Smarter “Sorting”
One of the things that I enjoy when I am not working is checking out
profiles of guys on websites. It’s pretty interesting to see how men are
crafting their profiles (the pictures aren’t bad either!!). I always get
a kick out of the “Rehoboth” area profiles as guys are starting to
plan for their Memorial Day holiday. Already, we have guys looking for
leather daddies for a week, guys who are smooth, and guys into groups. One
of the postings on a popular website was for HIV+ guys only.
It’s amazing to see how long it takes trends from bigger cities like
NYC, San Francisco or Philadelphia to make their way down to the gay
community of Rehoboth. Maybe I haven’t noticed or maybe I am naive but
“sero-sorting” has come to this area. Despite its criticism, I believe
this is a good strategy and I applaud HIV+ men for taking the initiative
to protect other men from getting infected with HIV.
What is Sero-sorting?
Sero-sorting comes from the word “serum” which has to do with fluids
of the blood. If you are HIV+ then you are sero-positive, and if you’re
HIV- you are sero-negative. So, as I’m sure you’ve figured out, sero-sorting
is the process of choosing your sexual/romantic partners based on whether
or not they have HIV.
I think the HIV+ community uses sero-sorting to avoid potential rejection,
reduce fear or anxiety related to condom breakage, or for a greater sense
of shared intimacy. This really isn’t unusual. I think many men have
been doing this for a long time. Until recently, it’s been about
romantic relationships but now it’s moved over to picking and choosing
sex partners based on their HIV status.
While it’s a great strategy for HIV+ guys, HIV- guys need to be careful
about sero-sorting. I like to call this smarter sorting for HIV- men. Just
because a guy says he is negative doesn’t mean he truly knows for sure.
It takes about two months for HIV to show up on a test, which means if
they’ve had unsafe sex recently a negative result doesn’t mean a
thing. So, we’re not
advocating having bareback sex with somebody who says he’s negative as a
way of avoiding HIV infection but maybe eliminating high risk negatives
out of your potential pool of sex partners. But pairing off with someone
of your same status, while still practicing safer sex, definitely reduces
your chances of contracting HIV.
Just because you’re sero-sorting doesn’t mean condoms and lube should
fall out of the picture, they are another important tool for maintaining
your health whether you’re HIV positive or negative.
What Do You Think?
I wonder what you are thinking about sero-sorting after you read this
article? Let us know by logging onto www.campsafereho.com. Click on
“CAMPsafe Connected” and then click on the blog link. Voice your
opinion in the comments section under the sero-sorting blog entry.
E-mail
salvatoreseeley@aol.com
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