98 Gay Men Arrested

[chodofu]

Caught on this on CTI yesterday.

98 or so gay males where arrested in a private orgy a yesterday or the day before. Images showed all of them in undies, huddling and hiding form the light, most of them young (18 to 3ish) condoms and tissue strewn about the place. Most alarming, however, 46 of them confirmed with STD's. 18 with HIV hock:

A caution to my gay friends. Be careful out there boys and for your sexual active hetero brothers sake, fuck that kinsey scale keep that Bi-sexual shit in your pocket.

Chou

[Flicka]

That news is already more than a few days old. What is interesting is that while it was really played up on TV and the papers, the English papers and Taiwan Headlines have barely given it a wink. Wouldn't want the world to know what irresponsible, disease-spreading fags we've got here, I guess.

Taiwanese gay men are the absolute WORST when it comes to any knowledge of safe sex, and none of this surprises me. OK, perhaps some countries in Africa are worse, but for a country who likes to think it is an educated, developed nation, this is pretty pathetic. It is a wonderful mixture of arrogance, stupidity, denial, low self-esteem, homophobia, drug and alcoholism, "AIDS is a foreigners disease", and even more arrogance and stupidity that continues to help STD rates here rise higher than Taipei 101.

[MaPoSquid]

Wouldn't want the world to know what irresponsible, disease-spreading fags we've got here, I guess.

Taiwanese gay men are the absolute WORST when it comes to any knowledge of safe sex, and none of this surprises me. OK, perhaps some countries in Africa are worse, but for a country who likes to think it is an educated, developed nation, this is pretty pathetic. It is a wonderful mixture of arrogance, stupidity, denial, low self-esteem, homophobia, drug and alcoholism, "AIDS is a foreigners disease", and even more arrogance and stupidity that continues to help STD rates here rise higher than Taipei 101.

It's the same in the U.S. -- gays have STD rates (not just AIDS) much higher than the general population. Likewise the low self-esteem, etc. Why put down Taiwan?

[maoman]

I was shocked by the incredibly ugly underwear that the men were wearing - white jockeys, ill-fitting, the kind your mother bought for you until the eighth grade, when you were cool enough to pick out some decent boxers.

Seriously, I am a little dismayed by the fact that some of the HIV-positive guys knew about their status, and were having sex anyway. Makes them little better than murderers, in my book. And the illegal drug use doesn't do much to increase my sympathy for them either. I heard that there were a couple of foreigners there - any news on that aspect?

[magnolia]

It's so NOT the same in the US - I imagine Flicka is talking about the availability of and access to information HIV and other STDs - they just don't have it here. In ANY American bar there are free condoms and lube and leaflets and phone numbers of support groups etc etc pinned up everywhere. There's medical help in the US - sure, there's still a stigma but there are support networks and trained personnel - in Taiwan, nurses refuse to treat people with HIV - it's not just ignorance on the part of the gay guys - it's pretty universal. A Taiwanese friend of mine died of HIV-related illness last year, and he was so ashamed he didn't even tell his gay friends, just disappeared off to die. We heard about all the SHIT he'd had to deal with from so-called "medical professionals" in Taiwan from his sister after he had died. This country is a fucking disgrace when it comes to people with HIV and AIDS. And does anyone remember the SARS nurses who refused to treat patients?

Flicka's putting down Taiwan rightly in this respect. What a ridiculous thing to come to Taiwan's defence for - they have better safe-sex resources in Thailand, for fuck's sake! The local boys ARE ignorant of the dangers of HIV - people REALLY do say "it's a foreigner's disease" and it's something that western guys here have had to deal with for years. Me and people I know have been writing articles about it for YEARS in the Asian gay media, like Taiwan's HIS magazine and Singapore's fridae.com and stupid remarks like "why put Taiwan down?" REALLY get my goat. This isn't about low self-esteem or higher rates of STD, it's about fighting ignorance due to the COMPLETE lack of adequate sex information in Taiwan - in the States you've got to be an IDIOT to have unprotected sex; in Taiwan they really ARE ignorant of the facts.

And Chou, get over yourself with your "bisexual shit" remark - go tell it to the straight Taiwanese guys who are fucking whores in the rest of South East Asia and coming back to their wives and families - it's not just a gay problem. Why don't YOU make sure you wear a condom every time you have sex with a woman (like the rest of us educated people do when we have sex with a man). Take responsibility for YOURSELF.

Maoman, yes it is shocking that some of the guys knew about their HIV status - they ARE attempted murderers, but cf my remark about straight local guys. If you don't know your status or don't care to wear a condom with a whore in Bangkok, what's the difference? EVERYONE'S ignorant about HIV and AIDS here, it just happened to be gay party that was raided and so it's been highlighted. And drug use is immaterial here; unless you've never ran a red light or done anything "illegal".

[Flicka]

It's the same in the U.S. -- gays have STD rates (not just AIDS) much higher than the general population. Likewise the low self-esteem, etc. Why put down Taiwan?

OK, you got me on that one. I'm just being sour grapes because they didn't send me an invite.

Because Taiwan's the only place gays have told me they can tell if someone is HIV+ just by looking at them, in fact many times. And Maoman brings up an interesting point--the horrendous underwear.

[magnolia]

OK, you got me on that one. I'm just being sour grapes because they didn't send me an invite.

Oh THANKS for blowing me out of the water!

[chodofu]

And Chou, get over yourself with your "bisexual shit" remark - go tell it to the straight Taiwanese guys who are fucking whores in the rest of South East Asia and coming back to their wives and families - it's not just a gay problem. Why don't YOU make sure you wear a condom every time you have sex with a woman (like the rest of us educated people do when we have sex with a man). Take responsibility for YOURSELF.

Fair 'nuff. Hey all you straight Taiwanese, and foreign, guys fucking whores across Asia and anywhere in the world. Wear a condom. Spread peanut butter not HIV.

Chou

[YJaeger]

Well, apparently the HIV count is now up to 28 men. United Daily News reported that out of the 92 men that were at the " Home Party"

[magnolia]

Out of the 28 reported cases, 14 were on file and knew about their status as carriers. The police and health departments are afraid that more people at this party were infected due to the use of drugs and sharing of needles.

They were sharing needles? That doesn't sound like any part of the gay Taiwanese scene - on the news the police just showed big bags of e, Viagra and some poppers - Jeez, these people are even MORE ignorant than I thought :?

And 14 guys didn't even know - that's harsh. Well, if anyone is interested, or has a friend that might need to know, I have the number for a guy who works for the one voluntary group in Taiwan and acts as sort of a "gay liason" for the Ximending STD clinic and can arrange an anonymous HIV test. They weren't offering anything like a counselling service a couple of years ago, but that might have changed. PM me for details.