Sti's & being careful with personal safety....

[Giggles100]

I'v been thinking about this after a situation I got into recently. Nothing happened but it's reaffirmed my belief in being careful about my personal safety since coming out as bisexual.

I'v noticed my straight mates almost never think about safety either sexually or otherwise. They seem to spend their life trying to have sex so much that they forget to be prepared for what might happen? I wish I could be like that but I just feel that there are lots of risks and things I don't wanna catch and undesirables I don't wanna be on the receiving end of (excuse the pun).

At the moment I do the following pretty religiously:

1. Watching what I drink and always leaving my drinks with good friends or people I trust (rep's from local gay/bi groups... stonewall peep's) when going to the toilet. Also not allowing myself to get paralytically drunk or completely off my face on drugs unless in company of good friends to look after me.

1a. Kinda leading off the friends looking after you thing. I now have a pretty strong social/support/friends network available to me now than I think I ever did before. If I'm In trouble I feel I can call friends who would pick me up and take me home type thing and I'd do the very same for them.

2. Always getting a taxi home after a night out and trying to stay with other bi/gay friends when In more straight area's of the town at night.

3. Listening to guys and girls when your with them and how they act? This kinda leads into my situation as this guy made it obvious he slept with all sorts and seemed a bit loose. I walked away.....

4. Not avoiding certain area's in town..... Perhaps being more careful while in them is the phrase I'm searching for. Council estates known for homophobia/racist and general antisocial behaviour spring to mind. Hoodie up and keep walking (while trying to act/look butch with varying degree's of success) :bigrin:.

5. I know alot about more about Sti's than I think I ever have. LGBT peeple seem to know a hell of alot more than straight people.

6. Getting tested every 6 months.

7. ALWAYS carrying flavoured condoms and the Durex blue ones. And ALWAYS using them! I always keep lube at home too (never understood the whole spitting thing it seems dirty). A Lesbian friend told me once you can catch Chlamydia from cum (dunno if that's true though).

8. Never giving unprotected oral (hence the flavoured condoms). Many have moaned at me but I'v never caved in to pressure (touches wood).

What do you guys/gals do to protect yourself?

[Long Duck Dong]

abstinence, lol

keeps me safe from STI's, emotional / mental issues, infidelity issues, gossip, other peoples personal hang ups and a pissed off partner....lol

seriously tho..... being faithful to my partner works best for me..... as the risk of catching a sti is really the least of my concerns.... and there is no pill or cream that can cure infidelity or relationship break up......

but I need to say this,.... abstinence is something I can handle, with ease.... and something that doesn't cause issues for me, I am not advocating that others abstain from sexual encounters... cos that doesn't work for them

[tenni]

I'd say that your list is pretty good. I don't go to gay bars and I've heard that younger gays are far less concerned about getting a STD over here. It upsets some older gays and especially bug chasers. (#5 may not be true in all of North America and every age group)

I think that your best one is about determining #3. I think that is where better safe than sorry comes in to play right away. I tend to use the no sex on first meeting rule....mostly :)

Your number 8 would have me walking away from you...probably but there are things to do without oral or anal that can be fun. If we had met several times and it seemed obvious that you were not f*ckn around like a whore, I'd expect to take the risk...just no cum in the mouth stuff.

Over here, the hetero rule is if she doesn't come across by date three, dump her. I've waited for date 6 or 8 if she seemed worth it. A lot of women follow the same rule...about 3 and out but for maybe different reasons...lol

[rissababynta]

It's pointless to use condoms to suck cock.

They taste nasty and you are more likely to die in a car accident, win the lottery multiple times, and get struck by lightning multiple times than get an STI or HIV from sucking cock.

I've easily sucked 1,000's of cocks over the decades that I've been sexually active and I am HIV negative and do not have any STIs and I get tested every 3-6 months.

If it were really that easy to get HIV from sucking cock you'd see a lot more bisexual/gay men and even hetero women coming down Poz or getting common STIs which are very easily noticed and easily cured.

You would have also seen A LOT more bisexual and gay men die from HIV/AIDS than you did during the pandemic.

Even swallowing is not that dangerous as saliva and stomach acid kill HIV and various other STIs.

