Should Treasure Island Media Be Shut Down?

[JoshChgo]

Treasure Island Media, aka, TIM, has been filming unsafe bareback porn from the day it began filming. Now, since the rise and spread of HIV amongst a generation who never lived through the worst days of this horrific killer is increasing more than it ever has before; should Treasure Island Media Be Shut Down?

 

Filming safer sex porn is now becoming the exception, not the rule.

Steven Daigle has now become the latest porn actor to not only film bareback with TIM, but to take recklessness and irresponsibility to a higher level.

 

It's my feeling that porn actors are quickly becoming the new ground-zero for the spread of HIV. Given time, they’ll be the main source and carrier of the virus.

 

Should bareback porn companies be forced to shut down? Should all porn companies be required to use condoms?

 

Should porn actors who participate in reckless and irresponsible bareback sex for profit be denied federal aid when they test positive and are in need of Antiretroviral drugs to suppress their HIV?

[SteveEscort]

Absolutely not, to do so is taking away someone's choice in the world. While you're at it, close down x tube, virtually everything is bareback on there with guys getting random jizz up their hole in video booths and then getting 9000 hits a day. Is that not equally as reckless

[Steven_Draker]

It's my feeling that porn actors are quickly becoming the new ground-zero for the spread of HIV. Given time, they’ll be the main source and carrier of the virus.

 

That's a strong opinion, but based on what ...?

 

Being at high-risk doesn't mean that porn actors are the main vehicle of the virus.

 

Before shutting down Treasure Island Media one should probably close down the bath houses.

 

I see porn actors as "role models", but hardly as the main source and carrier of the virus.

[jimboivyo]

Treasure Island Media, aka, TIM, has been filming unsafe bareback porn from the day it began filming. Now, since the rise and spread of HIV amongst a generation who never lived through the worst days of this horrific killer is increasing more than it ever has before; should Treasure Island Media Be Shut Down?

 

Filming safer sex porn is now becoming the exception, not the rule.

Steven Daigle has now become the latest porn actor to not only film bareback with TIM, but to take recklessness and irresponsibility to a higher level.

 

It's my feeling that porn actors are quickly becoming the new ground-zero for the spread of HIV. Given time, they’ll be the main source and carrier of the virus.

 

Should bareback porn companies be forced to shut down? Should all porn companies be required to use condoms?

 

you can try to regulate stupid, but it ain't gonna work. we've tried and it usually fails. If these folks wanna play with their lives, let them. Hell, makes it a ton easier for me knowing who does this insane shit and to stay far away from them.

[JoshChgo]

While you're at it, close down x tube, virtually everything is bareback on there with guys getting random jizz up their hole in video booths and then getting 9000 hits a day. Is that not equally as reckless

 

The tube sites only exist because they are pirating porn from the actual producers of that porn.

[JoshChgo]

 

I see porn actors as "role-models", but hardly as the main source and carrier of the virus.[/color]

 

If you view porn actors as role models, then we're all in deep trouble.

 

Given time, they’ll be the main source and carrier of the virus. Yes. They are becoming a reckless subset of the gay community. The ones (more and more each day) who are filming bareback will become a renewed vehicle of the virus and even though we now have the Antiretrovirals to combat this disease, the infection rates will continue to rise and the reliance on very expensive, life-long drugs will soar.

[Decatur Guy]

My initial impulse would be to say "yes," shut them down. But then the more thought I put to it, the less resolute I feel about that "yes" for a variety of reasons.

 

I think unrelenting educational awareness is the best tool.

[JoshChgo]

I think unrelenting educational awareness is the best tool.

 

That was very effective for a former generation. As one can see now, however, once the funerals are removed from personal experience and history, things don't get better, they get worse.

[Steven_Draker]

If you view porn actors as role models, then we're all in deep trouble.

 

Yes, we are in trouble. That's why I put "role models" between brackets.

Still it's not clear how porn actors (an extremely small percentage of the population) are/will become the main carrier of the virus (by their example?)

 

Welcome back, btw

[Scorpio]

Welcome back, btw

 

I wonder how long before his new "Chgo" screen name gets timed out?

[Decatur Guy]

That was very effective for a former generation. As one can see now, however, once the funerals are removed from personal experience and history, things don't get better, they get worse.

 

I believe a more appropriate title for your thread would have been: Treasure Island Media SHOULD be shut down (without a question mark)

 

Your thread title seemed to indicate you weren't sure what to think and you were here to elicit our thoughts, but you've already formulated your opinion. You're not seeking input to shape your thoughts -- you're here to shape ours.

[JoshChgo]

Still it's not clear how porn actors (an extremely small percentage of the population) are/will become the main carrier of the virus (by their example?)

 

What you suggest is a small percentage of the population is, and has, actually been growing over the past years. When you add the layers of private sexual encounters outside of porn (which IS a private issue) with many of them escorting to an often times older (and wiser) population, you can see how the spread of a virus can once again begin to populate to other individuals.

