BIOHAZARD
BIOHAZARD, n. is defined as: "1. A biological agent, such as an infectious microorganism, or a condition that constitutes a threat to humans, especially in biological research or experimentation. 2. The potential danger, risk, or harm from exposure to such an agent or condition."
I chose this a topic because I'm curious as to why men choose to tattoo such a statement on their bodies. I'm referring to the biohazard tattoos. I've also browsed personals sites and seen many gay men (which I'm assuming are HIV+) who bear these tattoos. I can't understand why anyone would want to portray such a statement on their bodies. And, recently while reviewing the stills from the latest Damon Dogg production I encountered Damon blowing a guy with this tattoo.
I'm concered because I've read in many articles how organizations that support gay individuals, their rights, and well being blast studios like Treasure Island Media for (as they claim) glamorizing the spread of HIV by filming bareback porn. According to Paul, he is "Documenting Male Sexuality for the 21st Century." My question/concern: Is this really what sexuality for the gay men in the 21st century has become? the spread of HIV? What is the motivation behind making such a statement on ones' body?
Any thoughts would be appreciated...
And, recently while reviewing the stills from the latest Damon Dogg production I encountered Damon blowing a guy with this tattoo.
I just busted a fat load while looking at this pic..Check out the Biohazard tattoo on fucking Top STUD Sean Hunter..The beautiful Damon Dogg is so fucking hot sucking on that Devil's Dick!! Guys with the Biohazard tattoo are such fucking Studs..Not only are they making a statement on there status, they are telling the world, I am a DIRTY FUCK PIG!! Goddamn, I love T.I.M.
I find the BH tattoo a remarkable act of personal expression. A fuck-you stance with SERIOUS balls. If I assume anything about these men, it's simply that they will not be branded by others - straights or other gay men - as dangerous, sick, or toxic. (Like it or not, poz men are called out as exactly that in every UB2 ad out there.) Whether they're poz or not... whether they fuck bareback or not... they're forcing dialogues like this one. Shake it up, men!! Bravo!
Jess
I find the BH tattoo a remarkable act of personal expression. A fuck-you stance with SERIOUS balls. If I assume anything about these men, it's simply that they will not be branded by others - straights or other gay men - as dangerous, sick, or toxic. .... Shake it up, men!! Bravo!
I have always found the BIOHAZARD tattoo both sexy and brazen. It equates to similar familiar signs: "Enter at Risk" "Hard Hat Area" and "NO LIFEGUARD". The latter being the most synonomous! The practice of barebacking is, at its simplest, edgy and risky. Couple that aspect with the "in-your-face" raw statement of "my goods are HOT" and you find pure, primal sexual heat at its finest. This is the only kind of sex I desire and will totally satisfy me.
Bravo indeed (!!) to all the "Absolutely Positive" men.
scorp
Hey Guys -
I just found a website (for all I know, I'm the last one to hear about it) called kinkwear.net that sells t-shirts, and also a cap, with the biohazard symbol on them. One t-shirt even juxtaposes the symbol with a skull. And there's another that has the word POZ on it, with the biohazard symbol in place of the O.
Other really cool stuff, too.
I'm still wondering when TIM is gonna re-issue the "Have You Fucked Dawson, Yet?" shirts.
This is an interesting thread... I find the biohazard tatt incredibly sexy and will defintiely approach a guy when I see one. I certainly will try to get him to ride me, but at the very least I want to congratulate him on his freedom, confidence and willingness to be bold with himself, what he likes, and to demonstrate a better model of gay sexuality that isn't afraid. Are their risks to playing raw with poz cum, sure. Are there risks to havign hiv, even now, sure. We all know that. The fact that some embrace that risk, advertise it even, is a good sign in my book. Shunning things, telling people not to talk about them, shaming people - never works. Gay sexuality is going to evolve over time, some will embrace it and enjoy it and not be afraid and some will run from it.
I'd love to see more biohazard tatts in porn, and would see it as a very good sign and sending the right welcoming, accepting message that gay sex should send.
