ellentonboy

Thanks for that! I have never been one to be political, but this has an effect on every gay American. It doesn't matter if you are married now or not, or if you think you will get married in the future, everyone should have the opportunity to do so. Voting is crucial, and the Supreme Court is not our friend. However , it is good to know who is your friend in the House. So please, take the time, and plan your vote. It may not matter to you now, but it may in the future.

I watched CNN last night and they had a reporter from NYC. I believe they had 7000 doses of the vaccine and everyone had a name attached to it. In other words, they went online, people just kept hitting "refresh" and eventually they were able to get an appointment. Now it's unclear when more vaccines will arrive, I know they have been ordered but I am not sure where or how they will be distributed. To me, this is not like Covid. There doesn't seem to be a big rush on getting more vaccines. Why? Because it is just impacting the gay community, at least in my opinion. I saw a small article, I don't know if was Dr. Fauci or the former head of the FDA Scott Gottlieb who said the window was closing on containing the disease, or it had already closed. GREAT, THANKS ALOT. So what are we all to do now, just sit and wait????? If this spreads to the straight community, and I am not wishing that, but. it might get more attention. In the interim, the gay community, I feel, is being treated like second class citizens. So 1000 cases in Berlin? Great. Cannot wait to see how things go in San Fran, L.A, South Florida or any other gay "Mecca". To me it just seems like we are forgotten, yet again. Thanks for your post.

I am disappointed with the lack of publicity regarding this health crisis in my part of Florida. Then again, with my Governor I should not be surprised, but politics is another thread. I see my doctor in August, just a few weeks away, and I plan on asking about vaccine availability. I have seen the Department of Health here in Florida put out a warning regarding hepatitis, but to me that was old news. However, I have not seen any posters or information online as to where I can find the vaccine regarding monkeypox. So fellow Floridians, I know you are out there. Should I just give up casual sex with strangers until I see my doctor the second week of August. Most of the informtation I have come across are from guys living in L.A. or New York. Not much from Floridians, and certainly nothing here in the Tampa/St. Pete area. Normally Miami or Ft. Lauderdale has articles in main stream news outlets regarding STD outbreaks, but so far I have not come across anything from my state. Anyone know more?

I waited, and waited to see what the response would be regarding this thread. As a bottom, the thought of being clean is a never ending struggle. I don't eat, I purge, I douche, I douche again. It goes on and on. Sometimes tops will tell me that they had a good time, but the HIGHEST compliment a bottom can receive is when a top says THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO BE CLEAN. It may not matter to some tops, but you know what, it is a matter of pride. I have guys, who are well known tops tell me, "I appreciate you taking the time to make matters CLEAN DOWN THERE". Well, what do you know, I got a compliment for proper hygiene! ALL gay men need to understand that life is NOT a porno movie and it takes time to prepare to bottom. This has been one of the best threads and I finally had to chime in!

Well that day came and went with no interest, maybe I should change my avatar or just get back on web cam sites where I am most appreciated. Actually, I am kidding, as BZ has offered so much information to be honest, I would not know where else to look or who to turn to . For that, I am grateful.

Thank you sir. I wish guys would really take a look at this. It is not fun, it hurts, and it can really make you ill. I think we should all follow the news and if you don't hear anything look at the CDC or government web site for assistance. It could save your life.....

I may have responded to @SRQDude in error regarding this issue so my apologies. I realized after looking up in the thread his comments were intended for another poster. So again, my apologies.

I don't know of ONE Red Roof Inn that doesn't, at some point during the week, have some sex party going on. I lived for 14 years down the street from one and I have to say it was a convenient drive and didn't have to worry about how many "enhancements" I had done. I have to say that, in general, Red Roof Inns are not bad, and usually free of bed bugs. The ULTIMATE curse, besides HPV. Whoops, sorry you were asking about the one in Atlanta, sorry never played there.....