 

Yes, it is everyone's responsibility to practice safer sex. However, realistically, everyone does not. The influence which these videos can have on our youth, when they are at the peak of their sexual drive and exploration cannot be understated. When bare-backing becomes the norm in porn, and it's certainly headed in that direction, it will become the worst example of lessons not learned our community has seen, since the very on-set of the outbreak.

 

Welcome back, btw[/color]

 

??

[JoshChgo]

I believe a more appropriate title for your thread would have been: Treasure Island Media SHOULD be shut down (without a question mark)

 

Your thread title seemed to indicate you weren't sure what to think and you were here to elicit our thoughts, but you've already formulated your opinion. You're not seeking input to shape your thoughts -- you're here to shape ours.

 

Not so. I was and I am looking for a discussion. Should I just post a question to the board and not participate in it?

[Decatur Guy]

Not so. I was and I am looking for a discussion. Should I just post a question to the board and not participate in it?

 

Well, in that case, sorry I misread your intentions. I have mixed feelings. Part of me says "yes, shut them down" but a bigger part of me says "no, that's not an effective solution and will just backfire."

 

Were they to be shut down, I might not agree with the decision but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it either.

[Epigonos]

Closing down a bareback site or forcing porn actors to wear condoms sounds great in the abstract but unfortunately rapidly becomes a nightmare in the application. California is about to pass a law requiring the use of condoms in the porn industry. So what do the bareback porn producers do, they move to another state or if necessary another country.

 

Following the logic that unsafe behavior should be outlawed or regulated opens a Pandora’s Box. Should the ban on marijuana be rigorously enforced because “most” heroin addicts started their drug addiction with marijuana? Should alcohol be banned because “all” alcoholics take a first drink? Should sugary soft drinks be banned or regulated (as Bloomberg tried to do in New York City) because they “might” lead to obesity? Should school children NOT be allowed to bring lunches from home because parents “might” send them to school with unhealthy items in those lunches (this was tried in a Los Angeles School District elementary school)?

 

A major problem with these type of regulations is who decides what type of behavior needs to be outlawed or regulated. Do we rely on the wh--es in the state legislatures do it? If so they will certainly not regulate those industries that contribute to their reelection campaigns and regulate vigorously those who do not.

 

A great old clique is extremely apt here, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions".

[Decatur Guy]

Epigonos explains my concerns very well.

[EZEtoGRU]

Should bareback porn companies be forced to shut down? Should all porn companies be required to use condoms?

 

Should porn actors who participate in reckless and irresponsible bareback sex for profit be denied federal aid when they test positive and are in need of Antiretroviral drugs to suppress their HIV?

 

I believe the correct answer to your questions is 'no'. Sadly, the existence of bareback production companies in gay porn is just a reflection of what is happening in broader gay society in general. Unprotected anal sex is totally out of control in the gay world right now. It's shocking to see how many gay men are practicing bareback sex these days. This is not unique to the US, it's happening in many countries and I don't see a way to really police the issue. My gay doctor says he is seeing more and more cases of poz guys who are in their teens and twenties.

 

Shutting down bareback sites would only be dealing with one tiny manifestation of a much bigger problem.

[JoshChgo]

 

Following the logic that unsafe behavior should be outlawed or regulated opens a Pandora’s Box. Should the ban on marijuana be rigorously enforced because “most” heroin addicts started their drug addiction with marijuana? Should alcohol be banned because “all” alcoholics take a first drink? Should sugary soft drinks be banned or regulated (as Bloomberg tried to do in New York City) because they “might” lead to obesity? Should school children NOT be allowed to bring lunches from home because parents “might” send them to school with unhealthy items in those lunches (this was tried in a Los Angeles School District elementary school)?

 

I agree that it can become a Pandora's box of sorts, but I disagree with your examples of sugary drinks, marijuana and alcohol.

 

Individuals are not passing along a still deadly (if not treated) disease to someone if I smoke weed, drink mountain dew or have a shot of tequila (too many). A child's triple whopper at lunch is not going to infect the child sitting next to them with diabetes or deadly cholesterol levels. So there's that side of the argument.

 

A major problem with these type of regulations is who decides what type of behavior needs to be outlawed or regulated. Do we rely on the wh--es in the state legislatures do it? If so they will certainly not regulate those industries that contribute to their reelection campaigns and regulate vigorously those who do not.

 

I think that when public health is at the forefront of any discussion of infectious disease(s) we can at least agree that this is not about re-election campaigns and politics. There's a reason why our government acted, albeit very, very late, and other private organizations were formed to fight this virus and the people it inflicted. Left untreated and unresolved, over time, it could have threatened the very existence of mankind, based on its now known method of transmission.

 

I'll also state that YES, I think Treasure Island Media should be shut down and any and all other studios who profit from this type of irresponsible business. I only single out TIM because they actually celebrate in the transmission of the infection from one person to another.

 

And to me, that's simply morally bankrupt.

