(no subject)

[rivka]

I have something to say.

Five years ago, I developed a blister on my labia after having condom-protected sex with a new partner. Testing identified it as herpes simplex 1, a form which usually, but not always, presents orally. How I got infected remains a mystery to this day.

I am not dirty. I am not disgusting. I am not a pariah. It does not go without saying that I should absent myself from poly settings for life. Sleeping with me is not a sign that you lack intelligence or self-respect, it is a sign that you are really fucking lucky.

And unless you have never had genital contact with another human being, you'd be a fool to think that it couldn't have happened to you.

That is all.

Comments

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Just vouching for the "really fucking lucky" part. :-)

I suppose I should be surprised by the "rules" outlined by the person you linked to, but I'm not. It's gotten to the point where I'm saddened, but not surprised, by people whose STD-prevention rules for themselves rely mostly on anybody they're sleeping with not having anything.

-J

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

Our current rules of such things are no HIV+ partners without lots of education and re-negotiation of rules

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Just vouching for the "really fucking lucky" part. :-)

*beam!*

It's gotten to the point where I'm saddened, but not surprised, by people whose STD-prevention rules for themselves rely mostly on anybody they're sleeping with not having anything.

The comment that really made me wince was the person whose poly circle has firm testing rules, with no sex allowed if the person tests positive. She remarked that it had just occurred to her that perhaps they ought to discuss what they would do if one of their existing partners came up positive for something. *sigh* Yes, perhaps they ought.