Poz _ MBiM is right about the irony of some men having unprotected sex with men who don't know their HIV status -- meaning they have never been tested ... period.

The CDC has conservatively estimated there are 900,000 people in the United States who are HIV positive and they don't even know they are infected with the HIV.

One thing is for certain. Poz _ MBiM is not one of the 900,000 people who don't know they are HIV positive. The point I have consistently emphasized is the ethical burden of responsibility an HIV positive individual has to an individual who may become a sex partner where the possibility of having unprotected sex might occur under circumstances that are conducive to transmitting the HIV as well as other sexually transmitted diseases.

Having anonymous sex with strangers has certainly raised the stakes for everyone. Having anonymous unprotected sex with strangers raises the stakes even higher. Despite the appalling number of people who are HIV positive and don't even know it, having unprotected sex with people who don't know their HIV status continues to be an acceptable risk some people are willing to take.

Why some people are willing to accept the risk associated with having unprotected sex with anonymous people underscores why it is important to address the ethical issue of informed consent. As adults, I believe we have an ethical obligation to inform our potential sex partners if we are HIV positive. Withholding that information from our sex partners nullifies the underlying principle of informed consent and has the potential to expose an HIV positive person to criminal charges of reckless endangerment. In some legal jurisdictions, criminal intent of reckless endangerment is demonstrated by the deliberate withholding of HIV status and having unprotected sex with another person. As such, the burden of responsibility for informed consent goes well beyond the ethical responsibility we have towards each other.

If we address the ethical obligations towards each other, there needn't be an occasion where our obligation to inform becomes a legal obligation issue with potential punitive criminal sanctions.

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Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. And, under a just God, cannot long retain it.

-- Abraham Lincoln

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