The ad
for the party only asks men who are HIV-positive to check
their inhibitions at the door, promising a "mild to wild"
time with other gay men who are also infected with the virus.
There is no concern about becoming unknowingly infected. Everyone
already is, or certainly knows of it because of the ad that
calls for "sexy, willing" guys who are HIV-positive.
As the
rate of HIV infections in gay men start to rise again, organizers
of these so-called "POZ parties" say they offer
a type of compromise: a venue to engage in risky behavior
for those who have less to lose. The parties, which first
emerged in New York during the mid-1990's, have now spread
to other major cities, with one party promoter boasting an
invite list of 5,000.
Health
officials, who are just beginning to study the issue, warn that
such parties can spread other sexually transmitted diseases,
as well as more dangerous strains of HIV. At the same time,
they say these parties may offer a more realistic, if not exactly
ideal, way to contain the spread of AIDS.
"This
is not a black and white issue," says Dr. Michael Clatts
of the National Development and Research Institutes. Clatts
recently began visiting POZ parties that were close to his
office in New York City. At 10 separate events, he and his
colleagues asked 115 gay men a series of questions. The findings
were published today in the Journal of Sexually Transmitted
Infections.
Although
the men who agreed to the interviews were at the parties to
engage in unsafe sex, the researchers found that the guys
were quite concerned about spreading the virus to those who
weren't infected. "They were not irresponsible,"
Clatts says.
The most
popular reason the men cited for going to the parties was
to avoid the need to have to tell others of their HIV status,
followed by those who simply preferred "uninhibited or
unrestricted" sex. About one in eight of the men said
the main reason for going to the party was so that they didn't
have to worry about infecting others.
The average
age of the men in the study was 42, but Clatts says that the
highest infection rate is in younger gay men, who may still
be dealing with identity issues when they find out they have
HIV. Few want to discuss their infection with others, and
the parties offer one way to escape, he says.
Clatt's
team also found a low rate of drug use at the parties, which
have long been assumed to cause risky sexual behavior. Indeed,
many of the guys said they had used plenty of drugs in the
past, but few reported using crystal meth or other drugs at
the sex parties. "I was there," says Clatts. "There
were no drugs."
Dr. Jeffery
Parsons, a psychologist at Hunter College in New York who
studies risk taking in gay men, says that lack of drug use
may be one unintended consequence of not having to worry about
getting HIV. "A lot of drug use is numbing yourself because
you are taking risks," he says.
Still,
both Clatts and Parsons say that the parties have their own
concerns, especially in spreading sexually transmitted diseases.
Many of the men can be expected to have sex outside of the
parties, and having diseases like herpes makes it easier to
spread HIV. More ominously, there is the chance that these
parties might act as a catalyst for HIV superinfections, which
may happen after repeated exposures.
So far,
these possibly treatment-resistant superinfections are rare,
and the parties are not the only way that they can be spread.
In fact, compared to the internet-arranged liaisons and not
knowing whether someone is HIV-positive, Parsons says that
such parties may keep sex a little safer, if not completely
safe. "As long as everything is out in the open, these
parties can minimize the risk of transmitting HIV," Parsons
says.
By:
Eric Sabo © 2006 Healthology, Inc.
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