Bug Chasers

[Snowman5933]

I heard about something happening in a very small corner of the gay community called bug chasing and I wondered if anyone else had heard of it and what your opinion is.

Bug chasing refers to a type of party that gay men goto with the intention/hope of infecting themselves with HIV. HIV is refered to as "the gift", and the already infected person is highly prized and known as "the gift giver". What I don't understand is why a person would choose to engage in this type of behavior. I don't think this could be classified as a perversion, but more like suicidal tendancies. I would think that a person regardless of orientation that chooses to do this must have some deep rooted psychological problems.

Have you heard of this; what is your opinion?

 

[Etoile]

Yes, it was a major feature in Rolling Stone a few years back. What happened was the author of the article basically took a bunch of quotes out of context and fabricated a story around them. It's been pretty solidly discounted, but the religious right loves to wave "bug chasing" around as evidence of the depravity of gay people.

 

[bisexualsmoker]

I read something about that too.It seems pretty demented and hard to believe.
Definitly a twisted pasttime.

 

[DarkBee]

I once saw a documentary about this on tv. I think it's sick and somewhat suicidal too. How stupid can you be to be proud of getting/having/giving HIV/AIDS?

 

[Etoile]

Oh my...I've dug a little deeper. Apparently since the Rolling Stone article was shown to be falsified by taking quotes out of context, other research has been done showing that this is a legitimate phenomenon. How utterly creepy. Forget everything I've said about it not being true, and cue me cringing in horror.

 

[Xelebes]

Screw ball-stretching, ass-stretching, castration and suspending. That's one hell of a form of masochism.

 

[kbate]

True of perhaps one or two men. Unfortunately, with the gay community (a community of which I am largely unaware) - the actions of one must equate to the actions of each and every one of us, therefore - it falls to the majority (straight majority) to stomp down hard to put an end to not only such horrible behaviour, but to the entire style of life which spawned such an atrocity.

There is a troll thread about a court case involving this practice running on the General board right now. Enjoy.

 

[Etoile]

No thanks, I don't go to the GB if I can help it.

 

[infinity706]

Now, that's fucked up.

You might want to check out General Board, though. Sure, there's a lot of shit, but there's some useful things, too.

 

[Etoile]

Mostly I just can't keep up with the frenetic pace of posting.

 

[alaskabibear]

True of perhaps one or two men. Unfortunately, with the gay community (a community of which I am largely unaware) - the actions of one must equate to the actions of each and every one of us, therefore - it falls to the majority (straight majority) to stomp down hard to put an end to not only such horrible behaviour, but to the entire style of life which spawned such an atrocity.

There is a troll thread about a court case involving this practice running on the General board right now. Enjoy.

A point well made. There are extreme people of all types - I personally find it ironic that men and women who frequent pick-up clubs for casual sex are never mentioned in the press in a negative way. Yet, because the few "extreme gay" people get all of the press, the average John and Jane Citizen forms an opinion that this is how all homosexuals act.

I did see an interview on TV with a man dying from AIDS, he spoke of the extreme behavior in the bath houses and how unprotected sex and meth abuse were both big parts in the lifestyle. At this point in his life he was trying to warn others to not get caught up in it. IMO, it is lust gone out of control when people must seek so many multiple partners - regardless of whether it is heterosexual or homosexual - sad empty souls in search of something...

 

[sunandshadow]

I don't think it's too different from Russian roulette or a suicide cult, or yeah, as mentioned above castration fetish and the similar vore fetish. Which is to say, they all scare me, but don't surprise me because it seems to be part of human nature that some people find self-destructive behaviors appealing/compelling.

 

[none2_none2]

...

IMO, it is lust gone out of control when people must seek so many multiple partners - regardless of whether it is heterosexual or homosexual - sad empty souls in search of something...

I guess I try not to judge on this point too much. There are a lot of guys who screw around. I was no virgin in my day, but now I'm monogamous. I always wanted to settle down, but most of the guys I knew did not want that. I always thought it was hilarious that some of these same guys would put down parks, ABS's, bath houses, etc yet they wanted regular sexual arrangements of between 5 to 15 regular guys and somehow that isn't considered promiscuous. I knew one guy who "scheduled" orgies with his regulars for example. One f-buddy that I had for years was concerned about MY habits because his exact word were was that he was "monogamous with ALL his partners"! I don't know how many he had, but there was always room for a new one if he liked the guy...

