2 ms·

How did PrEP change the ways you can have sex ? In my world, sex without a condom with people you do not know and trust is asinine. And as I understand it fro

How did PrEP change the ways you can have sex ? In my world, sex without a condom with people you do not know and trust is asinine. And as I understand it from my interaction with gay people, it is not that they take PrEP to reduce the non zero chances of contracting HIV while having protected sex, but it is to be able to have unprotected sex while completely disregarding other STIs.

est31 2y ago
You are right in the sense that there is groups among the MSM community who feel emboldened by PrEP to have unprotected promiscuous sex. I've ran across this mindset myself. It's a free world but the mindset is short sighted: there is many other diseases who spread more freely thanks to the carelessness instilled by PrEP. I agree that PrEP should mainly be seen as a means of derisking the worst case scenario of what happens when a condom breaks, falls off, etc. It's an amazing gift in the fight against HIV, but only for HIV, not the other diseases. I wouldn't say this mindset is present in all gay people though, one should differentiate. Many gay people I talk to are very aware of the distinction.
TaylorAlexander 2y ago
It makes a big difference for oral sex. In queer communities "sex" means a lot of things. My agreement with my partner is that if I am going to have sex with someone else, first we have a conversation about testing status and sex partners, and if that goes well we can have oral sex without protection or have penetrative sex with condoms. I don't really have sex with people I don't have some level of trust with, but we are all sleeping around a bit and even someone you trust can make mistakes. Most STIs are curable or not a big deal, but HIV changes your entire life. With PrEP, you allow yourself some freedom to take a calculated risk. I mostly don't have sex with someone unless they are on PrEP too, because I only have sex with responsible mature people and in our community, taking PrEP is the responsible and mature thing to do. But we are still fooling around with a lot of people. If I am on PrEP and the person I am hooking up with is on PrEP, the chances of getting a life changing STI become extremely low. There is another factor. With my doctor's office, which sees a lot of people in the community, they won't let you be on PrEP unless you get tested every three months. So in many cases if someone is on PrEP they are also getting regular testing done. That is not a direct result of PrEP, just an administrative side effect, but what it means is that if I go to a sex party and someone wants to go down on me, as happened in January, then if we are both on PrEP and getting tested every three months, then that interaction is very safe. When I did this it was with someone my girlfriend (who was also at the party with me) knew before I did, so there was some level of community trust there. Hope that is a helpful answer.
- 4gotunameagain 2y ago
  Yes thank you, you confirmed my understanding that the function of PrEP is to facilitate promiscuous unprotected sex.
  - TaylorAlexander 2y ago
    I think this is a misunderstanding. People are already having a whole lot of promiscuous unprotected sex. The function of PrEP is to make that sex safer. My friend used to volunteer at an LGBTQ support shelter. She knew gay men who had promiscuous unprotected sex 20 years ago. Some of these people had been so marginalized by society and abandoned by their families that the connection from their random sexual encounters was the only thing they had. She knew a guy that was willing to do it no matter the risks. One day he found he had contracted HIV, and not long after he committed suicide. I’ve been to sex parties before I was on PrEP, and the arrangement is the same. Have a conversation about testing, and if everything sounds good have unprotected oral or use condoms for penetration. The difference is that now with PrEP this feels much safer as one of the most significant STIs is no longer nearly as easily transmitted.
    - AlexeyBelov 2y ago
      Don't even bother. Choice comments from that user: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39538568 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39538568 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39548905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39548905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40520483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40520483
      - 4gotunameagain 2y ago
        You had to read back 4 months of my comments to assemble your ad hominem ? How lovely. Not sad at all.
        AlexeyBelov 2y ago
        I recognized your username.

est31 2y ago

You are right in the sense that there is groups among the MSM community who feel emboldened by PrEP to have unprotected promiscuous sex. I've ran across this mindset myself. It's a free world but the mindset is short sighted: there is many other diseases who spread more freely thanks to the carelessness instilled by PrEP. I agree that PrEP should mainly be seen as a means of derisking the worst case scenario of what happens when a condom breaks, falls off, etc. It's an amazing gift in the fight against HIV, but only for HIV, not the other diseases. I wouldn't say this mindset is present in all gay people though, one should differentiate. Many gay people I talk to are very aware of the distinction.

TaylorAlexander 2y ago

It makes a big difference for oral sex. In queer communities "sex" means a lot of things. My agreement with my partner is that if I am going to have sex with someone else, first we have a conversation about testing status and sex partners, and if that goes well we can have oral sex without protection or have penetrative sex with condoms. I don't really have sex with people I don't have some level of trust with, but we are all sleeping around a bit and even someone you trust can make mistakes. Most STIs are curable or not a big deal, but HIV changes your entire life. With PrEP, you allow yourself some freedom to take a calculated risk. I mostly don't have sex with someone unless they are on PrEP too, because I only have sex with responsible mature people and in our community, taking PrEP is the responsible and mature thing to do. But we are still fooling around with a lot of people. If I am on PrEP and the person I am hooking up with is on PrEP, the chances of getting a life changing STI become extremely low. There is another factor. With my doctor's office, which sees a lot of people in the community, they won't let you be on PrEP unless you get tested every three months. So in many cases if someone is on PrEP they are also getting regular testing done. That is not a direct result of PrEP, just an administrative side effect, but what it means is that if I go to a sex party and someone wants to go down on me, as happened in January, then if we are both on PrEP and getting tested every three months, then that interaction is very safe. When I did this it was with someone my girlfriend (who was also at the party with me) knew before I did, so there was some level of community trust there. Hope that is a helpful answer.

4gotunameagain 2y ago
Yes thank you, you confirmed my understanding that the function of PrEP is to facilitate promiscuous unprotected sex.
- TaylorAlexander 2y ago
  I think this is a misunderstanding. People are already having a whole lot of promiscuous unprotected sex. The function of PrEP is to make that sex safer. My friend used to volunteer at an LGBTQ support shelter. She knew gay men who had promiscuous unprotected sex 20 years ago. Some of these people had been so marginalized by society and abandoned by their families that the connection from their random sexual encounters was the only thing they had. She knew a guy that was willing to do it no matter the risks. One day he found he had contracted HIV, and not long after he committed suicide. I’ve been to sex parties before I was on PrEP, and the arrangement is the same. Have a conversation about testing, and if everything sounds good have unprotected oral or use condoms for penetration. The difference is that now with PrEP this feels much safer as one of the most significant STIs is no longer nearly as easily transmitted.
  - AlexeyBelov 2y ago
    Don't even bother. Choice comments from that user: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39538568 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39538568 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39548905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39548905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40520483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40520483
    - 4gotunameagain 2y ago
      You had to read back 4 months of my comments to assemble your ad hominem ? How lovely. Not sad at all.
      - AlexeyBelov 2y ago
        I recognized your username.