The BEST of Lifelube - "When Barebacking is Noble: The Ongoing Controversy around Serosorting" From Friday, April 6, 2007

Before you get to the article, a note on language. At the LGBTI Health Summit in Philly last month, I learned a great new term called "sero-adaptation" which was coined by this very cool, edgy Parisian HIV prevention group called The Warning"

Sero-adaptation includes, but is not limited to, the idea of "sero-sorting." It refers to a selection of harm reduction strategies that do not involve the use of condoms. These strategies may reduce the risk of HIV transmission, but are not a guarantee and require a clear-headed risk analysis, weighing the good, the bad and the ugly and making a decision around the amount of risk you and your partners are comfortable with.

So, what are some examples of sero-adaptation?

Sero-sorting - having condom-free sex with guys who share the same HIV status

Strategic positioning - determining who does what based on HIV status. For instance, the neg guys fucks the poz guy, which is less risky than the other way around.

Dipping - just sticking the dick inside a little bit and for a brief amount of time

Pulling out - kinda like the "rhythm method" of the 50"s, meaning withdrawal before cumming. Lot's of people become parents like this, and this is exactly how I myself tested poz, but it is less risky than actually allowing cum inside.

Lube - using a generous amount of the slippery stuff reduces friciton in one's tender, delicate anus/rectum and therby reduces the risk of HIV being offered a pathway in.

And of course, there are other sexual activities that can be done by people with same or different HIV statuses that do not involve fucking - sucking, rimming, water sports, JO, fisting, massage...

By the way, just for a moment of clarity, none of the above can be taken to offer complete or partial protection from other types of sexual transmitted infections...

--Jim

So here is that article already..

"When Barebacking is Noble..."

By Christopher Murray

[From the current issue of Circuit Noize, with thanks to the Gay Men's Health Listserv for posting...]

Last month, a virtual Vesuvius erupted when the popular New York gossip blog,Gawker , posted a link and then the next day an interview with a twenty-something gay guy in Manhattan who gets off on fucking guys without condoms.Confessions of a Bareback Top, his site, details his unapologetic adventures and is whack off material for some guys and proof of the end of civilization for others. The kink with the blogger, and those who identify with him, is the thrill we get when we break the taboo of safer sex.

The undeniable point of Mr. Bareback Top, is that while many gay men mouth lip service to safer sex practices, when push comes to shoving it in, so to speak, it's a different story. The bareback top loudly proclaims both his negative status and his assertion that it takes two to tango and that even if discussions before and during sex with his partners revolved around intentions to practice safe sex, once they acquiesce during the act, then they are just as responsible for what happens as he is, no matter how much they or others cry victim.

A storm of disapprobation not surprisingly followed the boost in the bareback blogger's profile. Gawker's comments file was crammed with postings suggesting he be put on the next train to Dachau, other gay men's health listserves picked up the drumbeat of dismay and disgust. But this controversy is only the latest concerning the practice of serosorting.

Defined as guys choosing only to have unsafe sex with others of the same HIV-status, serosorting has been ade facto reality in gay men's lives since the AIDS epidemic started, and before, if you count guys choosing not have sex with others they knew to have an STD or saying fuck it , if they knew they both had herpes, or whatever.

Serosorting, however, is a concept that is exclusive to considerations of HIV prevention. It's based on the premise that men need to know their status and that if they do, and then limit their unsafe behavior to only others of the same status, that HIV infections will fall. This assumes of course that people take steps to learn their status, that their status stays the same, that they are honest about their status, and that others are too. It is true, by the way, that people are more likely to have safer sex if they know they are positive. This is part of the innate civic-mindedness and altruism of gay men, we'll come back to that later.

Serosorting has recently been picked up by some advocates and taken out of the realm of decisions that gay men make on their own and promoted as a serious prevention strategy to be encouraged. Last fall, the San Francisco Department of Public Health launched their "disclosure" campaign that links knowing your status and talking about it with potential sexual partners to intentionally choosing partners of the same status. And Robert Brandon Sandor, the organizer ofBrandon's Poz Parties, a longstanding occasional sex club event for poz guys in New York, took up the charge, hosting a forum at the gay center in Manhattan on serosorting a month later. Brandon has run afoul of some local public health advocates for his championing of serosorting, as they claim his promotion of the concept is overly simplistic.