Now unless you are living in some kind of gay commune where no man is allowed to leave the premise under the threat of death, how are you going to guarantee that all these other guy partners are sticking to the same 5 to 15 guys? Maybe that is true as you get older and find that there is so much more to life than sex. However, I remember my youth. I had to fuck someone a few times a week or I was climbing the walls. I'd could stay faithful to someone who was committed to me, but I wasn't going to wait my turn in line for sex with someone regular. I would have found somewhere that there is a guy with no waiting line.

Some expressions that come to mind to this "managed" promiscuity that some guys praise as superior: A little bit pregnant, or close as in kissing or horse shoes... In other words, I don't think there is such a thing as moderation in promiscuity or sluttyness. In the case of AIDS, you don't get it after your umpteenth partner. Sure the odds go up with the more partners you have. I still say, it is much better to find someone you really care about and are very sexual compatible with and just settle down. My parter and I don't have to worry about buying condoms, checking for crabs, etc. The only sexual bill we have is to buy lube

 

[John Doe]

Yes, it was a major feature in Rolling Stone a few years back. What happened was the author of the article basically took a bunch of quotes out of context and fabricated a story around them. It's been pretty solidly discounted, but the religious right loves to wave "bug chasing" around as evidence of the depravity of gay people.

Isn't that what most Rolling Stone writers do anyway?

 

[Etoile]

I've no idea, never read it with any regularity.

 

[FeatherNails]

I'm going to imagine that this is all untrue.
I don't think I'll be able to sleep at night if I don't.

 

[John Doe]

I've no idea, never read it with any regularity.

Lawl!

Okay, that was just a halfhearted burn on Rolling Stone. I don't have any idea either.

 

[Wolfman1982]

Andy Bell from Erasure should be a bug chaser. If I remember correctly , there he felt like an outsider because at the time (back in the late 90´s) there his at the time boyfriend got AIDS and he said to Andy, he didn´t want to have sex anymore. And Andy felt like an outsider , and he wanted to have HIV. if you want sources, then I can probably not find them, since I heard back in 2004 and read about it.

 

[none2_none2]

I'm going to imagine that this is all untrue.
I don't think I'll be able to sleep at night if I don't.

Don't let yourself loose sleep if you can help it. After all, some of us cannot help it as we get older, so no reason to hasten insomnia problems.

The older I get the more I realize that every possible permutation of human thought exists out there. So no sense letting it shock you. I remember when I was in HS centuries ago, and the most shocking thing back then was sex change operations.

Being on the internet has exposed me to so much that I you would never think really existed. There are people who want to have sex with the dead (recent news on such a situation in the state of Wisconsin). There are people who are sexually and/or romantically only interested in animals. There are people who sexually fantasize about being castrated, having a penectomy, or both. I even found out that there are people who feel they are trapped in a body with parts they should not have and don't feel happy until certain parts are amputated (a body-image issue as their limbs are perfectly healthy): http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200012/madness.

So do I think there are "bug chasers"? Yes, but it doesn't really matter as I know my own mind -- the only one that I have some semblance of control over.

 

[noonenew]

There are online communities for EVERYTHING. Once there's a community for something, it somehow solidifies it into being an acceptable thing. Last night I was browsing through a Eunuch support group site, and there were an overwhelming amount of men excited about getting their castration, and excited about the act of being castrated, never mind the after effects. I've also browsed through a bug chaser community, seems like the same kind of mind set. Same with the vore community. They focus and fetishize (not a word, I know) the act of contracting HIV, or the act of being castrated, or the act of being eaten alive, with no thought to the consequences.

Voluntary amputees are a different sort though, from what I've read about them is that it's like the opposite of a phantom limb syndrome, their own arms, legs, etc. don't feel like their own. Medication helps some of them, amputation helps some of them, and the rest feel like they have an extra extremity. It's not a sexual thing for them. (usually)

 

[pa-guy]

IMO, it is lust gone out of control when people must seek so many multiple partners - regardless of whether it is heterosexual or homosexual - sad empty souls in search of something...

That's a wee bit judgmental there. You're making a blanket assumption and applying it to all.

Why is it wrong to have sexual relationships with many people? Your condemnation of people who choose to have multiple partners sounds much like how the anti-homosexual sounds.

Obviously its wise for people to be safe, but I fail to see the wrongness of it. Some might be doing it for negative reasons, but other might be quite healthy in their choice.

You basically called the entire Swinging population "sad empty souls in search of something." I'd say thats a bit hypocritical.

