Has anyone seen this? I searched the archive, but didn't turn up anything.
WARNING: Anyone who is HIV+ or knows someone who is HIV+ and may become emotional, please do not read. I do not want to upset anyone and discussing HIV is bound to become upsetting. This documentary has upset me plenty and I don't know anyone with HIV that I am aware.
I must be really out of the loop because this is so totally foreign to me, I am shocked and sad that such a large group of people would actively look to get infected with HIV so they can stop worrying about whether they have it or not. Some young guys have HIV- tattoos and they go around looking for guys with biohazard tattoos so they can get "The Gift." When they get HIV, they add the positive slash to their tattoo so it reads HIV+. They showed tons of seeking sex ads that read, "HIV NEG, you can be POZ or NEG." It just blew my mind how totally helpless these kids must feel. Like they're going to get it anyway, so get it over with and stop worrying about it.
One kid has no health insurance and said, "If I get sick, I get sick. I'll take the medication." Then, words appeared pointing out that he had no med insurance and that cost of the meds was $12,000 per year. Another kid who was once a bug chaser, now HIV+, says he'll sometimes be looking in the mirror and remember he's got HIV and there's a little voice that says "Happy now?" and he's not (started crying). The first guy I mentioned, who was actively seeking it and also got his wish had the same look in his eyes, but he was claiming to be relieved that he didn't have to worry about it anymore. He said now that he has HIV, he can finally breathe again. What a relief. But, his face looked the opposite of relieved. He looked much happier when he was actively seeking HIV and now that he has it, it looks like the reality of it has set in. "If I get sick, I'll take the medication. But, I don't expect that to happen for 5, 10, 15 years down the road."
― Brother Builder (Unfortunate Prankster), Sunday, 5 June 2005 07:13 (twenty years ago)
I am shocked and sad that such a large group of people would actively look to get infected with HIVI'm sure these people exist but they a rarer than rare. People who are simply careless about using protection are a much greater problem.
― Foodjeff, Sunday, 5 June 2005 08:14 (twenty years ago)
esp. people who like party drugs--this is what 25 years of plague exhaustion does.
― anthony easton (anthony), Sunday, 5 June 2005 08:51 (twenty years ago)
there was a big rolling stone article about this a few years ago that caused a big fuss, I remember, and I think a bunch of the article turned out to be fiction
― kyle (akmonday), Sunday, 5 June 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)
I wonder if the documentary was bullshit then? They were showing a lot of ads and the bug-chasers and non-bug chasers both seemed to be talking about the whole thing like it was the new thing.
I remember they were using the term "bareback" a lot and so I found this which has a bug-chaser dropdown selection as well as an HIV preference selection in your sex search:
http://ubb3.ultimatebareback.com/profilesearch.asp
― Brother Builder (Unfortunate Prankster), Sunday, 5 June 2005 15:13 (twenty years ago)
There are certainly people who
claim to be bug chasers, but I have no idea if they actually practice what they preach. Certainly the tattoo thing sounds like fiction.
― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 5 June 2005 15:13 (twenty years ago)
(xpost) Barebacking, however, is quite common. There are people who don't put two and two together, I guess.
― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 5 June 2005 15:14 (twenty years ago)
"as well as an HIV preference selection in your sex search:"
i imagine this is intended for someone who has AIDS or HIV who would prefer someone else in the same situaltion so that they can bareback as much as they want without either worrying whether they will catch it. but, yeah, that bug chaser drop-down thing is freaky.
― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 5 June 2005 15:22 (twenty years ago)
It's not necessarily a good thing to bareback even if you're already infected -- you don't want to increase the amount (or strains!) of virus you have. Or at least, that was the word ten years ago, when I was more actively reading up on all this.
― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 5 June 2005 15:50 (twenty years ago)
In the doc, one guy was saying how two of his HIV+ friends got together thinking they were fine, but the two strains together killed them both. I thought all HIV was the same.
― Brother Builder (Unfortunate Prankster), Sunday, 5 June 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)