Bugchasing

Bugchasing is a slang term for the alleged practice of pursuing sexual intercourse with HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

infected individuals in order to contract HIV. Individuals engaged in this activity are referred to as bugchasers. It is a form of self harm.

Bugchasers seek sexual partners who are HIV positive

HIV positive people

HIV-positive people are people who have the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, the agent of the currently incurable disease AIDS.Over the years of coping with the stigma and discrimination that accompany the diagnosis in most societies, a large number of support groups have been formed...

for the purpose of having unprotected sex and becoming HIV positive; giftgivers are HIV positive individuals who comply with the bugchaser's efforts to become infected with HIV.

Others dismiss the idea of bug chasers as urban legend

Urban legend

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...

Bugchasers indicate various reasons for this activity. Some bugchasers engage in the activity for the excitement inherent in pursuing such a dangerous activity, but do not implicitly desire to contract HIV. Some researchers suggest that the behavior may stem from a "resistance to dominant heterosexual norms and mores" due to a defensive response by gay men to repudiate stigmatization and rejection by society.

Some people consider bugchasing "intensely erotic" and the act of being infected as the "ultimate taboo, the most extreme sex act left." A number of people who are HIV negative and in a relationship with someone who is HIV positive seek infection as a way to remain in the relationship, particularly when the HIV positive partner may wish to break up to avoid infecting the HIV negative partner.

Some contend that this behaviour stems from feelings of inevitability towards HIV among the gay community and the empowerment of choosing when to contract the virus. Others have suggested that some people who feel lonely desire the nurturing community that supports persons with AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

.

By design, bug chasing involves unprotected sex, but members of the bareback subculture are not necessarily bugchasers. The difference is intent:

Research

Over the past decade, researchers have endeavored to document, explain, and look for a solution to bug chasing. Dr. DeAnn Gauthier and Dr. Craig Forsyth put forth the first academic article in 1999. They explored the emerging trend of gay men who eschew condom

Condom

A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...

s and the development of a barebacking subculture. They also noted through their qualitative research that some barebackers were in search of HIV.

Dr. Richard Tewksbury was one of the first researchers to acknowledge bug chasing online and that bug chasers were using the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

to assist their seroconversion efforts. In his more recent research, he gave a strong analysis of what bug chasers and gift givers resemble in their behaviors, attitudes, and demographics.

Drs. Christian Grov and Jeffrey T. Parsons' (2006) research using the internet profiles of 1,228 bug chasers and gift givers identified six subsets of bug chasers and gift givers.

"The Committed Bug Chaser" included men who indicated they were HIV-negative and seeking HIV-positive partners. Of the committed bug chasers who indicated a desired sexual position, the majority were bottoms (62.2% anal receptive
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...

). Only 7.5% of the sample were classified as committed bug chasers.
"The Opportunistic Bug Chaser" included men who were HIV-negative and indicated that their partner’s HIV status did not matter. Most of these men were either versatile (43.6%; meaning anal receptive and anal insertive) or bottoms (46.3%). In total, 12.1% of their sample included opportunistic bug chasers.
"The Committed Gift Giver" included men who were HIV-positive that also indicated they were seeking HIV-negative partners. Notably, only five men from the entire sample of 1,228 fell into this category.
"The Opportunistic Gift Giver" included men who indicated they were HIV-positive and that their partner’s status did not matter to them. Most of these men (61.8%) were versatile. Opportunistic Gift Givers comprised 26% of the sample.
"The Serosorter" Although all men Drs. Grov and Parsons sampled indicated they were a gift giver or a bug chaser in their Internet profile
User profile
A user profile is a collection of personal data associated to a specific user. A profile refers therefore to the explicit digital representation of a person's identity...

, behavioral intentions did not consistently match with bug chaser/gift giver identity. Some HIV-positive men (8.5% of the total sample) indicated preference for other HIV-positive men. Meanwhile, some HIV-negative men (12.5% of the total sample) indicated preference for other HIV-negative men. Although having indicated they were a bug chaser or a gift giver, these men were serosorting
Serosorting
Serosorting is the practice of using HIV status as a decision-making point in choosing sexual behavior. Frequently the term is used to describe the behavior of a person who chooses a sexual partner assumed to be of the same HIV serostatus for the purpose of engaging in unprotected sex with the...

for partners of similar HIV status.
"The Ambiguous Bug Chaser or Gift Giver" included men who indicated they did not know their HIV status and thus it was difficult to determine if they were seeking to bug chase or give the gift. This category comprised 16.3% of the sample.

In total, Drs. Christian Grov and Jeffrey T. Parsons concluded that bug chasing and gift giving might occur among a select few individuals. Further, their research found that there was substantial variation in intentions to spread HIV (with some not intent on spreading HIV) among those who indicated they were gift givers or bug chasers.

Dr. Mark Blechner found that some bug chasers were lonely and alienated, and saw HIV as a path to becoming part of a community that elicits public sympathy and caretaking. Other bug chasers were so overwhelmed by the anxiety of contracting HIV that they thought it would be a relief from that anxiety to become HIV-positive and "get it over with." And most recently, Dr. David Moskowitz, Dr. Catriona MacLeod and Dr. Michael Roloff attempted to quantitatively explain why bug chasers chase HIV. They claimed that individuals who look for HIV are more likely sex addicts. These individuals have exhausted the sexual high they previously derived by performing other sexual risk taking behaviors, and now turn to bug chasing to achieve the risk-oriented high.

