Have you ever been to a “Positive Speakers” event? Where someone who is HIV+ tells you their story and “journey” living with HIV? Or have you read the many articles, tweets, blogs, youtube videos and tiktoks they do? Do you take them at face value or take a critical look at them analysing what they say? If you do examine what they say it makes no sense. They all seem to preach from the same hymn sheet with training from the gay ill health sector on what to say and what not to say.
Here are the common themes they push.
We need more education on HIV
All the young gay men state they had no idea about HIV or how it was transmitted. What? You really expect anyone to believe you had never heard about HIV with the internet, information on dating sites and all the campaigns the gay ill health sector do? They claim that more education is needed in schools about HIV as sexual health is based in a heteronormative frame and not relevant to gay men. Really? You are telling us you didn’t see that STIs are an issue for you as you are gay? So when meeting other gay men they neither knew anything about HIV and how it was transmitted. Very hard to believe.
Vague references of how they got infected
Various stories of getting HIV the first time they had sex and how it could “happen to anyone”. Even that they were sexually assaulted and deliberately infected. Others are more vague with phrases such as “I was looking after my sexual health but he wasn’t looking after his,” whatever that means. Or “he was HIV positive undetectable but struggling to take his tablets”. Sometimes there are references to “not looking after my mental health” and going through a traumatic breakout with a partner and going off the rails. This implies they were a self destructing chemsex addict going to poz parties as a bugchaser to get infected and pozzed up. But with gay ill health training they tone it down a bit.
Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) its the safest sex possible
You would think these “Positive Speakers” would be promoting the hell out of condoms, as you shouldn’t trust a gay man whatever status he claims to be. But no! They are more interested in “educating” you that they are undetectable, take their meds daily and there is no way they can infect you. Thus they can have unprotected sex, no condom required. It’s the safest sex possible they claim. However they completely ignore the lessons from own stories.
Contradicting themselves depending on the present agenda being pushed by the gay ill health sector
Its staggering how they change their stories. If the NHS has to be slagged off, they will say there were callously told over the phone they were positive after being told they had chlamydia. While in another story the same positive speaker will say the clinic told him face to face and gave good counselling.
Testing can be another contradictory story. One Positive Speaker said they had a “routine test” before an op (which is untrue as you needed to be informed). But at another event, the HIV test was for immigration to Australia. Can we believe when people like this say I’m undetectable no condom required?
The stigmatising Tombstone ads and Section 28 of the 1980s
Positive speakers love to slag off the 80s Tombstone ads as fearmongering and portraying AIDS as a death sentence. Well yes it was back then as there was no effective treatment. Those ads saved lives. Condom use was promoted and STIs plummeted in the gay and straight community.
But that’s not good enough, as the ads were “stigmatising” gay sex, the Positive Speakers claim. HIV is treatable now and you can live a “normal life”, whatever that means. But hang on. You claim you knew nothing about HIV and how it was transmitted, yet you remember the Tombstone ads? And you thought HIV was a death sentence? Surely then you would seek out how to prevent catching it? eg. by using a condom. Or were you just a risk taking barebacker who didn’t care or actually a bugchaser who wanted to be infected? Positive Speakers make no sense.
Test, test, test
It’s strange isn’t it that those Positive Speakers who knew nothing about HIV or its very existence along with not knowing how it is transmitted suddenly have an epiphany to go and get a HIV test. Weird that. Come off it, they knew they had put themselves at risk.
Its a normal life except for the HIV stigma (which they mean to be bareback stigma)
Hey HIV is nothing to worry about its just one tablet a day! It’s the HIV stigma from society but especially the gay community. What they mean is they are getting rejected for bareback sex from fellow barebackers, some of them Prepsters who need to be educated about U=U.
Lets be honest the reason all these “Positive Speakers” were infected with HIV is that they didn’t wear a condom. Many knew exactly what they were doing and took no personal responsibility to protect themselves. It’s really that simple. Using a condom consistently worked for us at GMAP as we are HIV negative.
Cut through the bullshit from the gay ill health sector. They are bareback sex promoters who are in denial that condoms can save you from HIV and other STIs.