Bug Chasing
From Homolexis Glossary
This is the practice adopted by a few gay men in the 1990s deliberately to seek infection with the “bug” (virus) of HIV. Some men would place a minus (-) tattoo on their upper arm, crossing it into a plus (+) when they had attained their goal of contracting the disease. Some chasers would attend "Bug Parties," sometimes called "conversion parties," in hopes of acquiring "The Gift". Participants who were already HIV+ were designated "gift givers." These parties constitute a kind of sexual “Russian roulette.”
Risk taking has always characterized some aspects of gay-male life, but this behavior raised it to an unprecedented extreme. Interviews have disclosed some ostensible reasons for the behavior. Among them are the following. Some participants believe that infecting their sexual partner will mark an advance to the deepest level of intimacy. Some men report that the element of danger in sexual encounters of this kind adds to the "rush" of arousal. There are men who, once infected, feel like they finally belong to a "fraternity" of infected men. Similarly, there are men who feel that acquiring HIV will cement a relationship with their positive partner. Many men bug chase because they feel that once they have HIV they will finally be free: they can sleep with whomever they want, party endlessly, and live their life without worrying about any consequences.
Not surprisingly, responsible individuals in the gay community view bug chasing with disdain as a self-destructive activity. Leaders of the gay community at large are concerned that the behaviors of bug chasers may contribute to a public perception that the practice is common or encouraged by all gay people.
Although bug chasing had been occurring for some years, the phenomenon became notorious after Rolling Stone magazine printed an article in 2003 by a freelance journalist, Gregory Freeman, entitled "Bug Chasers: The Men Who Long to Be HIV+." The article provoked a storm of controversy, primarily because it concluded that the practice might be relatively common. This seems to be untrue, and in fact the frequency of the behavior was already declining when the article appeared.