For Brandon, serosorting means, if you are poz, and only fuck without condoms with other poz guys, HIV won't be transmitted and will eventually burn itself out. Critics note that the world is more complicated then this with people not sticking to the system, assuming things about other people's status, and remaining vulnerable to other STDS.

This also lays the burden on poz guys to have unsafe sex – or maybe by extention of the argument sex, period – only with other positive guys, but also for negative guys or guys of unknown status to continue to have sex only with condoms.

It's easy to fall into a moralistic discussion about sexual ethics when considering serosorting. But in fact the issue is really one that has been around forever and complicated forever: assessing risk. A noted HIV researcher once told me about a guy in Los Angeles he spoke to who would have unprotected sex if his partner had clean matching socks on. The reasoning went that if he was a nice, clean enough guy to have nice, clean enough socks, they it's likely he wasn't a skank and therefore HIV-negative. Sounds pretty silly, but it's a risk assessment strategy, albeit a poor one.

We are all responsible for making decisions about how much risk we can tolerate. Just about any sex can lead to the transmission of an STD; bottoming for anyone carries some risk of exposure to HIV, no matter how minimal if we choose to engage in sex, a major part of being alive, then we are taking risk. If we have sex with people we don't know, or with people we do know, but whose status we can't be 100 percent sure of, we are taking a risk.

While serosorting is a strategy that attempts to lower that risk, as Bareback Top makes clear, sometimes, for whatever reason, we are likely to be taking risk with less than complete information. Like we do when we are drunk, or high, or deeply in love, or deeply in lust, or inexperienced, or desperate, or stupid or lonely. How much risk we are willing to take is a combination of our mind's intelligent assessment and our hearts over-riding blindness to circumstance based on our desire in the moment. That leads back to the altruism issue. What alternately upsets and turns people on about Bareback Top is that he puts his needs for sexual satisfaction and thrill above others. He turns other people into objects, his playthings, and gets a kick out of when their intentions to protect themselves and others are undermined by their desire for hot sex and closeness with another human being. 

In his most recent posting, Bareback Top describes fucking a young guy without a condom and his assumption that it's the first time the kid has been fucked, He says that the kid was clearly in pain. But he did what he wanted and took care of his own needs, popping a nut up the guy's tender ass. Did he give the young man HIV? Probably not, presuming he's still correct that he doesn't have HIV. Did he give the kid any other STD, who knows? Did he use another human being for his own pleasure at the cost of his own and the other person's humanity? Sounds like. That occurs with a cost that Bareback Top has yet to become aware of. You pay for such cavalier games with a little piece of your soul.

Most of us have probably used other people at some time or another for our own gratification. That's called exploitation. The lucky among us learn to regret it.

HIV Advocate Pushes Mandated Condom Use in Porn

via Advocate, by Andrew Harmon

An HIV/AIDS advocate who for years has pushed required condom use in the adult film industry as a condition for film permits is now taking his fight to the next level.

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles City Council in a 9-1 vote gave final approval to an ordinance requiring porn actors to wear condoms.

Industry representatives had opposed the ordinance as governmental regulation gone overboard.

But Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, called the new rule “a great day for the performers and safer sex in our society" and now plans to collect signatures for an equivalent Los Angeles County measure.

Via the Los Angeles Times:

"This is a case study in the power of persistence," Weinstein said in an interview. He noted that the concept of allowing drug users to exchange needles, once seen as untouchable, finally gained acceptance as a way to protect people from HIV.

 Weinstein has pushed state legislators and the County Board of Supervisors to back mandatory condom use, but has received little support.

No state lawmakers have been willing to sponsor legislation, Weinstein said, and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said in 2010 that the state, not the county Department of Public Health, should be dealing with the matter. (Read the report here.)

Weinstein said that self-regulation within the porn industry is ineffective. "It's in their DNA to not have anybody tell them anything about how they do business," he said.


