The linked post below is to a story about the prevalence of STD’s and meet up apps like Grindr. But what is the real connection between apps and disease?

In a new study researchers have found that meeting men on smartphone apps can increase the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI). It was previously known that apps like Grindr have a high percentage of users who likely have an STI. According to a report on Reuters, the primary culprits invading the bodies of gay men on apps like Grindr and Scruff are gonorrhea (which is fast becoming antibiotic resistant) and chlamydia.

In the old days, men met at bars, mostly on the weekends (this is a questionable statement, I know) or other pick up spots. STD’s were spread through sexual contact. The bar or hook up spot has been replaced by meeting on-line, and the lac of personal connection capable with an on-line meeting makes it easy for a lack of communication to occur before sex. In fact the very notion of having an online profile or profiles creates a level of separation between yourself and well… yourself. You don’t actually have to be you. You can be the person in the profile.

This charade isn’t really totally new. In the old days, it wasn’t unusual for a guy to use a fake name when meeting tricks, or for the encounter to be totally anonymous. But truly, the on-line world makes this charade easier than ever.

Apps are not responsible for increasing rates of STD’s, rather the culprit is the failed safer-sex and public health agendas that began in the first Bush presidency and have been rolled out ever since. Sex and a gay man’s desire for sexual intimacy has been shamed, and there has been no communal reinforcement for the importance of honesty and real intimacy. So shame has ruled, and even (falsely) parades as sexual liberation.

A lack of honesty isn’t exclusive to on-line meeting. How many people use little white lies multiple times a day. “I was caught in traffic,” “I didn’t get that email,” or you know, the old fashioned, the check is in the mail. We live in a culture where lies and misinformation prevails.

But that said, rising infection rates is a form of self abuse. It is a matter of gay men placing themselves at great risk and for what? We don’t need to blame the apps. With or without them, when guys participate in sex without care, they harm themselves and others. The linked article doesn’t so much blame the apps, but it also doesn’t do anything to really uncover the real issues. It is a fear mongering piece at best designed to scare gay men, and in my opinion, this scare tactic is a part of the problem, no matter how well intentioned, rather than being a part of the solution.

Real change in infection rates can come only when there is a level of honesty and intimacy connected to sex, no matter where or how two people meet. The Full Frontal Honesty campaign is an example of that.  Albert’s approach as demonstrated in the linked post is simply more of the same failed public health approach we have experienced for decades. It hasn’t worked, isn’t working and won’t work. Public health “activists” like him really just don’t it, even though they are very well meaning.

The whole of the LGBTQ community, and gay men in particular need to care and be alarmed by growing infection rates, but we need to quit trying to rely on fear tactics and start promoting honest disclosure and less shame around sex if we are going to make any improvement and health within our community.

The Grindr Effect? Gay Men Again Battling Increasing STI Rates | The New Civil Rights Movement.