How Was Gay Sex Before Hiv?

[JayPR]

Since I was born, AIDS existed. When I started having sex in the late 90s and early 2000s, HIV and AIDS shaped how I saw sex and how my sex life has been, from not having sex in order to avoid it, choosing very careful who my sex partners were, to avoiding any sex practices that were considered risky (one-night stand, sex with multiple partners, cruising, bareback, bathhouses). I always felt (and still do to some degree) as if sex was a battlefield. I know there were other STDs and STIs back then, but HIV was the world-changing virus.

I always wondered, how was gay sex before HIV? How was sex life for gay men before the 80s? Did guys have more sex back in the days? Do they felt any kind of "no worries" attitude towards sex? What about condoms or the thought of safe sex?

 

[SkiCop]

i came of age in the late 70s but being young i was not fully out and did not fully particpate however i saw. the answer is yes however there were and still are other things besides HIV, it is just that back then they were treatable. as i said i was quite young and was even afraid of catching the other things..... so though i particpated, i too feel sex was a battlefield but at least then you didn't die in battle. Looking back at the time period.... i say survived......

 

[Tbprivate]

I’m now in my 60s and remember how relaxed and promiscuous people were when I was young with the only risk being curable STDs. I had to learn to start using condoms to prevent catching HIV.
However, I know there are still people nowadays who don’t practice safe sex which disappoints and saddens me; in many ways NO CHANGE

 

[OKCLane]

I was very active in the 70’s. Using a rubber was something straight men were stuck with so they wouldn’t become daddies. Even though there were containers of rubbers available in bath houses I’ll be honest and tell you I rarely used one. Only when the bottom was insistent would I wear one. The fear of catching an STD was (in my mind) nonexistent. By the mid-80’s rubbers were the norm, even for me. I was still participating in risky behavior; orgies, sex parties, bath houses, anonymous hookups, I used protection.
I see all these HIV prevention drugs today and am afraid they are seen as something that makes you invulnerable.
I’m glad I grew up when I did. We had less freedom in some areas but more in others.

 

[SkiCop]

I’m glad I grew up when I did. We had less freedom in some areas but more in others.

that is true. i'm glad i grew up when i did too. I lived in manhattan late 70s to mid 80s, lived there during the day of the large gay porn theaters like the adonis, and the big gay clubs like the saint, and 8 mm loop peeps, it was an exciting time.

 

[herbho]

Sex was a lot more " animalistic." and indiscreet. One's only concern was getting off or getting fucked as many times as possible. When I was just out of college, I remember going to a bathhouse, entering the orgy room, lying down on my stomach, and waiting. I was the featured performer for a while, getting fucked by five guys, one after the other, each one shooting a load in my ass. A couple were gentle, a couple were very rough. But I loved all of it. I had no worries at that time - just pleasure seeking. After AIDS, everything changed. I'm glad I had the wild days, but wonder what I would have become if I had not been forced to stop.

 

[Tbprivate]

Before HIV was a concern people didn’t have access to gay Apps like Grinder so met potential hookups in bars, clubs & toilets. Maybe less healthy risks then but nowadays it’s easy to to have sex when desired.

 

[JayPR]

Sex was a lot more " animalistic." and indiscreet. One's only concern was getting off or getting fucked as many times as possible. When I was just out of college, I remember going to a bathhouse, entering the orgy room, lying down on my stomach, and waiting. I was the featured performer for a while, getting fucked by five guys, one after the other, each one shooting a load in my ass. A couple were gentle, a couple were very rough. But I loved all of it. I had no worries at that time - just pleasure seeking. After AIDS, everything changed. I'm glad I had the wild days, but wonder what I would have become if I had not been forced to stop.

So, would you say that going to a gay bar back then was more on a cruisy mode and less to socialize with friends?

 

[herbho]

So, would you say that going to a gay bar back then was more on a cruisy mode and less to socialize with friends?

Depends on the bar. Some were known for socialization, some for pick-ups. The " network" let everyone know which was which.

 

[Ladavid9]

that is true. i'm glad i grew up when i did too. I lived in manhattan late 70s to mid 80s, lived there during the day of the large gay porn theaters like the adonis, and the big gay clubs like the saint, and 8 mm loop peeps, it was an exciting time.

I lived in NYC '79 to '83 had great times Went to the Saint often with my the partner and prowled around all the bars. Lots of fun till it hit.

 

[Ladavid9]

I started my gay activities in 1973. Has so much sex I couldn't even begin to count. In Los Angeles you went to Studio One Friday or Saturday night..sometimes both..then on to the 8709 bath house a short distance away and sexed it up like crazy. About once every couple of months you'd go to the local free clinic and get your penicillin shots and say hi to former sex partners.

 

[SkiCop]

I lived in NYC '79 to '83 had great times Went to the Saint often with my the partner and prowled around all the bars. Lots of fun till it hit.

it was great times till it hit............survived.....

 

[Capitolhillguy]

The baths in Atlanta and sex in the woods at Piedmont Park in the 80's were my idea of what I would like heaven to be like. I remember lining up with other tops in a gang bang at the baths and the guy in front of me had 11"!!! I was young, handsome and had an 8.5" cock and easy sex with hot handsome guys was nirvana after years of oppression in Mississippi. STD's were still unwelcome, but not life threatening. I was lucky I got to where I couldn't bottom anymore and it saved my life. At the time it made me very sad as I loved to get fucked big time. I do believe I had a guardian angel.

 

[theplayerking]

With PrEP you can experience the sensation of the some of that time. I’ve been to sex parties where no one even considered using a condom.