Read the rest

"He Won't Wear a Condom"

via Advocate, by Steven Petrow

Question: Every so often I meet a guy who tells me he just won’t use a condom because (take your pick): (1) He can’t stay hard; (2) He’s too big; (3) He’s allergic to latex; (4) He’s HIV-negative; or 5) It’s a mood killer. How do you suggest I handle these situations — especially when I’m really turned on?

Answer:  Let me start today by noting that it’s World AIDS Day, which is observed December 1 each year and — as the official site in the U.K. proclaims — “is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died.”

That being said, there’s no better way to observe this day than to pledge to protect yourself and your prospective partners from HIV.

And if there’s any tool we have to prevent the continued spread of the virus, it’s the much-maligned, low-tech (but lifesaving) condom. 

I know you’ve heard this before (I certainly hope that you have) but latex and plastic rubbers, when used properly (and yes, that’s key) with a water-based lubricant, provide a high degree of protection to each partner.

But sometimes information alone doesn’t do the trick. If only. Instead of going to the experts (as Mr. Manners often does) I decided to ask a friend of mine who recently became infected why his knowledge of safer sex didn’t safeguard him:

“You can be armed with all of the information in the world, but it's much harder to put it into practice when you combine casual sex, alcohol, and drugs — and put places like Fire Island into the mix,” he told me.

“My suspicion is that somewhere along the line I wasn't sober enough to do what I needed to do to protect myself, and there were enough of those nights that the statistical odds became stacked against me.”

So, how do I suggest you respond to these periodic ploys (and that’s what they are) to have unprotected sex?  It would be facile for me to suggest that you just say no.

Still, you can’t make sound judgments if you’re stoned, high, drunk, tweaked, or toasted — and there’s no question that drug and alcohol use are closely linked with new HIV infections.


Read the rest

When Condoms Aint Enuf...

via TheBody, by Allen Kwabena Frimpong and Michael Terry Everett

"I also want to mention that we are increasingly becoming better at incorporating conversations about 'harm reduction' into the realms of substance use (needle exchanges, safe injection sites, pill testing, etc.), but we often fail to adequately translate this model when speaking of communicating risk reduction in sex (strategic positioning, sero-sorting, viral load suppression, etc.). My question back to the group then is, how do we more effectively communicate to young people the abstract concept of 'harm reduction' for sex within the context of a sex phobic society?"

This was a question posed by Jamie Forrest of Vancouver, Canada in the North America, Western Europe, and Caribbean CrowdOutAIDS Open Forum on Facebook. CrowdOutAIDS is UNAIDS new collaborative online youth-led project.

He posed this question to the group after people were discussing what they considered to be the main reasons for HIV infection among young people.

Reading the responses on Facebook gave us one of those jolted reactions.

The dominant message about sexual health in relation to HIV prevention has been focusing on condom usage. Jamie's question was one that I saw as challenging; given the propaganda that the HIV/AIDS field has been pushing around what it means to have safer sex.

My colleague at the Harm Reduction Coalition, Michael T. Everett, was also raising this same question especially among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) of color given that their rates of infection have been steadily increasing while rates of infection among injection drug users has been on the decline.

The question for us became what (besides the exchange of needles) was accounting for the decrease in transmission of HIV among injection drug users, and how could we use what works in harm reduction messaging and education when it comes to drug use (if anything) for other high-risk populations greatly affected by the epidemic through sexual transmission.

We considered this in light of the following:

1. We cannot exchange condoms like we do syringes.
2. We know people are not using condoms all the time, and the possibilities of HIV and other STI's has not scared enough people into doing so, and so ...
3. If people have been harboring condom use as the dominant end all be all harm reduction response- well then something is terribly wrong with this picture.

The place to begin the conversation around the idea of prevention of at-risk behaviors like having unprotected sex is a great place to start.

We need to engage an intentional conversation concerning the reality that the message of safe-sex, by way of condom usage, may not resonate with people because it is limited and does not allow one to ponder the spectrum of other possible harm reduction practices.

The point is: we want people to still live a healthy life without causing further harm to themselves and others. The spectrum of harm reduction practices includes everything from prevention to helping those who are most affected by the collateral consequences of their at-risk behavior.

The spectrum does not begin or end with condom usage only.


