Zack is a 24-year-old university student who shares with us his sexual encounters with other men: over a hundred of them and counting- with the rate of at least one more person added to the number every two weeks.

Among Zack’s cured STDs include syphilis, Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea- that he contracted three times. Beyond that, Zack lives with the incurable genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS.) Though one might think that he would wise up after his initial experiences with STDs and take precaution, Zack was quick to retort, “I had my reasons.”

An eloquent and well-educated individual, Zack told us he “knows everything about STDs to the point of considering himself well-versed on the topic,” but described the thrill of having unprotected sex- relating the risk as “akin to cutting myself, to get a release or escape.” It was during this period that Zack was going through a period of his life when he was chronically depressed and needed an outlet- an outlet he found in unprotected sex.

He mentions, "they do it in porn, why can’t I?” True enough, many pornographic material offer content involving unprotected sex. To a certain degree, it may be to blame for the general sentiment towards unprotected sex among many men like Zack. Looking back at his sexual exploits, he describes them to be “unsafe, without a care and reckless” but adds, “at that point in time, I didn’t care,” even going as far as to knowingly contract HPV from his then-boyfriend who had obvious symptomatic manifestations in the form of warts.

The question begets, was it worth it? When asked, Zack’s reply is surmised with “it is not.” With HPV, getting diagnosed was really “awkward for me, since a number of the DSC Clinic doctors are homosexual themselves.”

The process of getting relieved is not too pleasant either. “HPV really is quite horrible, because of it, I had wounds and tears around my anus and the warts grew to such a great mass that is now looks and feels horrible,” he adds “weekly treatments to deal with the warts symptom don’t seem to help” and even if they did, Zack is reluctant to regularly attend the treatments which involve freezing the warts to burn them off as they hurt to the point where he “cannot even walk properly for a few days after treatment” and also “having to wear a woman’s pad to catch discharge from the burned warts,” that also has an unpleasant odour to boot. “It really is an embarrassing situation.”

Zack adds that whenever he engages in trysts, he will have to explain the growths or not allow them to feel him up in certain places as “they view it with disgust, even make fun of you.” Zack counts himself lucky as he also used to have warts popping up on his penis, but tells us that they “grew out on their own.”

On how obvious these warts are, he replied- “the ones on my anus are the equivalent of two full-sized raisins and a combination of smaller ones” and the one on his penis that went away to be the “size of a full-stop in comic sans 34.”

Zack is living with a serious medical condition- his existing afflictions aggravated when he contracted HIV which attacked his immune system and allowed exacerbation of existing ailments to the point where they are today. Now, on a cocktail of expensive medication and extensive treatment and follow-ups to the doctors, Zack relies on his parent’s support financially. They had to be informed of his condition. It was a downward spiral from the point of them knowing, getting as bad as moving out of the family home, due to a strained relationship between him and his mother, although his father regularly checks to make sure he “follows up with doctor’s appointments.”

This, in contrast with some youths who have indicated in our survey that they would rather “die than disclose their condition to their parents,” Zack is enviable to those who still carry their sickness in secrecy.

Having had all of known STDs, Zack is described by some as holding a full-flush, meaning he has had all the STD cards he can possibly be dealt with at one point or another. Full-flush or not, Zack flusters with “guilt and moral concern” and advices others to “never bareback1,” but if you must, “only do it with people whose condition you are aware of and people you trust,” using himself as an example stating he looks healthy and fit- more so than most individuals, but you "should never trust a person based on his looks alone,” after all- you do not know what cards he could deal you.

1Barebacking - the act of having unprotected sex colloquially used in homosexual male intercourse