I’ve had a number of sexual partners, have always used a condom except a very few times and all of those were in LTRs, and have never been tested. I’ve always been asymptomatic. Frankly, yes, I may very well be seropositive for HSV-2 and am almost certainly seropositive for any number of strains of HPV. And so are many of my partners, I’m sure.
Honestly, it’s never come up, and if someone asked me, I’d tell them I’ve never been tested but that I’d also never had symptoms. I’ve also never asked someone else.
Wow. Kinda sensitive, there, Sarah. Read it again. I was speculating in a very general way, and explicitly including, actually focusing on people who have not yet answered, but may yet do so.
And even if I were talking only about the grand total of 8 people that had already answered, I was still speculating,(which would be something a bit different than accusing) and I said “some”, which means fewer than “all” and certainly leaves room for me to not be talking about YOU, particularly if you know that you personally have always acted in alignment with your beliefs.*
Seems to me a much more relevant question is not if but WHEN you tell a partner about your std. First date? Before kissing? Heavy petting? When they are on their way “down”? While putting the condom on?
I think this might be a first- to have a poll so carefully crafted to allow for nuances, and then have everyone answer in exactly the same black & white way.
That’s because the correct moral ground is incredibly obvious. You don’t get to choose what risks another person takes.
It’s like saying, if I hand someone a gun, and there’s only ONE bullet, do I have to tell him when he points it as his head? What if I’m pretty sure its not in the next chamber?
BTW, while HIV and herpes testing are usually offered during annual gynecological examinations (and I guess yearly physicals for men), and HIV is also offered through anonymous/confidential testing… Testing for HPV is more difficult.
Certainly, Pap smears can tell if there is something abnormal… but those care about the cervix, which is up inside, out of sight. And an abnormal Pap is not an automatic “has HPV NOW”. It may well be “had HPV at some point, the virus cleared, but left behind wonky cells”. Some clinics would test for HPV afterwards, others do not. And all of this is for women, I’m guessing it would be even more difficult, even for a responsible male that goes to yearly physicals and gets tested regularly, to get a test for HPV. And they’re the ones more likely to spread it without symptoms!
I’ll probaby have to just buy it. That things so beat up and over the allowable mileage I’ll get thoroughly screwed by the surcharges when the lease expires. But thats not so bad, I kinda like the seat heaters, the trim, and how it handles. And, like all real men, I prefer a stick to an automatic.
I believe you are missing Hepatitis C - while some people do kick it (with and without treatment) only about 50% of people ever end up completely cured.
For what its worth I vote for all of them except the HPV ones - HPV is super common and so many people don’t know they have it.
Edit, or at least, I would vote for that - as said above the poll is broken, I can only pick one option.
Miss Scarlet in the Library with a candlestick is WAY DIFFERENT than Miss Scarlet in the Library with a wrench. WAY DIFFERENT. Why, it’s hardly murder with a wrench. It’s more like a visit to the life mechanic that just happens to kill you.
That assumes that the people who have the diseases are aware that they have them. A scary-high proportion of herpes carriers do not know that they have herpes. Ditto that for genital warts.
Precisely. If I have sex with a virgin, it means either that my wife has died, that I’ve gotten a divorced, or that I’m cheating on my wife, which are the three worst things I can imagine happening in my life.
That’s nice. It’s not offered through my clinic, though. And the rest of what I wrote stands. It is not a test as common as others. Maybe one day it’ll be, but it’s not that way yet.
The way you crafted the poll, it’s like you expect there to be different attitudes amongst straight couples versus gay ones, or that it might matter whether the man has the potential STD versus the woman. I don’t see how any of that might matter, and apparently neither do the majority of the people responding to your poll.
It’s not offered through my clinic, though. And the rest of what I wrote stands. It is not a test as common as others. Maybe one day it’ll be, but it’s not that way yet.