Read the rest

Risky Business: Bareback Sex

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Most UK Gay Men accept PrEP!

via aidsmap, by Roger Pebody

While few gay men in England are currently aware of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), most men who are introduced to the idea support PrEP being made available.

Half would consider taking it themselves, but most would prefer to take it on a daily basis, rather than before and after each time they have sex. These findings come from a snapshot survey of gay men in England, published by Sigma Research this week.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) involves HIV-negative people taking anti-HIV drugs in order to reduce their risk of infection. Results of the iPrEX study into the safety and effectiveness of PrEP in gay and other men who have sex with men showed that, overall, it reduced infections by 43%. Much higher levels of efficacy were seen in men with good adherence to PrEP.

Recent studies with American gay men have shown that while only a minority of men is aware of PrEP, a majority would consider using it.

Most men say PrEP would not affect their own use of condoms, particularly if it is only partially effective.

To investigate the views of gay men in England, researchers put a series of questions to members of the Sigma Panel in June 2011.

The panel is made up of approximately 1500 gay men, bisexual men and other men that have sex with men (MSM) who respond to monthly cross-sectional online surveys about HIV and sexual health.

The surveys have a short turnaround for analysis and reporting to health workers.

Only men who do not have diagnosed HIV were asked about PrEP; 1259 responded.

Prior awareness of PrEP was low. Only 17% of respondents said that they had already heard of the idea of taking a pill before sex in order to prevent HIV infection.

Having informed respondents about what PrEP is and how it might be prescribed, the researchers asked whether men would consider using PrEP, should they be offered it at a sexual health clinic.

Just over half (52%) said they would consider it, while 30% weren’t sure and 17% wouldn’t consider taking PrEP.

There were no differences in the proportion who would consider its use by age, education or sexual identity. Men who had casual partners were slightly more likely to consider its use.

Men who had a regular sexual partner who was HIV-positive were no more likely to consider PrEP than others.

Men who would consider using PrEP were asked why. Generally they wished to avoid HIV infection and believed that PrEP could help reduce this risk.

Many of these men saw PrEP as providing “additional protection”; this could help bring peace of mind.

Some men who use condoms all the time expressed an interest in taking PrEP.

Read the rest

VIDEO: Check Him Out!

The Safety Spectrum: Negotiating Strategies and HIV Risk

via aidsmap, by Gus Cairns

The vast majority of gay men, HIV-positive and negative, make some effort to moderate their risk of transmitting or acquiring HIV, Dr Limin Mao of the University of New South Wales in Australia told the Tenth AIDS Impact conference.

The results of three annual surveys show that the decisions faced by gay men are much more complex than the decision whether or not to use a condom.

Choices range in terms of the likely degree of protection from HIV they offer: from avoiding sex or anal sex altogether to at least avoiding unprotected anal sex with someone known to have the opposite HIV status.

Using condoms 100% of the time for anal sex is still the most popular single strategy, the study found, but only a third of HIV-negative men and a quarter of HIV-positive men now do this.

Taken as a whole, strategies involving basing whether to have unprotected anal sex on a partner's HIV status (serosorting) are now at least as popular as consistent condom use.

The study found a clear difference between serosorting practices according to participants' HIV status. The second most popular safer-sex strategy for HIV-negative men was to restrict unprotected sex to an HIV-negative regular partner – a strategy that has been called 'negotiated safety'.

HIV-positive men were less likely to restrict unprotected sex solely to their primary partner; instead the most popular strategies were to limit unprotected anal sex, both with regular and casual partners, to other HIV-positive partners – or at least to try and exclude having it with regular and casual partners not known to be HIV positive.

The study involved three successive Gay Community Periodic Surveys which took place in eight metropolitan locations in Australia between 2007 and 2009.  Before now, national and international surveys have asked gay men whether they use condoms and, more recently, about their and their partners' HIV status.

But this survey also asked whether, in the previous six months, the respondents' safer-sex behaviour was different between regular or casual partners; and it divided the HIV-positive men into those with an undetectable and detectable viral load.

One hundred per cent condom use was still the most popular strategy, but a minority one, being practised by 33.8% of the HIV-negative men, 25.5% of HIV-positive men with an undetectable viral load and 22.5% of HIV-positive men with a detectable viral load.