Dr. Bruce D. LeBlanc (2007) conducted an exploratory study involving survey responses from self identified bug chasers, one of the first published studies involving direct responses from this identified group. His findings challenge "common sense" and research findings regarding bug chasers. Examining psychological and social motivations for seeking HIV the most frequent response was that individuals could not identify a psychological (internal thought process) or social (interactions with others) factor for seeking HIV. Regarding motivations for seeking infection the most frequent response was seeing becoming infected as a thrill, hot, or erotic, as well as seeing the semen through a similar lens. Few respondents identified "getting it over with" as a motivating factor.

Some limited identification of becoming part of the "community" or "brotherhood" was identified. Other variables studied included methods for finding partners, sexual behaviors undertaken while seeking infection, average number of sexual partners, length of time for which they will seek infection and life event changes if they were successful in becoming infected with HIV.

Medical response

Bugchasing has, more recently, been taken more seriously by medical health promotion bodies, such as the Centers for Disease Control, which hosted a workshop on the topic, hosted by Dr. Michael Graydon of Carleton University

Carleton University

Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...

, Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, at the 2004 National STD

Sexually transmitted disease

Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...

Prevention Conference.

Bugchasing in mainstream media

The bugchasing/giftgiving phenomenon gained press coverage and notoriety after Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine printed an article in 2003 by a freelance journalist, Gregory Freeman, entitled "Bug Chasers: The men who long to be HIV+". The article quoted San Francisco health services director Dr. Bob Cabaj as saying that as many as twenty-five percent of new HIV infections a year (about ten thousand people) were from men who had contracted it on purpose. Cabaj disputed the quotes attributed to him but Rolling Stone remains behind the story. Dr. Marshall Forstein, the medical director of mental health and addiction services at Boston's Fenway Community Health

Fenway Health

Fenway Health, originally called Fenway Community Health Center, is an LGBT health care, research and advocacy organization. It has had a number of homes over the years, including its current Ansin Building home at 1340 Boylston Street in Boston, which opened its doors in 2009...

, was reported to have said that the clinic regularly saw bug-chasers and warned that it was growing. He called the statements "entirely a fabrication," but Rolling Stone also stood behind them. Steven Weinstein, then editor of the New York Blade, an established gay newspaper, called the article "less than truthful" and attributed it to a Rolling Stone editor (who he did not name) recently recruited from a competing "lad mag" who wished to make a sensation for himself.

Following the article, the Human Rights Campaign

Human Rights Campaign

The Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization; according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters...

put out an action alert, calling its members to "PROTEST ROLLING STONE'S IRRESPONSIBLE 'BUG CHASING.'" Critics criticized the use of the disputed figures by conservative organizations; for example, The Traditional Values Coalition used the article to urge the Centers for Disease Control to cut down on its AIDS funding.

Writer Daniel Hill outlined a scenario where such behavior might occur:
Writer/director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

Daniel Bort made a 2003

2003 in film

The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...

short film on the subject called Bugchaser, which premièred at the 16th Annual Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and was shot mainly in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

sex club

Sex club

Sex clubs are either groups that organize sex related activities or an establishment where patrons can engage in sex acts with other patrons. A sex club differs from a brothel in that, while sex club patrons typically pay a fee to enter the club, they have sex with other patrons rather than with...

s. In an interview with the Austin Chronicle

Austin Chronicle

The Austin Chronicle is an alternative weekly, tabloid-style newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic...

, he explained: "The matter-of-fact declarations of a string of articulate, apparently nonsensical people … affected me tremendously. I had to find out the reasons why such individuals will seek suicide in this almost symbolic way." At the Austin G&L Film Festival, the film was shown with an accompanying documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

The Gift

The Gift (2003 film)

The Gift is a 2003 documentary by filmmaker Louise Hogarth documenting the phenomenon of deliberate HIV infection; bugchasing. The film follows the stories of two "bug chasers" who are seeking "the gift" of HIV infection. Interviews are also conducted with AIDS activist and author, Walt Odets, PhD,...

by Louise Hogarth.

HIV positive man Ricky Dyer, who investigated the apparent bug chasing phenomenon for a 2006 BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

programme, I love being HIV+, said that an air of complacency about the realities of living with the virus may be one reason why infection rates have been rising. However, the BBC also described bugchasing as more internet fantasy than reality, saying that, "Dyer finds that the overwhelming majority of the talk is pure fantasy." The article also quotes Will Nutland, head of health promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust, as saying, "The concepts of 'gift giving' and 'bug chasers' are definitely based more in fantasy than reality" as well as Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National AIDS Trust saying, "There is very little evidence of people trying to get infected with HIV."

In the Showtime series Queer as Folk a former student of Professor Ben Bruckner, asked Ben to infect him with HIV, wanting to experience "the gift." Ben refuses and writes a novel about the incident.

In the NBC series ER

ER (TV series)

ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, season 7 episode 13 Dr Malucci treats a gay man who wants to contract HIV from his positive partner. Malucci asked the HIV- patient if he is 'bug chasing'

Bugchasing

Research

Medical response

Bugchasing in mainstream media

See also

Further reading

General press coverage