November 29, 2007 | Health Matters

Why keep the condom?

December 1 is World AIDS Day, a time for everyone affected by HIV/AIDS to think about what they can do to battle the seemingly endless epidemic, in both their personal and professional lives.

First, a little perspective: HIV treatments have improved greatly over the years, allowing poz men to live relatively normal lives with fewer side-effects than ever before and delaying the illness's progression to AIDS. On the other hand, a suppressed immune system makes individuals more vulnerable to other infections, complicates their treatment, and ultimately shortens life. There is still no cure for AIDS and the consensus among researchers is that an effective vaccine is still decades away.

We have a few thoughts about what the gay porn industry and its fans can do to help prevent the spread of HIV in our community: [more]

Porn producers can use condoms in fuck scenes. By doing this, they not only protect their models but also reinforce the idea that sex with condoms is normal and hot.

Porn resellers, including video stores, print publications, online portals and Video On Demand sites, can give porn with condoms preferential treatment instead of putting bareback titles front and center. They can also present public service ads that encourage healthy sexual choices.  

Bareback producers can do a lot more than they are now to foster condom use in their audience, such as presenting innovative safer sex messages before their feature presentation, rather than a boring text disclaimer scrolling down the screen, which is about as attention-grabbing as the FBI copyright warning.

Consumers can balance their viewing choices. If you want to indulge in condomless porn fantasies, then go ahead, but the thrill of watching skin-on-skin action can easily be equalled by the more accessible fantasy of gorgeous studs who care enough about each other to protect themselves.

These are just a few ideas. While some gay adult businesses are taking a leading role in HIV education many others could do much more, with relatively little effort.  

Porn is ultimately about seeing our sexual fantasies come alive on the screen, an entertainment to jerk off to. But until there is a cure for AIDS, the need to keep safer sex alive in our imaginations, to make it a part of our fantasies, will never go away.