Read the rest

 

My PrEP Experience - Leo from NYC tells his story

by Leo, NYC

I am a 47 year old gay white male who began using Prep (Truvada) about 4 months ago, in April 2011. (That's my dog on the left.)

My medical doctor suggested that based on frequent sexual encounters (mostly hooking up with men from Manhunt and Adam for Adam) that I should take the medication.

I tested negative for HIV when I started taking the medication. I have not had any side effects from taking the medication. My insurance company is currently covering the cost (I have a $50 co-pay).

I have had sex without condoms on many occasions since I began taking the medication (anal sex both as a top and bottom). Before I have sex with a guy I do ask his HIV status. I have not been using condoms only with guys who say they are negative ( although I think at least one of the guys was positive). I do not cum inside anyone and I do not let anyone cum inside of me. Also if I notice that the guy that I am with has a lot of pre-cum I make him wear a condom if I am going to bottom.

I have been testing myself every month (I order the test kits on line...its cheaper than going to the doctor) since I began using the medication and I have tested negative each time.

I last tested negative on August 27, 2011.

Click here to pull up all the My PrEP Experience stories posted on LifeLube, including video and written testimonials, from other people sharing their PrEP* experiences. Please feel free to share your reactions in the comments section. And if you have used PrEP, we invite you to share your PrEP experience by video, or in writing. Why did you make the decision to use PrEP? What were some of the challenges you faced in making this decision? How is taking PrEP working out for you? How has it impacted your life? Send video or audio links and/or text to myprepexperience@gmail.com and we will post them here, on LifeLube.  You can include your name, or you may contribute to My PrEP Experience anonymously. Your voice is important!  Please consider sharing your personal experience with PrEP at My PrEP Experience.

Peter, what can I do to have more eco-friendly sex?

Peter Pointers is Chicago's most trusted source for gay, sexy, healthy info with an all-access pass to nationally known health and wellness experts. Go ahead, ask Peter for Pointers. Visit his page on the LifeLube site and read answers to commonly asked questions too.



Q: What can I do to have more eco-friendly sex?

A: Thank you for your question! Greener sex is a definite possibility, and the market for eco-condoms and toys is steadily expanding.

One very easy way to incorporate sex into your overall eco-friendly lifestyle is to purchase an organic, non-petroleum lubricant. There are several organic lubes on the market sold at competitive price points, including Sliquid Organics lubricants , which contain restorative natural ingredients like aloe vera, vitamin E, and green tea, as well as Firefly Organics lubricants , which contain no glycerin, parabens, or petroleum.

While you shouldn’t toss your existing sex toys into your conventional recycling bin, there is a service called Sex Toy Recycling that you can use instead. This service sanitizes and disassembles used and/or broken sex toys and forms them into brand new ones for purchase. In fact, for each sex toy you send in, you receive a $5 coupon towards your next purchase from Sex Toy Recyling’s recycled toy line.

Be well,
Peter Pointers
peterpointers@lifelube.org
www.lifelube.org/experts.php

iCondom app aims to help eradicate AIDS and HIV

via Know your mobile, By Ben Griffin

An application has been released that has a very noble mission in mind - it's designed to help limit the spread of AIDS, HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

iCondom - your condom dispenser locator!, which is the work of MTV Staying Alive, a global HIV awareness and prevention campaign and charity, and Morgane Danielou, founder of iCondom, has two main functions.

The first is the ability to add the location of a condom seller for other people to use. The second is a map that shows you exactly where and how far away your nearest vendor is.

The aim is to help help people find condoms, hopefully limiting the spread of AIDS, HIV and other STDs in the process.

Georgia Arnold, senior vice president of Viacom International Media Networks International and the executive director of the Staying Alive Foundation said in the press release: 'An estimated 5 million 15 to 24 year olds are living with HIV and 2,500 young people are infected with HIV each day.

Read more.

Peter, is there a way to recycle condoms and sex toys?

Peter Pointers is Chicago's most trusted source for gay, sexy, healthy info with an all-access pass to nationally known health and wellness experts. Go ahead, ask Peter for Pointers. Visit his page on the LifeLube site and read answers to commonly asked questions too.

