Jump to content

adannyboy

Members
  • Posts

    372
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by adannyboy

  1. Tw: drugs

     

    -

    -

    -

    -

     

    Hiya MF! <3

    Took a break from a lot of online things after that sesta mess. Being in PS for the weekend event inspired me to get back on and see how it’s going. Loving on the new formats.

     

    I’ve been sharing this document that I read about that came from the UK. A harm reduction counselor named David Stuart co-wrote this amazing basic “First Aid” guide for folks who use drugs during their sexy times. Mr. Stuart is credited with coining the phrase “Chemsex” to describe encounters in which gay men use drugs to enhance their sexual experiences and the reasons behind it. He is featured in the VICE documentary of the same name. (It’s on pornhub for free if you’d like to check it out. I found it a tad sensationalist, but it’s VICE)

     

    David is a former escort and drug user who became hiv positive as a teen and had run ins with the law due to his drug use.

     

    He found that there weren’t any places in London where drug use counseling could be framed within the context of gay men’s sexual health and the queer sexual health services were not adequately addressing the needs of people who use drugs.

     

    So he set out to change that. He helped develop a testing center where queer men could get counseling if they chose along with their other STI/HIV/health services. This year, he published the guide. I love this document and am sharing it as widely as I can with his encouragement. I spoke to him for a podcast episode I’m putting together on the subject and I cannot wait to share it soon.

     

    THE GUIDE:

    https://www.davidstuart.org/chemsex-first-aid

     

    The guide has been translated into a few languages with hopes of getting it translated into more. If you’re fluent in a language other than the ones listed and would be willing to lend a hand, you should send him a note. I found him to be very accessible.

     

    This is a touchy (and heavy) subject for lots of people. Drug users face huge amounts shame and stigma for using. People in recovery who are in The sex trade can also find engaging clients difficult and triggering.

     

    There’s a cycle that I’ve witnessed where sex workers who are open about use are avoided by regulars and other clients which leads to less income, then higher dependence on party clients, then more drug use and spiral, spiral, etc. They are mocked and belittled. Mugshots (if arrests happen) are shared on blogs and people talk about how good the person “used to be.”

     

    sex workers and people who use drugs are dying. Frequently. Only then do they get a small amount of sympathy lined with a “they should’ve known better.” Stories about their deaths are full of homophobia and whore stigma and it infuriates me to no end.

     

    This is not just war on drugs level bad news. It’s a whole other issue which I believe needs to be addressed compassionately by our own community of queer folks and their partners regardless of the presence of an exchange.

     

    It would be great if you read the guide. Even if you don’t use. It talks about consent practice, overdose protocols and general safety. It gives some helpful language to use when discussing these things with friends and sexual partners.

     

    From David’s site:

    One of the best resources we have, to keep ourselves and

    our friends safe in chemsex environments, is each other.

    Being skilled-up with harm reduction information and some First Aid skills – while remembering how vulnerable we can all be under the influence of chems - can improve our chances of avoiding accidents, overdoses and deaths. It can help keep ourselves, and the people we’re playing with, safer.”

     

     

    And that’s what I live for

     

    Thoughts publicly and privately are always welcome. I have secure communications at ProtonMail and Signal if it helps anyone.

     

    Cheers!

  2. This is not sesta related, btw

    It’s a renewed front on enforcement.

     

    [MEDIA=twitter]1098999007748083712[/MEDIA]

     

    Happening all over the country, driven by Polaris and ecpat and capitalized on by law enforcement partners who are doing trainings all over the place on how to do trafficking busts

    [MEDIA=twitter]1100236339281162240[/MEDIA]

     

    They’re using the Patriot Act to do the sneak and peek warrants. [MEDIA=twitter]1100200435820843009[/MEDIA]

     

    Apologies if this was already said somewhere else. FOSTA/sesta really hasn’t been used for anything yet. And it’s been one year since it was signed and in effect.

  3. There's a lot of fear being spread about syphilis right now.

    I'm looking specifically at the (queer) media coverage of the palm springs numbers.

    1- Logo/NewNowNext

    2- Gaypopbuzz

    3- Instinct Mag

    4- Towleroad

     

    All giving the impression that only dirty sluts with rashes should get tested for syphilis. One article calls condoms "useless" and another places responsibility solely on PrEP users. It ignores the fact that in order to even get PrEP, people are required to get tested every 3 months. As the number of people getting connected to care goes up, testing and treatment goes up. This (hopefully) makes the rate of disclosures go up and more people get tested and treated and disclose and on and on and on.