If someone does cum in your mouth it is safer to swallow their cum than to spit it out.

Think about it, you don't use dental dams to eat a pussy or eat/rim someone's ass, do you?

I certainly do not and while I have eaten my fair share of pussy and ass dental dams are pointless.

Do you use condoms for getting head from men and women?

I'm not saying that condoms are useless for vaginal sex or anal sex, or sex toys you put in someone's ass or pussy as they are not.

It is just pointless to use condoms or dental dams for sucking cock, eating pussy, or eating ass. It takes away from the fun of it and is not pleasurable to the person giving or receiving oral sex.

This may be true, but sex is about being comfortable and if he is nervous and uncomfortable about the idea of not using protection, then it is probably a better idea that he insist upon it.

[Poulpe]

Some links on oral sex and disease:

Is Oral Sex Safe Sex? (http://std.about.com/od/riskfactorsforstds/a/oralsexsafesex.htm)
STD Risk Chart (http://www.sfcityclinic.org/stdbasics/stdchart.asp)
Oral Sex and HIV (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/oralsex.htm)
Oral sex and cancer (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11819)

Yeah, the chances of getting HIV through oral sex are slim, but that's not the only STD out there. And why would anyone want to take even a slim chance with something like HIV?

[NEPHX]

.... you can catch Chlamydia from cum (dunno if that's true though).


Yes, it certainly is... but, as in all things, it depends. You can catch Chlamydia from any contact during oral, anal, vaginal sex. There is no exchange of body fluids necessary. If a person given oral sex to someone with Chlamydia, the bateria resides in their mouth. Then, they give oral sex to another person, its highly probable that they will pass it on. Giving/Receiving oral sex from a person that has had oral sex with someone that has Chlamydia will transmit the bacteria to a male or a female.

People that have it often have no symptoms and therefore, can easily pass it on.

So, if the male that delivers the cum to you has Chlamydia and that gets in your mouth or other susceptible area, you will likely get it.

Bad news: its the most common STI out there (more so than Syphilis) AND it can lead to severe issues if left untreated (generally, you'll see some symptoms as an indication that you have it.

Good news: is its very easily cured with antibiotics.

More often than not, people get tested for HIV but don't normally (routinely) get test panels for the common STDs. Most health departments will have that available in the US where as HIV/AIDS organizations generally only test for HIV and possibly Syphilis if there is a high rate in the area (such as Calif. & NYC at least). Having other STDs can make one more susceptible to HIV. But, if you truly play as safe as your plan says, you're doing GREAT!

http://www.sexinfo101.com/st_chlam.shtml

http://www.cdc.gov/std/Chlamydia/STDFact-Chlamydia.htm

And, truly, it is hard to get HIV unless you are very reckless: unprotected anal or vaginal sex with an HIV positive person (male or female).

The more play partners one has, the more at risk one becomes and, of course, the more partners your partners have the risk goes up exponentially.

Herpes is another STD that can be easily passed but not show sometimes for YEARS and even after one has an initial outbreak, and gets tested, the test will show negative. One must often get tested for Herpes when they have an outbreak and with a "scraping" from a sore. And, even THEN, it might not show up.

[darkeyes]

Any guy who insisted that I wear a condom when I suck him off, or wear a rubber while he sucks me would not be having sex with me.

HIV is actually very hard to get and you can have a Poz guy suck on your cock for hours and days nonstop and you still will not get it.

Even if you were to give a man oral sex and he happened to be Poz and you did this multiple times and swallowed too it still would be very hard to get HIV from giving oral sex.

I was told by my doctor that even if you do give oral sex to a man who is Poz and not on meds and you do swallow and take his cum in your mouth how your chances of getting HIV are still a lot less than 1 percent since saliva disables and kills HIV.

Long time since me had oral sex wiv a guy.. an oral wiv a condom don spose is ne more fun than it wos then ..but yas rite.. partly... but not ifyas a cut on ya lip or corner a ya mouth tho..or a gum infection or a mouth ulcer.. or had a tooth extraction..or a cold sore...lotsa ways HIV can b contracted havin oral.. wiv a guy or a gal.. so its easiern ya think... suggest ya hav notha lil chinwag wivya quack an get whole story..:)