Q: Peter, Peter, is there a way to recycle condoms and sex toys?

A:Thank you for your question! Greener sex is a definite possibility, and the market for eco-condoms and toys is steadily expanding.

There is currently no way to recycle or compost latex or polyurethane condoms. All condoms are intended for one-time use, and any condoms (even unused, unopened ones) or sex toys you toss into your normal recycling bin will be sorted into the trash at your local recycling plant. Unfortunately, conventional latex and polyurethane condoms are only semi-biodegradable and non-biodegradable, respectively. However, even if you can’t recycle or compost conventional condoms and sex toys, there are lots of sustainable sex materials on the market that you can buy instead!

Glyde condoms are vegan, come in assorted flavors, feel thinner than most conventional condoms, and are actually recommended by PETA. Eco-friendly companies like Lelo and CoCo de Mer make their toys exclusively out of sustainable and/or recyclable materials like glass, metal, hard plastics, and elastomers. There are lots of green and affordable vibrators that run on rechargeable batteries and/or solar panels – take the Acuvibe  and the Sola  for example. Earth Erotics  makes whips out of recycled inner tubes for eco-friendly S&M play, as well as non-toxic, non-PVC dildos, butt plugs, and cock rings.

Be well,
Peter Pointers
peterpointers@lifelube.org
www.lifelube.org/experts.php

 

He likes it r-w

By Sapphire

Kel and I dated for three months. We met on the subway where he ran after me to tell me how beautiful I was. He was impressive but I wasn’t prepared drama that tagged along.

Kel and I were not compatible. We fought all the time and were completely disrespectful to one another.  There were times when I couldn’t even look at him.  He would buy me something nice to make up for arguments or fights. He thought it would make me happier.-9 times out of ten..It did.

At the time, sex wasn’t a major need for me. I was trying to escape an oversexed lifestyle and having sex with Kel, wasn’t the best idea. There were days when I had sex with three people in a row! A little out of control I know! 

We were a serodiscordant couple (I am HIV positive and he was HIV negative) and my health was very important to me. I thought with Kel, I could turn a new leaf but that was not the case.

Kel LOVED sex. He bugged all the time about sex and the sex he was into was not healthy. Bottom line, Kel was the “raw-topping” type of guy. He never refused to use condoms but there were times when the condom would come off

 It was a pleasure rush but sometimes a headache. It really messed with my head. Why would a HIV negative man want to risk his life contracting HIV from someone he barely knows? It didn’t add up to me. We had discussions about it that went nowhere. He would say “Don’t stress about it” and it really confused me. There were moments when I felt he was lying about his status. Does he know how HIV is affecting gay men today? Was he trying to get infected? Is he ready to live with the virus?

After much reflection, I broke up with him. I couldn’t keep putting his life or mine in danger. I followed up with my doctor about my behavior and got myself checked out. Everything was fine and I felt like I dodged a bullet. I am glad that we communicated about each other’s HIV status but upset we didn’t make healthy choices around that. Understanding that condom negotiation is not easy, I had to develop better about my communication skill for the next guy. Trust me- it’s better now.

VIDEO: Guide to Sexual Freedom

Have you ever had a  Pleasure Rush? Watch the video and see how it is done!



LifeLube love it! It's provocative and sex positive! This is a real scenario for any gay man on any day.What do you think? Feedback is encouraged!

Read the article detailing the Pleasure Rush campaign

Read the article.

Rubber Geek Out: The Science of Condom Effectiveness

via Global Forum on MSM and HIV, by Michael Reece

Dear Colleagues:

Over the past year, leaders from multiple sexual health organizations in the U.S. have teamed together to create what is called the “Condom Effectiveness Dossier.”  The Dossier is a review of the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of condoms----designed to be used by educators and policy makers when faced with questions about condom manufacturing, condom efficacy, etc.  The full Dossier includes a slide set with over 100 slides dedicated to what scientists know about condoms and their effectiveness, and also includes several videos (e.g., of the condom testing process) that can be used by faculty and other educators during lectures and other presentations.

