May 11, 2011 | Sex Life

Paul Morris: don't worry about AIDS

Paul Morris, the owner of bareback studio Treasure Island, believes it's time for gay men to "liberate" themselves from their fear of AIDS and the oppression of condoms. And if you get HIV? So what? Just go on meds.

This is not porn he's talking about, but real-life sex.

In an email interview with Let's Talk About Sex, Morris makes his position clear: men who use condoms are "living in a world of fear and tragedy and refuse to believe that the crisis is truly over."

According to Morris: "I’m only 'anti-condom' to the extent that condoms do violence to play. Language is developed through play. Play is killed by fear. Prior to HIV, condoms were often used as an element of fetishistic play. Now, however, they are signs of fear and capitulation and 'good behavior'."

"I don’t see the worth of living life as a process of avoiding an endless series of possible problems and diseases ...  If your life is organized around negativity and avoidance, you’re really missing the point."

Morris says the real enemy is not the AIDS virus, but big pharma companies that keep the price of the treatment drugs high. He hasn't figured out how everyone is supposed to get free drugs yet, or why it's okay to ditch condoms, turn poz and then expect other people (anyone who pays medical insurance premiums or taxes) to cover the enormous cost of the drugs and treatment -- around $20,000 per year per patient.

Morris also hasn't considered that there may be some liberation in the knowledge that you do not have a virus lurking in your system that will, in all likelihood, kill you if you go off your meds for a prolonged period.   Or that, yes, there still are long-term side effects to these powerful medications. Or that millions of gay men have very satisfying sex lives -- and use condoms.

You know our opinion, but what's yours?