Understanding the Language of Barebacking

I read a lot of articles on the internet and in publications about barebacking. I guess you could say it's my job. One thing I've run across time and time again is a certain amount of confusion about what "barebacking" means. And along the way, it seems as though the confusion has manifested all sorts of mythology about what it is to bareback ~ or perhaps more accurately, what our intentions are as barebackers. I thought it was time to present a series of definitions, as I understand them, in hopes of clearing up the confusion that exists.

The term "Bareback" was, I believe, coined and put into the gay sexual jargon by my friend, the late Scott O'Hara. Scott was a complex man: pornstar, author, publisher, art collector, advocate, radical, and outspoken supporter of such controversial organizations as NAMBLA. And he was one of the most down-to-earth and truly friendly people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. A few years before his death, Scott began championing for the social right of gay men (and especially HIV+Positive men) to enjoy condomless sex without succumbing to public fear. Prior to his mounting that soapbox, the public at large had been panicked into believing that the only people who had unprotected sex were sexual villains, suicidal maniacs, or just bad people. Scott didn't believe these widely-held opinions. He knew he didn't like condoms. He knew he was HIV+Positive (and, honestly, seemed proud of it). So, having tasted the forbidden fruit of skin-to-skin POZ sex and feeling no shame for having done so, he went public about it. And in the process, he coined the phrase "Bareback" and left it in the public domain as part of his legacy.

In the strictest definition, "bareback" means "anal sex without a condom". Period. Many people have attached other meanings and acts to the word, but it really only means 'fucking with no protection'.

For instance, I have seen it written that 'barebacking' includes in its definition the intentional transmission of HIV and/or other STD's. I disagree. There are other words and phrases that have crept into our language to define that act. Some believe that 'barebacking' means 'exchanging semen'. Again, I disagree. Certainly fluid exchange enters into the picture in most cases. But from a technical standpoint, exchanging semen is a separate event. After all, you can fuck bareback and not exchange semen. Pulling out is always an option.

The thing that disturbs me about these other opinions is that they are being expressed by people we would hope are smart enough to know better: doctors, researchers, writers, and the like. Who should know better than these folk that our language is a broad and colorful one, and that each term has a uniquely distinct meaning? While the less-educated among us might tend to define words in a more liberal fashion, these people of higher education should know better. To say that barebacking equals bug chasing is like saying that HIV and AIDS are the same thing. Perhaps to the under-educated they are, but to those with a higher education they are distinctly different items. And yet I have read roundtable discussions about barebacking that ultimately had trouble leaving the gate because they got mired in arguments over the meanings of the terms we use. Shame on those people for reverting to that mode of debate, when more productive time might have been spent on the actual issues instead of nitpicking over word definitions!

So here, without further ado, I present to you the vocabulary of gay barebacking. Read it. Learn it. Make use of it. And help stamp out ignorance by doing so.

BAREBACK:	Anal sex without a condom. No other meanings implied. Does not imply favor toward one HIV status or another. "Jack only likes to go bareback."
BAREBACKING:	The act of performing sex without a condom. No other meanings implied. Does not imply favor toward one HIV status or another. "Last night I had a hot barebacking session with this guy I met online."
BREEDING:	The act of inseminating a partner during bareback sex. This term is used as a mockery of heterosexual sex, as well as mocking the act of intentional mating of domestic animals for production. "I'm gonna fuck the hell out of that guy and breed his hot little ass."
BUG BROTHER:	A person or fuckbuddy who shares the same HIV+Positive status as yourself. "This is my buddy Carl. We're 'bug brothers'."
BUG CHASING:	The act of intentionally seeking HIV seroconversion. "Bob says he's been bug-chasing for a year and is still negative."
CLEAN SEED:	HIV-Negative semen. "I only let guys with clean seed fuck me raw."
CONVERSION:	The point at which the body sero-converts from HIV-Negative to HIV+Positive. "Jim got the flu about 6 months ago, and that's when he figures he converted."
CONVERSION SCENE:	A sex act wherein the bottom intentionally accepts HIV+Positive semen up his ass. Usually, a conversion scene involves several HIV+Positive topmen so as to help ensure the conversion takes place. "I know a guy who did a conversion scene last week and had seven POZ guys breed him."
CUMDUMPSTER, CUMPIG, CUMSLUT, CUMWHORE, etc.:	A man who allows his ass to be filled with the loads of any and all men who want to use him, usually without requiring disclosure of HIV status. "Brad is such a fucking cumslut. He'll let any man with a dick dump a load in him."
DIRTY SEED:	HIV+Positive semen. "That guy's dick was huge, and he filled me up with dirty seed."
GIFT-GIVING:	The act of intentionally giving a bug-chaser HIV. ALSO: 'GIFTING' ""Stay away from Dan. He's a notorious gift-giver."
INSEMINATING:	The act of ejaculating in someone's ass. A mockery of heterosexual copulation. Does not imply favor toward one HIV status or another. Does not specifically include 'gift-giving' or 'bug chasing'. "There's nothing that feels better than inseminating your partner at the end of a good hard fuck!"
KNOCKING UP:	Another mockery of heterosexual copulation, as if by inseminating your partner you would be making him pregnant. Does not imply favor toward one HIV status or another. Does not necessarily imply 'gift-giving' or 'bug chasing'. "That dude is hot. I wouldn't mind him knocking me up sometime."
POZ:	The state of being HIV+Positive. Though unclear who coined this variation, it was popularized by the health and resource magazine of the same name. "Darrell tells me his life has changed dramatically now that he's POZ."
POZZING-UP:	Same as 'Conversion Scene', or 'knocking up' with the HIV element involved. Usually used to describe a one on one encounter. "I picked Stan as the guy who I would let 'POZ me up' because of our physical and emotional bonds."
RAW SEX:	Another term for 'bareback'. "Baby, do you like raw sex?" or "If a guy's going to fuck me he had better do it raw."
RUSSIAN ROULETTE:	Taking one's chances in catching HIV. Not quite the same as going through a conversion scene, because Russian Roulette requires that HIV status is not disclosed. Russian Roulette can refer to a series of one-on-one encounters over time, as in "Dave decided he was comfortable playing Russian Roulette with his tricks because he figures some guys lie to him anyway.", or it may refer to a specific party where status is kept private. "Joe went to a Russian Roulette party where everybody fucked bareback and no-one disclosed their status. He doesn't know if he got away clean or got pozzed up."
SKIN-TO-SKIN:	Another term for 'bareback'. "What do you say we do it skin to skin?"

It's interesting to note that more terminology has been created for the POZ side of barebacking. This may be in part due to a certain need on the part of HIV+Positive men to 'talk in code' in order to sidestep social stigma. Also, it helps take away some of the taboo associated with the term 'Positive'. This may also be the byproduct of the fact that barebacking originally gained a lot of its popularity in HIV+Positive circles. And that is perhaps why so much of the lingo is confusing to people in the medical and journalistic fields, where HIV has always been a fearful topic.

This is not to say that HIV is something people shouldn't be concerned about. And the sentence examples I used are not intended to make me appear cavalier about conversion. Conversion is an act I do not support. However, I feel that knowing the meaning of these words and phrases helps us erode hyperfear through education. With lexicons like this one available, perhaps more roundtable discussions can be had that get to the meat of the matter without so much distress over what the terminology means. Such discussions cannot progress to understanding real world situations if they get bogged down in the semantics.

Be smart. Know your shit. Enjoy life more.

Jack