Ignorance is a Curse.

Short story.

Ok, I had a very, very long night. Out partying. Continued sleeping into the early afternoon. And what with sex and sleeping again. Am exhausted!!!!!! Oh well, one is only young once. Let us party….!

Someone, a visitor to Uganda, came across this blog. Was kind of tickled. He decided to write a long letter to me. Instructive.

There were a couple of paragraphs that I would like to share with you. This is his experience. In his words.

“Reading your blog today about the water based lube, reminded me of a discussion I had with one of the guys when I was there. They had had a meeting of lgbt people shortly before I visited. They had discussed the use of condoms and someone mentioned that condoms were being used and people were still getting AIDS. The problem was attributed to the fact that being made in India and old, they tended to break. Then in my conversation with my friend , he mentioned they were using petroleum jelly. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. I said "A--, if you use PJ, there is no point in using a condom!" He informed me that non of them could afford to buy KY jelly . I had a large tube of KY with me (hope runs eternal), I gave him the KY and later learned several people used it and as we say here, it was the best thing since sliced bread.”

Yeah, and I have come across this too many times. In this day and age, with HIV raging in the country for this long, gay men in Uganda still use Vaseline on their condoms for sex. Horrible.

And ignorance is a powerful weapon. This is the kind of knowledge that we should have, that every gay Ugandan man should have from when they first have sex. Sadly, it is proscribed information. Deadly knowledge.

I read a lot of irrelevancies. Or, relevant nothings which find their way into the blog. In Uganda, we have anti-condom activists. Their logic is that promoting condoms promotes promiscuity. Pastor Martin Ssempa. A condom burner.

They use the same logic to deny gay Ugandan men of an HIV prevention programme. It is horrible because it promotes the Homosexual Agenda. Should I quote Martin Ssempa again? And, the same kind of argument is being used in the US against a vaccination that prevents cancer. See, it is supposed to be given to young girls before they have sex. So, if you give it, you promote promiscuity. (and prevent a deadly cancer at the same time…!)

This kind of attitude jars my mind. The logic is so flawed that I find it impossible to believe that someone does believe in it. But people do. And justify it in the name of god, and angels and religion. And, they are strong enough, and subtle enough to influence policy makers.

Anyway, if you are gay, have your sex. Use condoms, don’t use the readily available Vaseline. It makes the condoms useless. What should you use….????

Unfortunately, at the moment, I have no answer for you. We don’t seem to have a cheap ‘water based lubricant’ for sex, except the expensive KY Jelly. But use that, if you can afford it. Okay? And if you cant… well, doesn’t hurt for you to know what works and what doesn’t, does it? Is a hard world out here…!

Is your life anyway. Isn’t easy to live with HIV, so, help yourself, and your family, and everyone, stay HIV free. Yeah, I know. Sex is sweet. (Despite the marathon, planning to have more before I sleep tonight. Bite me, it is great, is sex!) But, don’t sell your life for a few minutes of heavenly pleasure. Aint worth it.

Use a condom. Use a water based lubricant. Have wonderful sex.



gug