[Epigonos]

JoshChgo we are simply going to have to agree to disagree on this one but when you state the following

 

“Individuals are not passing along a still deadly (if not treated) disease to someone if I smoke weed, drink mountain dew or have a shot of tequila (too many). A child's triple whopper at lunch is not going to infect the child sitting next to them with diabetes or deadly cholesterol levels. So there's that side of the argument.”

 

I’m afraid you are dead wrong!!!!!

 

Drug addicts cost this society millions if not billions of dollars in health care yearly. They no only kill themselves but also innocent people as well in their attempt to obtain money to buy their drugs.

 

Obesity costs this society millions if not billions of dollars in health care yearly. Those dollars might be much better spent finding cures for cancer, diabetes, and a multitude of other diseases that kill millions of people yearly.

 

Alcoholism kills millions of people yearly. Each year more and more traffic deaths are attributed to drivers under the influence of alcohol.

[JoshChgo]

JoshChgo we are simply going to have to agree to disagree..I’m afraid you are dead wrong!!!!!

 

And that's fine Epigonos, that's probably a good thing, quite frankly. If everyone agreed with one another we'd have no issues to debate!

 

Drug addicts cost this society millions if not billions of dollars in health care yearly. They no only kill themselves but also innocent people as well in their attempt to obtain money to buy their drugs.

 

Obesity costs this society millions if not billions of dollars in health care yearly. Those dollars might be much better spent finding cures for cancer, diabetes, and a multitude of other diseases that kill millions of people yearly.

 

Alcoholism kills millions of people yearly. Each year more and more traffic deaths are attributed to drivers under the influence of alcohol.

 

The difference here, for me, is that I can't catch your (not yours) obesity. I can't catch your heart attack lying in wait, I can't catch your drug habit and I can't catch your alcoholism either. Yes, they all cost society plenty in and of themselves. But they are not transmitted from one partner to another with a potentially fatal outcome.

[Steven_Draker]

Unprotected anal sex is totally out of control in the gay world right now. It's shocking to see how many gay men are practicing bareback sex these days. This is not unique to the US, it's happening in many countries and I don't see a way to really police the issue. My gay doctor says he is seeing more and more cases of poz guys who are in their teens and twenties.

 

Sadly, this is not only a "gay" issue. Heterosexuals are catching up in number of HIV infections.

 

http://www.avert.org/media/content/graphs/uk-hiv-diagnoses-chart.jpg

 

Chart: HIV transmission methods

[instudiocity]

Epigonos explains my concerns very well.

PLUS ONE, esp paragraphs 2 & 3. It's back to personal responsibility. Let each decide how he or she will deal with the facts.

[instudiocity]

The difference here, for me, is that I can't catch your (not yours) obesity. I can't catch your heart attack lying in wait, I can't catch your drug habit and I can't catch your alcoholism either. Yes, they all cost society plenty in and of themselves. But they are not transmitted from one partner to another with a potentially fatal outcome.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with your logic. You can catch obesity, just eat what the obese eat and exercise as little as the obese exercise. You can have a heart attack, eat lots of saturated and trans fats and stay sedentary, Voila, Heart Attack! You can have your very own drug habit, too. Alcoholism in the gay world is almost as epidemic as HIV (wait, Alcoholism beats HIV).

 

You see, the way you choose to behave - overeating, over-drinking, snorting coke and promiscuous fucking all have their complications. But each and every one of them starts with your decision to disregard the facts and behave in a manner that exposes you to these disorders. (I can't call any of these diseases, just their endgame manifestations.)

[EZEtoGRU]

Sadly, this is not only a "gay" issue. Heterosexuals are catching up in number of HIV infections.

 

http://www.avert.org/media/content/graphs/uk-hiv-diagnoses-chart.jpg

 

Chart: HIV transmission methods[/color]

 

If your chart is a global view of the current infection rate, the heterosexual transmission rate is likely skewed higher due to the inclusion of Africa/India/China (where heterosexual transmission is at a much higher rate than seen in the developed world). I have just looked at the transmission rates for cases reported in the US for 2011, and the male to male sex transmission represented 62% of the total and heterosexual sex transmission represented 27%(I included males and females here) of the total number of cases. That isn't to let str8 folks off the hook. They probably practice unsafe sex out of wedlock at a higher percentage of than gay males. However the reality is that gay males are more susceptible to HIV infection due to the more frequent practice of anal sex than seen in the heterosexual population and also due to having a higher number of sexual partners than heterosexuals do on average. I would further add that I expect we will see the reported transmission rates amongst gay men to increase in the next 5 years versus their heterosexual peers. I attribute this to my perception that, in the last 5 years, many gay males have let down their guard and started engaging more and more in un-protected sex. Due to the time lag between infection and exhibiting symptoms, I would fully expect the gay male infection rate to rise as time goes by.

 

http://www.avert.org/usa-statistics.htm

[instudiocity]

Sadly, this is not only a "gay" issue. Heterosexuals are catching up in number of HIV infections.

 

http://www.avert.org/media/content/graphs/uk-hiv-diagnoses-chart.jpg

 

Chart: HIV transmission methods

Promiscuity is a universal. If you don't know who you're fucking, you likely to get FUCKED!