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Very interesting! I'm going to try and get a review copy.

1/24/03:2:28:51 PM PST    

of self-inficted harm.

1/24/03:12:28:47 PM PST    

Rolling Stone is publishing a piece of pure rubbish which states that 25% of new HIV infections come from bug-chasers. This is just plain silly & quite stupid.

Even if it were true, which I am sure it is not, there are no studies (that I am aware of at least) which actually break down the rate of bug chasing. So how could someone, the reporter for Rolling Stone, write such a thing. It might be interesting to see some studies which do look at this phenom. But so far there is nothing to look at.

Considering how many hundreds of gay men I know and have met it seems fair that I would know a few, 25%(?), who are part of that sub-culture. But I don't. I have conversed with a couple online a few years ago but for the most part they do not come across my radar very often at all. Of course it is entirely possible they are everywhere but for the sub cultures I interact with. But I doubt it.

Andrew Sullivan skewers the article here. Newsweek writes that sources used in the Rolling Stone piece are denying this.

HIV Stops With Me asks, "What would you do if you met a bug chaser?"

Bug chasers definately exist. There used to be a house here in LA called the LA Sex House (I see they are now selling videos of their exploits through Yahoo) which catered to folks chasing the bug, seeking gifts, barebacking, etc. I tried to interview the principal players at the house a few years ago but they refused. I wanted to attend one of their events to talk to those participating but since I would not play the barebacking game I guess I wasn't too welcome.

Here's a link to an online group of bug chasers.

Matt Butts writes about meeting his first bug chaser. Doug Hitzel writes, in March 2002, about being a bug chaser himself, and coming to regret it.

Maria Caloz searches Toronto for the Story Behind the Story. She finds, back in 2001, that while these people do exist as a subculture they are far more often discussed than actually encountered.

Daniel Hill has a great piece on being HIV+ and bug chasers from 2000 which I think should be a must read for anyone interested in sex, HIV, bug chasers, and the dynamics of this sub-culture.

1/24/03:9:25:16 AM PST    

I've been confident of this for years. Apparently I was confused by being so confident, unaware there was a debate, and in the end absolutely correct.

That fits me to a tee!

1/24/03:9:06:37 AM PST