MICHAEL JOHNSON HIV SPREADING SAGA AND THE CULTURE OF 'BAREBACKING'

As the media storm regarding former college wrestler Michael Johnson's sexual escapades (pictured above with his Instagram handle 'tigermandingo')with more than 32 men in a five months goes on, a gentleman who claimed to be gay wrote this interesting piece below. Naijaman decided to publish this to try and give the perspective of a gay man and may be help us understand what goes on in the gay community. So readers,what do you think,leave comments below. Thanks

From Johnmaynard:

As a gay man and Level 5 power bottom who is fresh out of his slutphase, I have sort of adopted this superficial "method" if you will that I feel minimizes my risk of getting HIV from a partner. It's entirely based on using good judgmental judgment. Based off of his social media accounts, would I sleep with Johnson? No. I wouldn't because his username is tigermandigo. That's already a bad sign to me and means he's sexually promiscuous and more at risk to bareback and bear STDs.

When I chat with guys on grindr and the conversation turns to hooking up, the first things I ask are: "Bb?" or "Bare?" If the guy gets excited about that then I probably won't hookup with him because he's more likely to have done it and thus more at risk for having an STD. Other times when we exchange pics and after he send me penis photos, I'll ask: "Any penetration pics or vids?" If he sends me pics/vids of him barebacking that's not a good sign and makes me more apprehensive about hooking up with him.

I also ask if the guy is into orgies or multiple partners. Not that I have anything against people who engage in stuff like that, but the likelihood that they are more sexually promiscuous and more at risk for having an STD is greater. So I tend to steer clear.

After a lot of chatting, I'll pose the question: "Are you poz or undetectable?" It's a weird question but it puts them on the spot because a lot of HIV positive guys think it's ok to withhold their status if they are undetectable. If they answer something along the lines of "Um, no, I'm negative, wtf" then that's a good sign.

What is sort of a red flag to me is someone who uses the word "clean" to mean they are STD-free. It tells my brain that they might be a little ignorant when it comes to STD knowledge as it is wrong to imply people with an STI are dirty people. (They aren't.) But someone who exhibits lack of knowledge about STDs is less likely to be routinely tested and thusly more at risk for having HIV.

On appearances alone, if a guy has a lot of tattoos I feel that there's a chance he's more sexually promiscuous and at greater risk of having HIV. Some immediate red flags are guys who have a toxic / biohazard designs on their body. First off, who would get such a permanent monstrosity affixed to their body? Other tattoos in the gay community that turn me off are tribal tattoos and star tattoos.

These are sort of mini-tests or factors that come into play when I evaluate the risk of someone having an STD.

I know that you can't judge someone on outward appearance and know 100% if they have an STD or HIV. Case in point, my ex-best friend came out to me about being positive and I was shocked. On the outside, he presents himself as a put-together cultured, preppy, and jovial potato queen gaysian who wears J.Crew. But he has HIV. It was an eye-opening experience to find that out and made me think twice about who I was fucking. He's also a pathological liar (that's why we're no longer close), the type of dude who jumps from relationship to relationship, and he's a jealous person. He never disclosed his status to his partners or ex-boyfriends and I know for a fact he took it bareback. When he came out to me it put me in such an ethical dilemma knowing that he had hooked up with friends of mine, without condoms. When he broke up with his most recent ex I ended up telling him to get tested. His ex alerted his other exes. LUCKILY, as far as I know, none of them got infected. Luckily.

Nowadays, HIV is not a death sentence. But do I want it? No. I can't afford it and don't think I would deal well with the stigma. Sometimes you can just look at people and tell that guy is a crystal queen or that guy has to have HIV. Perhaps my brain has been conditioned by all the profiles I've seen on hookup sites or apps - which could be a tool or definitely work against me. Now, every time I hookup, I sneak away to the guys' bathroom and check his medicine cabinets for antiretrovirals. Also I'm starting to subject my hookups to OraQuick HIV tests before we have sex. Hooking up has started to scare me and there are a lot of logistics I must deal with in order to minimize my risk of getting anything. Perhaps all of this attributed to my background in econometrics, but I can't help myself from superficially evaluating someone's risk potential for HIV. Maybe I should get started on Truvada. Either way folks, think twice about who you fuck, use common sense, safety first, and please don't infect me.