     

    (PS - need tips on how to disclose an STI to your partner? Check out this episode of a podcast I do called "On the Dresser" where we do some mock phone calls and give some advice on what to do once you know your status.)

     

    Does history repeat itself?

    In the early 1900s, the American Social Hygiene Association used fear and stigma against STDs and prostitutes to put many women who were "suspected of having an STI" in prison.

    http://time.com/5276807/american-concentration-camps-promiscuous-women/

    [/url]

    >> "women were incarcerated as part of a government campaign known as the “American Plan.” Initially conceived during World War I as a federal project to protect soldiers from STIs and prostitutes — who were believed to nearly always carry STIs — it later expanded to reach into American communities at large, with state and municipal governments encouraged to pass their own parallel laws. Eventually, the Plan became one of the largest and longest-lasting mass quarantines in American history.

     

    Under the American Plan, government officials were empowered to scour the streets looking for any woman whom they “reasonably suspected” of carrying an STI. These officials detained countless “suspected” women, examined them without their consent, and locked up those who tested positive — as well as a number who didn’t, but who were deemed sufficiently “immoral” or “promiscuous.” The Plan operated more or less continuously in many places during the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. During World War II, it was reinvigorated on a national level, though local officials had never truly ceased to round up and lock up women for having STIs or being suspected of prostitution. In some places, officials continued to enforce the Plan as late as the 1970s, and laws originally passed under the Plan were referred to in the 1980s and 1990s to justify the proposed quarantine of another group of individuals with a stigmatized infection: HIV/AIDS. Each of these laws remains on the books, in some form, to this day

     

     

    Post FOSTA-SESTA, it's important (I think) to keep an eye on the way media talks to us about sex including STIs.

  4. Counter point:

    http://jezebel.com/im-sorry-this-zombie-fish-is-definitely-worse-than-sup-1796721200/amp

     

    Tl;dr yes antibiotic resistance is a problem. There have been THREE (if you read the long BBC post) cases of super gonorrhea reported.

     

    Either way, make sure you're getting the holes you use swabbed and/or pee in a cup when you go get tested!

     

    (Shameless plug of my podcast where I talk about gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis in "The Curable Trio")

     

    Happy slutting!

  5. It's almost as big a leap as believing Gemmel Moore knew nothing about drugs before he met Ed Buck. Still, in the spirit of fairness, where might one find a copy of Mr. Moore's journal implicating Mr. Buck?

     

    Why is it a leap? Is it because he's a black man? A sex worker? I'm genuinely curious.

     

    http://www.jasmyneacannick.com/breaking-journal-documents-how-wealthy-democratic-donor-hooked-young-black-gay-man-on-meth-before-his-death/

  6. To me, this article is not primarily about drugs.

    THANK YOU

     

    I get the mothers anger but I don't really think you can go after a guy just because he paid these men to shoot up. Buck is discusting and should forever be tarnished by this. However, anyone who freely injects Meth into their veins has to know the consequences.

     

    The biggest thing we learn in NA is about accepting responsibility.

     

    Does NA teach victim blaming as well? Gemmel Moore wrote in a journal that this person introduced him to the drugs. He went from zero to injection which is quite the leap as far as amphetamines go. I don't know if anyone has ever viewed drug use as a business decision, but for those engaged in survival sex, it is a very real decision. Sometimes the later consequences don't seem as real as the immediate need for food, shelter, cash, etc.

  7. A pedicurist recommended it, but painting my toenails is not my 'vibe'. And besides, the surfaces are uneven. Sorry to to be so graphic ...

     

    Painting could make it worse. It's a process. Nails treated and grown out. Apple cider vinegar/water soaks or listerine/water soaks are popular at home treatments. Both googleable.

     

    You're right not to paint your toes unless you want to give off a feminine vibe.

     

  8. I've used the square app for the past couple of years.

    As a provider, I've set it up so that it's a discreet charge classified as a personal service like a haircut or a spa massage. It comes up at "DC easy pay" on credit card statements and I've (knock on wood) had no problems from the gentlemen who take advantage of that method of payment.

    Downside for providers: It does charge a 3% fee for each transaction and depending on the time of the charge (late nights, for example) it could take up to two extra days to get the funds. I've heard that larger amounts of money get tricky because Square wants you to have a tax ID to be able to retrieve the funds. So for someone starting out or someone who maybe doesn't pay their taxes for whatever reason, it may not work out.

×
×
  • Create New...