Our goal is to make this Dossier available as widely as possible.  The full folder of the Dossier can be downloaded at the link below.  I think this is one of the most comprehensive collections of information that supports the work that we do to encourage condom use and condom education.

Michael

The Condom Effectiveness Dossier can be downloaded here.

PASSWORD:  12345678


Michael Reece, Ph.D., MPH
Director, Center for Sexual Health Promotion
Associate Professor, School of Health, Physical Education & Recreation
Indiana University

Source.

Condoms Battle Over Shelf Space - Are Trojans Playing Dirty?

via SF Gate, by Casey Newton

In nearly a quarter-century of selling condoms, David Mayer has learned one lesson above all others: When it comes to shelf displays, size matters.

Mayer, the CEO of Mayer Laboratories in Berkeley, helped to popularize ultrathin condoms, which the company sells under the brand name Kimono. By 2005, Kimono made up 3.3 percent of U.S. condom sales, including 25 percent of ultrathin condoms.

But Mayer's early efforts in the $250 million market met with strong resistance from Church & Dwight, maker of the best-selling Trojan brand.

Since acquiring the 90-year-old Trojan brand in 2001 from Carter-Wallace Inc., Church & Dwight has escalated its practice of giving retailers lucrative rebates - Mayer calls them "kickbacks" - on every condom sold.

Now Mayer is suing Church & Dwight, alleging that the New Jersey company is a monopolist that violated state and federal antitrust laws, leading to higher condom prices nationwide. The company is asking for unspecified damages and for an end to what it calls anti-competitive business practices.

The suit has attracted the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, which began a separate investigation into Church & Dwight's business practices.


Read the rest.

New Condom Graduates Junior to the Big Leagues?

Now here is an idea for getting boys to wear their rubbers.

There is a new condom that is supposed to make your penis bigger and harder when you wear it. The rubber will be distributed by Durex.

Read more, via Bil Browning at Bilerico.

Choosing to Bareback - on Adam4Adam

One of our favorite health bloggers, Stephan on the Adam4Adam blog, goes  bareback this week. Check it out.

I believe that there are a host of reasons why men choose to bareback that cannot be understood outside of the context of an individual.

We as gay men have been told to ‘always use a condom’ by health professionals for many years now and it is good advice in most sexual circumstances. We have been shown how to use them, even by porn stars such as Matthew Rush and Brent Corrigan, and we have lots of choices when it comes to what condom we want or need. But there are considerations regarding condoms and  bareback sex that have not been discussed or considered as broadly as they may need to be.

We, especially as gay men, have been bombarded with safer-sex messaging, telling us that condomless sex can lead to contracting HIV/STDs. Leading me to believe that a lack of basic knowledge regarding condom use, and the protection it offers, is not the foundation of why most men who choose to do so have unprotected sex. I think most of us know at least the basics of HIV/STD transmission.

I am often surprised, and occasionally shocked, at how some in  HIV/STD prevention view and approach gay men who are fully informed on safer-sex practices and choose to bareback. There are some who immediately judge men who choose to engage in condomless sex as either being uninformed, in denial or as something other, like a “Bug Chaser” or “Gift Giver”.

It is worth stating; I believe strongly that it is the right of all adults to have consensual sex in whatever way they choose to have it as long as no harm is caused to another.

Read the rest.

Andrew's Anus - Living with HIV [exclusively on LifeLube - Part 5]

I’m Andrew’s anus, and I have HPV.

Last week I told about how Andy (finally!) got appropriate surgery for my warts and how we learned that it wasn’t the same as a cure.

That was twenty five years ago.

At the time no one dared dream it would be possible to live this long this well with HIV.

For a year or two after the surgery, Dr. Bradley and Andy both kept a sharp eye on me. Occasionally one or the other found a small wart or two in me and each time Dr. B destroyed them with an acid called TCA. Eventually they stopped finding warts and it seemed like I was done with that pesky HPV.

Finding out that he had chronic hepatitis B and HIV put a damper on Andy’s sex life for a while. The shock of the news and the angst that came with suddenly facing mortality had as much to do with that as the viruses. Andy was also really nervous about me. He worried that the surgery might have left me vulnerable and wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to heal.