I've been signed up here as a member for a long time and have only recently started visiting more.
I hadn't seen this topic before but I really have to take exception with this post.
"Demeaning?"
I really can't believe I just read that.
I got my BH tattoo this year and customized it myself. I was also featured in the POZ Pride issue (winter) of HIV Plus Magazine and was photographed while getting it.
I have spent the better part of the last two years doing my best to boost the self image of long term HIV survivors (as well as work on the No on 8 campaign) and your post has justified all the time I've put into the former.
Just for the record, I am very public (not just open) about my status and I am fucking proud to have been able to survive and thrive since being diagnosed in 1989.
So no I do not agree with you. The act of a POZ person putting that mark on their body is not demeaning. It's an act of courage, an act of defiance and an act of pride.
Assuming that different people are going to have different reasoning for tattooing this image on their bodies strays away from the context of this inquery.I would further assume that most of the men in BAREBACK porn and BAREBACK personals' sites are carrying the tattoo because they are "advertising" their status -- and not for a fashion statement.
I enjoy bareback porn and the fantasy that comes with along with it, but it seems as if some people are allowing the fantasy world and reality worlds to collide by participating in this very demeaning act of tattooing this image on their bodies. I only wish to seek further insight into this subject so that others and myself may obtain clarity.
This seems like a skewed self-rightous fetish behavior and it is apparent that this behavior does nothing for all the negative criticism that BAREBACK porn gathers.
Furthermore, I would not tattoo the swastika on my body (even though its a cool symbol or a band :P) because of the statement it carries.
Anyone agree?
Why do a lot of gay men feel like they don't have to have any rules? When people are putting themselves at risk or becoming poz on purpose, should they receive free health benefits from the government(for the ones that do receive this help from non-profits and get their bills paid)?
While I'm sure they had fun getting fucked and sucking down loads, it's no fun and it's not cute when I see a lot of gay men looking like the walkin dead, sunken in faces, swollen bellies, all kinds of skin issues, shitting on themselves, etc. On top of that, new bacterial diseases forming from all this wild sex, multiple cases of gonnorhea, and other diseases as well. Not to mention the mental wear and tear that HIV does as well.
It does make me sit back and want to say to them; is it worth it?
Having diseases isn't something to be proud of. I mean you can be strong, push through, and fight to make your life better with the disease but being proud of it is a bit ridiculous. I'm sure most(I say most because there's always one) would have it taken away if they could with one wish so are they really proud of it.
Getting a tattoo and thinking that you're masculine just because you gave into your sexual prowess and took the risk; do you hear how that sounds?
I do know that people are grown and make their own decisions. I do know that people have the right to make their own choices. I understand all that. I agree with it and support it when the danger/consequences aren't right in my face. When you're on the other side, though. It's hard!!!! It's hard to think about adult and right to make choices when you're massaging your friends' legs because of nerve damage, you have to feed them, the vomiting, the night sweats, different things in their bodies malfunctioning because of the disease or meds, and you see all the bad things that they go through.
But I do know that people have been getting bioharzard tattoos since the 80s for the band and also because it was a symbol of being a bad ass, etc.
BUT!!!
We all know that there is a mindset, a group, or a community of gay men out there that get the tattoo because they are poz as well.
One of my bestfriends has HIV, herpes, and his physical appearance is not good. He's had warts countless times. He talks and raves about sex, sperm, gangbangs, etc but wishes he could zap the diseases away. So, when I think of him and these other guys; it kind of seems like they can't control themselves and that they are weak to sex so they give into the urges and only think about the consequences after they have already happened.
I'm not saying they are bad people. I'm not saying they don't deserve love. I'm not saying that they don't deserve sex but there does seem to be something wrong or something they need to get a handle on.
When I see my gay brethren depressed over having this disease along with countless other issues, how am I suppose to feel when I know that a number of them did it knowing what the consequences were? I love them, support them, and help them but at the same time I do have thoughts like why the fuckd did you put yourself in this situation.
