does Andrew Sullivan bareback?

christian11 at mindspring.com christian11 at mindspring.com
Tue May 29 07:36:39 PDT 2001



>Sullivan may be hit for advocating monogamy while still being a playboy, but I'm not sure the barebacking angle adds much.

--Virally speaking, yes, sort of. Since barebacking does increase the odds of infection even for the top, and since any P/w HIV can contract multiple strains of the virus, it does make it marginally more dangerous and destructive.

Culturally speaking, the barebacking angle adds to his perceived deviance--like it's somekind of deathwish. (That's not what it is--it's actually another kind of fetish. But of that, more anon . . .) It could easily turn into handwringing about the leather/pigsex/rauch subculture tout court--although the mainstream gay press has pretty much done this already, and I don't think the mainstream straight press is ready for that yet. But should it come to pass, look for Sullivan to be its whipping boy, then its poster boy--two roles which he appears to like to reprise anyway.

Christian



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