It’s not surprising that guys are acting more and more reckless, and being more and more lax about STDs. Barebacking is becoming - possibly, has become - the predominant erotic stimuli. When those budding gay teens start looking at gay porn online, they see barebacking. When adults look for gay porn online, they see barebacking. Seems like more and more gay online sex outlets, from hookup sites to porn to blogs, are devoted to and eroticize barebacking. Maybe if there were the equivalent of cigarette pack warning labels - like photos of facial wasting, lipodystrophy, anal warts, etc - when you enter these sites and every few clicks, there would be a teeny bit more thought about the ramifications of barebacking. But right now, it’s all about barebacking. That’s all they see, all they know. So it’s sadly no surprise people just ain’t caring too much. I do hope safer sex is eroticized on a larger and more effective level (thanks Chi Chi LaRue!) and perhaps things will change a bit… Meanwhile we just have to do our part to not enable that reckless behavior.

The 6 month thing is a half-truth put out by people who want you to live in fear. The test is 90% accurate after 2 or 3 weeks, 95% accurate after about a month, 99% accurate after 3 months, and fully accurate after 6 months.

Thing is only nuns have zero sexual activity in 6 months, so the test is never fully accurate for anyone. So 90%+ accuracy after a few weeks is basically accurate.

Those same people who quote the 6 month thing, also never tell you that condoms fail 5 to 10% of the time. Their fear uncertainty and doubt (FUD) tactics are selective.