 

[Etoile]

That's a wee bit judgmental there. You're making a blanket assumption and applying it to all.

Why is it wrong to have sexual relationships with many people? Your condemnation of people who choose to have multiple partners sounds much like how the anti-homosexual sounds.

Obviously its wise for people to be safe, but I fail to see the wrongness of it. Some might be doing it for negative reasons, but other might be quite healthy in their choice.

You basically called the entire Swinging population "sad empty souls in search of something." I'd say thats a bit hypocritical.

Absolutely wonderful post.

 

[none2_none2]

That's a wee bit judgmental there. You're making a blanket assumption and applying it to all.

Why is it wrong to have sexual relationships with many people? Your condemnation of people who choose to have multiple partners sounds much like how the anti-homosexual sounds.

Obviously its wise for people to be safe, but I fail to see the wrongness of it. Some might be doing it for negative reasons, but other might be quite healthy in their choice.

You basically called the entire Swinging population "sad empty souls in search of something." I'd say thats a bit hypocritical.

I'm sorry, but I have to agree with AlaskaBiBear. I know it firsthand as well as with others. I haven't posted in a while because I'm still on bereavement leave from my fathers death two weeks ago.

Not only was I a sex addict, but so was my dad, my uncle, my aunt, and my grandfather. Though my father was in bad health, my relatives told me that he took a turn for the worse when he couldn't get it up for one of the regular girlfriend/prostitutes that visited him just a few weeks ago. For decades I had hatred for him for various things ( physical and mental abuse which included being stripped to my underware while his prostitute/gf's where in the house. For a teenager, especially one with scares, exposing your body to adults is a very humiliating experience to put it lightly. When you own father also takes sides with his sex partners over you when something is stolen or missing, also tells you something about what this addiction can do to those who get sucked into it. The abuse took a weird twist for me. For years I had no concept that men were capable of loving anybody unless that object of love gave them an orgasm. For years my hatred was mixed with wanting to fuck my father: a) in part to finally gain control over what self-control was denied me when I lived with him; b) in part in hopes that then I would finally get some love from him. That evolved for me into decades of penetrating lots of men who I saw as father figures that I sought so hard to desire me, respect me, and love me. I was in sex addition 12 step stuff for a very long time. While it helped to some degree, what really made the difference was to finally receive that love from someone who planned on staying with me for the long haul and wasn't interested in non-monogamy. I could easily go back to the old ways on the side, but I won't. There is no available hairy man with a hot ass, no amount of money that would make me stray. Not because I'm blind, but because I found what I was searching for: genuine love for a life time from another human being as well as a sense that I too am capable of loving myself as well as that human being who loves me.

My father had no one for the long haul. After a second divorce in the 70's, he just spent his personal life going from one female hole to another. Though he was str8, our patterns were VERY similar. I made my peace with him a long time ago, and thus I love him without the hate I used to have. Still there was always some level of barrier between him and others (including me) as so many sexual partners tends to deaden the heart to true intimacy. I wish my father could have at least had a cat or dog who he could have hugged and opened his heart to. I know behind that "penis penetrating obsessed personality" was a sensitive human being, it was just VERY hard to reach. I had little glimpses of it from time to time. I live far away, so I wasn't aware how close he was to death -- otherwise, I would have come out sooner. I've been to his house since his death, and I see a few instances of that sensitivity. He was legally blind so he needed things "big" in order to see. To that end, he had a LARGE picture of his mom situated where it was the first thing he saw in the morning, and the last thing at night.

He lived his life the way he wished as he was free, white, and over 21 as some would say. That was his right. However, to say the decisions he made in his life where ones that made him happy, I seriously doubt it.

You may consider what I say judgmental all you want. However, it isn't about the pot calling the kettle black. Its about the kettle calling the kettle black. I'm not from the outside judging, I was surrounded by the lifestyle that crossed generations, preferences/orientations, etc. as well as part of it myself. It also isn't the same as anti-homosexuality as most of that comes from someone just doesn't "get it". Homosexual sex or heterosexual is about the mechanics of sex, not about a difference in the mechanics of the human heart. I have and always will want the same exact things that a heterosexual man wants, I just sexually wanted my wife to have a lot of muscles, a hairy body, and a fuckable ass.

You are free to live your life as you see fit. Be safe all you want, but at the bottom line realize that the condom was designed for the covering penis -- not the human heart, mind, and soul.