So, I thought I'd just share my honest feelings because this subject hits home with my circle of friends from which I've lost two already. :-(
It's also a symbol of integrity and honor by the very fact that men like myself who get that tat are upfront about their status.
If being honest is "not having rules" then what is?
As for the other STDs, gay and straight men have been getting those for years long before AIDS was a crisis.
Yes I believe a BH tattoo(mine is on my lower neck, part of it out from my t shirt collar) is to be upfront, part of a tribe , and also defying destiny : This virus aini't gonna avoid me to live fast ! (even live faster as we know something some "normal" dont realize : time is not on our side lol)
Any way, I believe now the real stake is not on being neg or poz, people are now what their want to be or what they subconsience told them to be (ask your headshrinker), but the real stake now if to inform people about STD. How many think that being etsted for syphillis is enough? how many don't wonder what are these strange warts on their ass...these STDs are bacfk now as it ws in teh 70s except people have forgotten abou them in teh condoms years ,a nd even some doctior cannot id a syphillis !!
I know, difficult to believe, even after serving 8 years in the US Navy., but I wanted to give it a lot of thought...The TIM tatts caught my eye, still a tad undecided, but no matter, be rest assured I'm dedicated to the spread of CONDOM-FREE sex...I like to think that one wouLd be hard-pressed to find someone that despises condoms as much as I do.....my hatred is deep. KUDOS to Chi Chi LaRue, Michael Lucas, and others who have ditched condoms!!!! Even grandaddy Falcon has said "Nyet" to condoms!! Thank you, and thank Paul and TIM for taking a leadership role in this! I feel sd though we"re winnIng this war, through patience and perseverance!
It basically has become the symbol for bareback sex, mainly due to it's association with HIV....I can mean "I practice bareback sex-, I'm HIV+.or both.... in the early days of the epidemic, we woulkd have to run some of our own samples to the lab, and they would stick stickers with the biohazard symbol so lab staff would know to exercise caution when handling the samples.
bio, by hazard getting a non hurting input inside your system is a good exposition for your own immune modulation...i do it my whole live without any pharmashit or rubbercovers...(only to store the great white gold...;-)) i ejaculate inside condoms, most of the time, (for me the best of all collected in areas where i breed and get stuff instead of chemical pharmashit...i mix them together in one big condom..up to 40-50 loads and than the party will run without fuel...;-)) love the smell, the taste and the input when i give my output or take other loaded pipelines inside the ass..only breed anal and take it also inside same way...all other playgrounds are pussylike...and don`t fullfill 100 % input...the stupiest thing is to spread it out in the air...;-(((( what a senseless brewing place......and the best: you dont get everytime a bad experience - fear is not a good fellow...enjoy the skill..feel the adventure that stimulates the brain in a much positive!! / better mooded thinkpad, instead of thinking about getting an illness..maybe or not to be...what I see:s...illness,es provoked by medical contradictions...not from a hard on..;-) sticking in a hole, made for these several heringbones...(some even smell similar...nature is a Bitch...;-)but a pervy slowfood brewery...not a fast lane power production...so take a breath when having the next biological lessons, by hazard...Bye!Bye... and i swear to you: once bare = forever natural feeling is like a drug...so: stick it in...i am out, for now...
Experienced that in a personal way and through a process of learning. I found how to be a responsible individual, express my own opinions and sexually liberated.
A tattoo is a means of personal expression. As infinitely variable as humans are, such expression may have infinitely variable meaning. I've seen guys with the biohazard tattoo who carried no STD's and I've seen guys with that particular tattoo who did carry an STD. It is impossible and wrong to ascribe anything specific when it comes to personal expression and creativity. It's not like the hanky code. BTW, I happen to think that the biohazard symbol is cool, from a purely design standpoint.
It's very important to keep an open mind, if the gay community is to avoid falling into the trap which the straights have, with their tightly wound morals and codes of ethics. I think Paul Morris is out to illustrate the diversity of choices which gay men make, and to demonstrate his(Paul's) own right to portray them.
