Plain talk about safer sex

What is “safer sex”?
Safer sex is a term used to let us know that no sex is the only safe sex. The term “Safer Sex” comes from the fact that no matter how cautious you are, accidents can happen and there is always a chance of becoming infected with an STD (sexually transmitted disease) when you are intimate with a partner. At this time one in five adults and one in four teenagers have been infected with an STD. Fortunately, there are all sorts of things you can do to help yourself stay healthy and to greatly decrease the possibility of being exposed.

So what can I do to protect myself?
During the time when the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was running totally rampant in the United States, my stepdaughter came to me and asked, “What am I supposed to do, never have sex?” She was dating a new boyfriend she was serious about, and was upset by the media’s constant bombardment saying the only way to be safe was to totally abstain from any sexual activity, period. Our little “lesbian family” had also known seventeen people who succumbed to complications of AIDS in six months time, so we were all pretty paranoid. Because I wasn’t in a high-risk group I really didn’t know much more than she did, but I did know that STDs have been around probably as long as human beings have, and there are ways to protect yourself from getting them.

When considering intimacy in a new relationship, the first and most important thing is communication. I’ve known some straight women who were too embarrassed to ask the man they’d just picked up in a bar to wear a condom! I’d look at them and ask “You mean you are willing to get buck naked and screw like a wild dog in heat with a near stranger, but you can’t talk about safe sex? Now how crazy is that?” They’d give me all kinds of excuses which essentially boiled down to the old idea that the man knows best. Well, I say that’s pure B. S.! Let’s not be like some of our straight sisters and let other people decide our destiny. The great thing about being lesbian is that we don’t have to play those kinds of games. Most of us know when the other is faking it, so let’s not fake safety. When the issue of being together, really together, comes up, then it’s up to one of you to bravely broach the subject of safer sex and who’s done what.

Now I don’t mean you need to rehash every moan you’ve ever made with lovers of the past, or digging up your most embarrassing sexual moment. But what I do mean is honestly look at your sexual histories and ask yourself and each other the following question: In the past five years have you or your partner, or ex-partners, participated in unsafe behaviors listed in the previous section? If so, you may want to have a general blood screening and an AIDS test. Wait 3-6 months after your last risky behavior and have a second test.

Since the virus HIV, which is thought to cause AIDS, can be lingering in your body long before showing up in your blood stream, it is a good idea to abstain from sex or use safer sex practices both six months before and after your AIDS test. Ask your health care professional for the latest information on AIDS, and find out the best way to protect both you and your partner from a potentially deadly virus.....

LESBIAN SEX TIPS
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