About six months in, something occurred to Andy. Wouldn’t he feel ridiculous if he moped around for months only to realize he still felt fine?

It seemed sort of twisted to count his chickens before they - what? - died?

 Whether he had two more months or two more years to be healthy and happy Andy was going to focus on living. Eventually his desire came back and then so did his sex life. At the right time and with the right guy, there was a “grand re-opening” for me. The sex felt great and I handled the fucking just fine. I was finally back in the game!

Andy was working for a friend in a small company now. He saw the doctor regularly and when his numbers declined, Dr. Bradley thought it was time for Andy to consider taking the first and only available HIV drug, AZT. His boss was supportive, but Andy was afraid that filing for reimbursement might mean trouble. He worried that there could be an outrageous increase in insurance premiums and they even discussed paying for the expensive medication directly out of the company account.

Dr. B told Andy about a possible alternative. There were openings for a clinical trial that would provide AZT at no cost. He might or might not also get the herpes drug acyclovir – the study would find out if it could help fight HIV. He decided to participate both to help the cause and to avoid the insurance issue.

Andy’s T-cell counts nearly doubled at the beginning of the study, but then went back down in a matter of weeks. Meanwhile, his blood tests showed a problem with his liver and everyone was worried. Treatment was stopped and then restarted at a lower dose.The liver tests got closer to normal then, but not close enough to let him continue in the study.

Together Dr. Bradley and Andy decided that he would stay on the AZT at a reduced dose. Andy was able to postpone buying drugs and filing insurance for quite a while. He still had some AZT from the study and more than once the nurse clandestinely slipped him leftover bottles of pills in brown paper bags. For years, Andy’s liver tests would occasionally climb above normal but they never again spiked like they had that first time.

The end of the 80's had flown by. Several guys from his first support group had passed away. Although he was tired a lot, Andy continued to work and have fun. But the 90's began with two funerals for closer friends and Andy often wondered, “Why am I still here? Am I some kind of exception?”

Andy had dated a number of guys, but one night out dancing he met someone special. Jack was younger and HIV-negative, but the two were in love and it wasn’t long before Jack moved in.They struggled with being over-cautious at first but they eventually got good at using condoms so Jack’s anus and I both got plenty of action.

Unlicensed raves started to spring up around town and some weekends that’s where Andy and Jack partied. They called hotlines for directions to unused warehouse spaces where they drank “smart drinks” instead of cocktails or beer. Young DJs played songs by groups like 808 State and the Future Sound of London and new‘intelligent” lighting machines sprayed vivid color in every direction.

One night, some guy they’d never heard of (Moby!)showed up to perform and when the lights finally came up they were drenched from dancing. The sound of a distant ice cream truck came from the speakers, freezer pops were handed out, and they headed home to collapse into each other’s arms.

Andy’s CD4 counts, as they were now called, slowly declined. Dr. Bradley prescribed a second drug. Once again, Andy lucked into an underground source. “Expanded access” drugs set aside for a now-dead patient were given to him. Dr. Bradley told him there was a chance the Epivir would work against
Andy’s hepatitis B as well. Eventually they added a third similar drug with the hope it too could buy time.

He didn’t know if it was the difference in their ages, the difference in their HIV status, or a fascination with club drugs Andy didn’t share with Jack, but after a few years they grew apart. Andy began to surf online services like CompuServe and AOL and met a few guys that way.

Half way through the decade, Andy’s CD4 counts got down to to dangerous levels. He wasn’t an exception after all. Medically, it seemed like he was just waiting for something bad to happen. Just in the nick of time, stronger drugs became available, and adding one to his regimen stopped his decline. Andy had never given up hope.

And what about me, you ask?

I enjoyed a relatively trouble free decade. Once in a while Andy overdid things, leaving me a little sore, and occasionally I had what he assumed was a minor hemorrhoid issue.

These small problems resolved themselves quickly, though.

In fact, 20 years would pass between the appearance of those last few warts and the time when Andy and I would once again confront the human papillomavirus.

(to be continued... stay tuned)



Read previous installments.


 As told to Mark Hubbard

VIDEO: Optician David Borges Tells it RAW