I was horrified when a particular political organization and news reporting organization tried to organize a boycott of the Eagle bar, in NYC, because they chose to have a TIM release party. These are fascists who believe it is their right to dictate the terms of how gay men will have sex and punish those who do not comply with their code of behavior.
Each of us make choices, every single day, from what time we eat breakfast to our individual public expression of ourselves. It's what makes us human beings and sets us apart from every other species on this earth. We need to avoid losing our humanity to those who wish to save us from ourselves.
veyr well said!! and just to add a few notes. a lot of str8 dudes have a biohazard tattoo because "biohazard" is a really hot rock band that has been gaining momentum over the past few years. and the biohazard symbol is also the symbol for remix in the music and dance culture. so there are many literal ways to take the biohazard symbol.
Hi
I was fucked a few times by a man wearing a BH tatoo just above his dick.That kind of sexy seing his dick fucking me with this BH mark above, right unitl he unloaded in my ass...i may have a pic somwhere..very handsome muscular hairy guy with a nice dick...
OK...it's the sick fuck aspect of my masculinity rearing its head again...
"Biohazard" would make a great title for a TIM video. All, or most, of the performers could sport the tattoo. And for those with (here it is) conversion fantasies, maybe there could be a gang bang where the bottom doesn't have the tattoo, but all the tops do. And at the end of it, you see the bottom getting the tattoo applied (the way we saw Damon getting his TIM tattoo in the first DBA).
Or, if that makes too many people uncomfortable, show the bottom getting tattooed first, then have the gang bang.
DVD extras could include interviews with some of the performers talking about the tattoo, what it means to them, what they think about what others might think it means, when they got it, why, etc. Practically could be a documentary feature on its own.
I think TIM doing a film like that could definitely get them closed-down, even if circumstances are merely suggested.
I've only done BB with BFs when we've both been tested and confirmed clean, so I have a question:
Is the intriguing aspect of taking a "biohazard" guy raw simply about the risk?
I know this isn't the correct venue for a debate, but I'm curious how this originates.
Just a reminder to please not post XXX-rated pictures that Treasure Island does not have proof of age on file for - thanks!
- Moderator...
I would further assume that most of the men in BAREBACK porn and BAREBACK personals' sites are carrying the tattoo because they are "advertising" their status -- and not for a fashion statement.
I enjoy bareback porn and the fantasy that comes with along with it, but it seems as if some people are allowing the fantasy world and reality worlds to collide by participating in this very demeaning act of tattooing this image on their bodies. I only wish to seek further insight into this subject so that others and myself may obtain clarity.
This seems like a skewed self-rightous fetish behavior and it is apparent that this behavior does nothing for all the negative criticism that BAREBACK porn gathers.
Furthermore, I would not tattoo the swastika on my body (even though its a cool symbol or a band :P) because of the statement it carries.
Anyone agree?
Hello
Sorry for the pic posting..Just forgot you are a us based company where freedom is kind of "restricted". Sorry guys
There is always the element of communication between individuals. It takes many forms. In some cases, the communication is based upon symbols, rather than words. As gay men, we know about flagging colors. It communicates sexual preferences and fetish without words. Perhaps some men choose the use of a particular tattoo as a symbol to communicate their HIV status. But, also, some men may choose not to communicate their HIV status. There is no one-to-one correlation between symbol and status. It is wrong to try to impose a correlation, or to condemn a correlation if it should exist.
But there is the unrelated matter of the so-called "bug chasers". Of course they exist. There are also men who feel that the worry about avoiding HIV is too overbearing and inhibiting, so they choose to take no precautions to avoid infection, and casually allow the inevitable to occur. Then there are the men who feel it is their right to not prevent their own infection from spreading to others. The human mind functions in infinite variety. It is in THESE circumstances that rules regarding social and sexual conduct come to bear. This is the only proper arena for a debate. Signals and symbols are irrelevant.
Call it "Converted","biohazard",or "a positive gangbang"..Something like that.
Or how about naming it after the TIM t-shirt..."Absolutely Positive".