Originally posted by Marc
I dont see a problem with it and I think it's the grownup responsible thing to do. Theyre just going to be sitting in an office and made available in case a bathhouse patron wants to see them.
And it might make people think twice before they bareback.
I just read that 80% of the gay population in palm springs is hiv+. Its just a barebacking carefree frenzy there and people don't understand how serious hiv is.

Something has to be done to put some sense into some people that a few minutes of hot sex isn't worth a lifetime of a debilitating disease.
Marc,

The problem with it, is it puts our rights in the hands (no pun intended) of people who have no vested interest in us as a community. It definitely takes a way civil liberties. And, I think it's just a bad idea to give the government that kind of authority in my private life (as private as it can be in a bath house).

I believe there are already regulations that require bathhouses to self-police, offer hiv testing & counseling. If it's not a regulation, I know that it's offered at many of them, in any case.

As for San Francisco, yes, they did outlaw bathhouses, I believe in the late '80's. During the year that I lived in the City, not only were people having unsafe (altered state) sex in sex clubs, private homes, parks bushes, cars, the beach, the gym. And, there is a beautiful bathhouse just accross the Bay Bridge in Berkley; which you can easily reach by car in 15 minutes and by BART in not much more. So, I'm not really sure what was accomplished. I have never seen so many people so willing to have unsafe sex in my life, and trust me, I have seen a lot of people wanting and having sex in my life

There is nothing that is more upsetting to me, than hearing that someone under the age of 30 is hiv+. Except in very rare occurrances, like a condom broke, there is no excusible reason. Being positive for at least 17 years (and fortunately I've been healthy for all of them), this is not something I would ever want to see someone have to suffer. The stigma, the fear of the unknown as for the future, the guilt of potentially infecting someone else, not fun things to deal with, especially for men who should be worried about which club to go to, which hot guy to go home with, which guy should I approach a risk rejection. This is just not something I want to see guys in their prime sex years having to deal with.

But, I still believe that the government's involvement should be education, healthcare and research. Not patrolling the halls of sex clubs and bathhouses. Once we're there, let's hope that people have been armed with all the knowledge that need to make an imformed decision. If they still choose to do the "wrong" thing, stopping it there, is most likely going to be effective in delaying the inevitable.