What do you think of bug chasers?

Norquay, who manages a gay bathhouse in Vancouver, says he's been approached by men who don't have the virus that causes AIDS but who tell him they want to be infected by him. "I usually try to find out why, if they're interested in talking at all, and then ask them questions as to why they're wanting to do this," Norquay said. "Nobody has a real answer." In the gay community, they're called bug chasers. If he were willing, Norquay would be referred to as a gift giver. Whether they actually exist or whether they're simply part of the fantasy life that's rife on the Internet is a matter of debate among researchers and even Norquay isn't quite sure.

The term bug chaser implies that a gay man goes out and deliberately finds another gay man who has aids, to infect him with hiv or aids.

What are your thoughts on why males that where gay would do this?

Plus do you think this is a myth and why would you think that? I know this is real, but do you know and believe it too be real.

Thoughts....


Here is a cnn report on it.

[edit on 11/1/2009 by andy1033]

It was a term coined in the 80's when AIDS was actually an issue in North America, however they no longer exist today.

You should post a source for your information.

It all stems from a book published in the 80's by a gay journalist called "And The Band Marched On". A lot of anti gay supporters use it to prove that gay's are the ones who brough AIDS over or whatever other slanderous accusations they make.

Being a gay man, and having been so for all my life, I have NEVER encountered a gay man who intentionally wanted AIDS or any other STD, the whole premise is kind of ridiculous anyway.

~Keeper

I am not so sure it was out of fantasy land.

But your entitled to your opinion, and i welcome what you have to say. Are you so sure its not a real phenomenon?

reply to post by andy1033


Not in my experiences, do some research on the book I proposed above.

And where is your source?

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Well i have added a cnn video, in first post if you want to watch. Plus put bug chaser into google, and there is plenty there, and also gift giver.

Bug chaser parties

There is even bug chaser parties, so there must be at least some people that where and are doing it.



[edit on 11/1/2009 by andy1033]

reply to post by andy1033


Like I said it would have more more prevelant in the 80's when all of this was coming out and there have been confirmed cases of it, but it isn't something as I said that is "popular" in the gay community.

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I told you it is still real though. Alot of males may find being gay ok, but some, do not, and do this for there own reasons.

At the end of the day there are still plenty of gay men out there alive with hiv and aids, so this may be more active then you think, but probably not as active as i think.

When I lived in San Francisco I had a lot of gay friends. I always thought it was weird that they kinda wanted to be HIV positive....it was some weird attention thing.

I'm not kidding, they reminded me of girls on their wedding day....I guessed at the time that it had to do with getting lots of sympathy and attention from all of us for a short time at least....it was kinda creepy...

No-one wants to be the first to post an opinion? All right, I'll do it.

Deliberately promoting the spread of an epidemic disease is surely a crime against humanity.

On a personal level, infecting someone with a deadly, incurable disease is surely attempted murder, whether or not the infectee is willing.

You may argue that it's an act between consenting adults. But however careful the 'gift giver' is, what is to stop the newly-infected chaser then spreading the virus to others without telling them about it? That would make the giver an accessory to serial attempted murder.

All this presupposes that bug chasers and gift givers actually exist. I would like to accept tothetenthpower's assurance that they don't, but given that

(a) TTTP has good reason to believe in and protect the good reputation of a group he is a member of;

(b) homosexuals are people just like the rest of us, with just as much potential for irrationality, fetishism, self-destructiveness and malice against others as straight folk,

and finally

(c) there does seem to be a lot of talk about this out there,

it would be foolish to dismiss the possibiity out of hand.

For the record, I think deliberately infecting, or trying to infect someone with HIV or any other potentially lifethreatening pathogen should be classified as attempted murder.

I'm a liberal, by the way. Just in case it's not apparent from the above.