Thanks for sharing this. FWIW, as one who came out just as the AIDS crisis was starting in the early 1980s I remember being "afraid of sex" in the sense that some of the safe-sex messages that I was hearing were pretty sex-negative. At times there was quite a bit of confusion and exaggerated fear; some of the guys I met were afraid to even touch another guy's cum or would only do mutual j/o and things like that. I think some of us from those days developed a fear of intimacy.
I was lucky enough to meet some guys to show me the ropes, and I never judged myself by porn magazines or the porn I had on VHS tapes. Of course I had some bad experiences -- the time when the poppers spileld up my nose? Ugh. -- but there were good ones, too.
Not much to add except you gotta hope that people keep things in perspective and have some healthy self-esteem.
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