The following excerpt is from a very readable, helpful and
informative book called Free Your Mind: The Book For Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth --
and their Allies, published in 1996.
... [S]exually
transmitted
diseases are not new. But since the AIDS epidemic, the dangers have not only increased, they
have
become lethal. This is a reality that must be integrated into your life and sexual practices.
... HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus....Virtually everyone who is infected
with the
virus eventually develops AIDS and dies....
AIDS stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome.... People with AIDS don't actually
die from AIDS, but from infections and diseases which their bodies can't heal. The process of
dying
from AIDS-related complications is usually agonizing. It's long, slow, and filled with enormous
suffering.
... HIV can't be transmitted through casual contact the way some other viruses can be. A
cold or
flu, for example, can be passed to someone else through sneezing, sharing food, shaking hands,
or using
a water fountain. But HIV is different. It can't survive in the air, food, or water. It can survive
only in
certain body fluids. So a person can get HIV only by a direct exchange of infected body fluids.
There are four body fluids through which HIV can be transmitted: blood, semen, vaginal
fluids,
and breast milk. Scientists generally agree that other body fluids, such as saliva, tears, sweat, and
urine,
do not appear to contain enough HIV to be able to transmit the virus.
The most common ways HIV is passed are through sexual intercourse, by sharing needles
or
syringes, and from mother to child during pregnancy, birth or breast-feeding.
You don't have to be gay to get AIDS. Anyone who exchanges one or more of the four
body
fluids with someone who has been infected with HIV can get AIDS.
It's not who you are but what you do that puts you at risk for HIV.... Anyone -- straight,
gay,
bisexual, or lesbian -- can get AIDS.
So just because you are in a lower risk group, doesn't mean you don't have to protect
yourself.
You do. Lower statistical odds aren't good enough protection. It's important that you
don't get
AIDS....
If you've already had unsafe sex, begin to practice safer sex now. Don't let the fact that
you've
engaged in risky behaviours in the past stop you from taking care of yourself -- and your partner
--
now.
It's extremely dangerous to have unsafe sex even once, but it's much more dangerous to
continue
to have unsafe sex.
Activities that involve any of the four bodily
fluids --
semen, vaginal fluids, blood, and breast milk -- can expose you to HIV. For this reason, sexual
intercourse, whether it is vaginal, anal, or oral, carries a risk of getting AIDS.
Vaginal intercourse places both partners at serious risk for getting HIV, as the virus can
easily
enter through small or invisible sores or cuts in the vagina or penis.
Anal intercourse is especially dangerous because HIV passes into the large intestine more
easily
than it does into the vagina or penis. [Anal intercourse is also more dangerous because the anus
tears
more easily. HIV-infected fluids can then pass into these tears and into the bloodstream. That's
why
using lubrication can make anal sex safer, though it remains the
highest
risk sexual behaviour.]
... Men should use a latex condom during anal or
vaginal
intercourse and during oral sex. The condom should be latex, not lambskin, as the virus can pass
through lambskin....
It's also important to put condoms on correctly. Use each condom one time only. If you
have sex
again, use a new one. And never use two condoms at a time, as this can cause them to break. Age
and
heat also weaken condoms, so don't store them in your wallet or glove compartment and don't
use
them after the expiration date....
Oral sex -- between men, women, or a man and a woman -- can also spread HIV. Studies
suggest that there are not a great number of HIV-infected people who engaged in only oral sex,
but it's
still not completely safe....
Mutual masturbation carries the least risk (if there are no open cuts or sores), but it's still
safest
to use condoms and/or latex gloves.... For vaginal or anal penetration by hand, use a latex glove.
... Woman-to-woman transmission of HIV is less prevalent, but it does happen and
so it
is important that lesbians practice safer sex with each other.
HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases can be transmitted through vaginal fluids and
blood,
including menstrual blood. Women should use a latex or plastic wrap
barrier for oral sex. Regular plastic wrap that you buy in the grocery store is the easiest to
find and
it's cheap (be sure to get the kind without little holes).
[The NF and Labrador AIDS Committee says that microwaveable plastic wrap is
the
safest kind of plastic wrap to use.] You can also use dental dams, or make a barrier by cutting a
latex
glove or a condom into a flat square.
... And if you share a vibrator or dildo, use a condom on it or wash it in bleach and rinse it
thoroughly.
From: Free Your Mind: The Book for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth and their
Allies. By Ellen Bass and Kate Kaufman. Published by Harper Perennial, 1996. Available at
Memorial University's QEII library and a number of other libraries and book stores.
Lube With That?
How to Use a Latex Condom
Making Safe Latex Barriers for Women
Finding Safer Sex Supplies in St. John's
Living with HIV/AIDS
For a free HIV test in St. John's, call:
Health and Community
Services STD Clinic
20 Cordage Pl. (709) 738-4882
Call for appointment. No ID required.
Also offers tests for other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like syphilis, chlamydia,
gonorrhea, hepatitis B.
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