the submission form.

The form asks a series of six broad questions for your to consider in responding for the project. We hope you find them useful, but if you've got better ideas for what to say, don't hesitate to submit a different kind of story. That's expected and wanted. If you have questions about the survey or anything else, don't hesitate to ask!