NEW YORK – Got a nice letter from the folks at IML today, saying that companies who promote barebacking will not be allowed to participate in future IML events. They site that the CDC has informed them that HIV Infections are still on the rise, and that they feel it is the obligation to do everything that they can to help the community.
I’m gonna keep this response short and focused:
1. New HIV Infections are not on the rise throughout the whole gay community. In a little reported fact, new HIV infections among men who have sex with men, are down *again* in New York City and San Francisco. Here is a table from the Department of Public Health in SF. The highlights:
2002
426 new cases
2003
533 new cases
2004
590 new cases
2005
454 new cases
2006
396 new cases
And here are a doozy of some quotes (from the CDC!) that you have probably never seen before:
Since the peak level of new infections in the mid-1980s, just prior to the introduction of HIV testing, the transmission rate has declined by approximately 89 percent (from 44 transmissions per 100 persons living with HIV in 1984 to five transmissions per 100 persons living with HIV in 2006).
Over the last decade, as prevention efforts have been expanded and improved treatments for HIV became available, the transmission rate has declined by 33 percent (from an estimated eight transmissions per 100 persons living with HIV in 1997 to five in 2006).
Five transmissions per 100 persons living with HIV in 2006 means more than 95 percent of persons living with HIV did not transmit the infection that year.
This is from a report titled “Dramatic Declines Indicate Success in U.S. HIV Prevention.” that is available here:
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/factsheets/transmission.htm
So in the history of HIV there is a lot of bad news, why we don’t talk about the good news when we get it is baffling. We need to know what works not just what sucks, and we need to stop being so married to the narrative that the sky is falling, which while it serves to keep people’s fear of HIV alive, it does very little to help stop the problem.
The fact of the matter is that if you are HIV negative and want to stay that way, you are not going to go to a sex party sponsored by Treasure Island Media and sit with your ass in air and a bottle of poppers. You’re far more likely to get infected by trusting that guy on manhunt who has negative in his status and swears that he was tested two weeks ago. Now there are not going to be any more parties sponsored by TIM and all those guys are gonna be on manhunt, so please don’t be an idiot.
2. Disincentivizing companies that produce both bareback and condom from producing condom movies is stupid. If your problem is bareback porn, then why not allow condom porn and give producers and incentive to keep making it? Why ban entire companies, those like DAM, Wurstfilm, and Jalif Studios — whom we represent — who also sell condom films? Don’t you think you would want to give them an incentive to keep making these movies?
3. IML is one long PNP session for many, and for some the only reason that they even go to IML is to sit in that host hotel doing Meth and looking for loads on manhunt, a fact that won’t change with IMLs new policy. I’ve been 5 years to this event, and I can tell you there is nothing — nothing — besides giving away free condoms that address this fact.
It’s complete idiocy to think that the absence of bareback porn companies will effect peoples behavior at this event. In fact, in the time in which we have seen the largest increase in production of bareback porn, we have also seen “dramatic success” of HIV prevention programs. So the idea that there is some causative link between bareback porn and increasing infections is an emotional response that is not supported by actual surveillance data.
4. Censorship of bareback porn is not prevention of HIV infection. Ignoring the fact that no one ever got HIV from masturbating to a DVD, if you took all the bareback porn off of the shelves tomorrow, people would still have bareback sex. Conversely, if people were effectively educated about making decisions, they all regularly tested for their status, and if proven effective methods of Harm Reduction, like sero-sorting, were encouraged instead of moral aggrandizing, you could pump 24/7 bareback porn into everyone’s room at IML and there would be no new HIV infections at the event.
That’s all, I’m a bit frustrated today that the conversation about this issue in our industry continues to be dominated by people who’s goal seems to be to keep fear of HIV alive, and scapegoat pornographers without wanting to talk about what is actually working to address the problem of new infections. If you actually give a shit about HIV/AIDS you’ll be informed and responsive to the actual reality.
This is 2009, not 1989, evolve your message.
Owen Hawk