I appreciated the feedback. I was warned around 1999 or 2000 to start selling any policies I had left, and this came from my contact at a particular vatical settlement company that I used to sell individual policies I was able to purchase. He said it was a dying (no pun intended) industry and to sell and get out now. Those were the ones I was somewhat uncomfortable doing because of the legality issues. When it came to a policy issued because of a benefit offered to me by an employer, I had no worries. From 1996 to 2002 the percentage of the money offered on my policies went down significantly. Investors were catching on that people were living longer, so they knew they were on the hook to pay the premiums. I mean, what is the chance of some twenty something suddenly dying? Well, if you saw my labs back then you might think there was a possibility The majority of those vatical companies are out of business now. However, the large FEGLI policies (Federal Employee Group Life Insurance) have a company that keeps track of me quarterly. I'm not surprised it came to an end, I never misrepresented my health, but the middle man often made my situation sound more dire. In the case of the FEGLI - even selling the policy back to the government was considered a "benefit". I actually left once, cashed out, and had another government agency hire me. All because I knew I could get a huge payout. The other policies were chump change - not to say I wouldn't jump at a chance to get that "chump change" again. I was called out by one insurance company employee who asked why I was so persistent on finding out if a policy had been converted to an individual policy. She bluntly asked, "why do you care, do you have plans to sell it?" They knew back then, but I was surprised when something like a $10,000 policy application would be rejected and there would be information for me to contact to find out exactly why they said no, and what information was provided. I am tempted to apply to another insurance company, but I don't want to lie on an application and then later be charged with attempted fraud. I know the likely chance of that happening would be small, but I don't want my signature on something I know is absolutely false. I am glad I went this route and thought BZ was a great way to get feedback, and ultimately, the answer I expected. I know I can't be the only guy on this Forum who received a vatical settlement, I think I am just one of the few willing to discuss it. I didn't commit fraud, but I am sure some might frown on my behavior - such as changing employers. But then again, this is BZ, so who are they to judge??? lol I didn't think you were a conspiracy theorist or paranoid, obviously you work or have worked in the insurance business, or you have had experience dealing with them. Facebook to me, personally, is the anti-Christ. I mean, I must have tried to terminate my profile ten years ago, but I get calls from relatives telling me they have seen my picture and profile back up on Facebook, thanks to hackers. Instead of saying "Attended University XYZ". they say "May have attended University XYZ". Even with my previous government employers, they usually call out the one that I had the most years working for. However they always use the "May have worked for the Department of.....". It never stops with Facebook, but that is content for another thread. Take care!

I have to agree with you. I am not happy, at all, that my medical information is stored up in "the cloud" so to speak. How often do we hear of "clouds" being hacked? Quite a bit. What I find bewildering, is why does the optometrist at Lens Crafters need to know my HIV status. It seems a bit invasive. They want all this background medical information to write a script for contact lenses or reading glasses. You hand some clip board to a young woman, who you have never seen and will never see again, and she starts entering all this information into a computer. It has got to the point that I am hesitant to give out that information. I am sorry to hear your rates might escalate, it seems the premiums are going up, but so are the deductibles and copays, if those apply to you. At times, I hear what people who have great jobs and what they pay bi-weekly or weekly for health insurance and it blows my mind. For an American, if you are lucky to find a great infectious disease specialist who will take you Medicare and your secondary Medicaid insurance, you would be wise not to change doctors. The secondary insurance part is becoming more expensive and less likely to have decent specialists. Good luck!

Yes I know of at least two companies that will issue policies to poz men, but the rates are high and the payouts upon death are low. Like you mentioned your employer offering you a decent payout should you pass away while employed. I am finding employers who have a large number of employees usually offer the most generous policies, with low deductions from your paycheck and a larger amount of coverage.

I have to admit when I posted this I thought your answer was probably the most logical and correct. I called every doctor's office, social services agency, even Social Security and the Office of Personnel Management and was assured over and over that none of my medical records would be released to an insurance company. In fact, they assured me there were safe guards in place to prevent such things from happening. Those policies, and to be honest I can think of eight that I sold, were from some major companies like Met Life, for example. I can't imagine they were not recording the sales of these policies. It's just been a long time and I remember the last policy I sold was a small one, $10,000 and I had purchased that independently. There was no problem unloading that. The policy prior to that was through an employer who I specifically targeted because I knew they offered life insurance, I was hired and once the benefits kicked in, I resigned and was able to convert it to a whole life. The employer wasn't happy I abruptly left and even the personnel director asked me why she had a request regarding information on an "accelerated death benefit" sitting on her desk with my name on it. Well, sorry lady, I played dumb and said I was offered more money to go elsewhere. That policy paid out well, so it was worth the mediocre salary for 90 days when I got that wire transfer from the vatical settlement company after the policy was sold. I wasn't obligated to tell them I was ill and to be honest, I did my job and they offered it in their benefits package. The fact I checked off "2X my annual salary" did not raise any red flags. Now had I wanted 5 times my salary I would have had to submit to a medical exam and it would have been a cold day in hell before I agreed to anything like that. What I should have known is that eventually the gravy train was going to come to an end and eventually purchasing and selling individual policies would become a thing of the past. I suppose reality is setting in. I believe my only option is to find another job that offers life insurance and suffer through working for a third of what I am used to making just for a cash payout after 90 days. Thank you for taking the time to respond, I believe you gave me the answer I probably didn't want to hear. However, it's probably the right one!

In this particular instance there was no physical exam required. It was a simple yes or no on the HIV question. That's why there is the lingering question as to what information was shared and how an insurance company could deem someone unfit or uninsurable if they A. never examined the individual, or B. The individual never signed a release to give any medical or background information out to an insurance company. I know the coverage amount never exceeded $100,000 but it was for whole life. After two years of onetime payments the period of "contestability" expires and the policy can then be sold to a third party. We have actually thought of finding another insurance company so if rejected again, we can contact the company who provided the information that deemed the individual unsuitable for coverage. That's the real question here - what information was shared and by whom. Thanks for your response I appreciate it.

I was hoping to get feed back from BZ members if they have noticed an increased policing of poz men when it comes to insurance companies issuing life insurance policies. Full transparency here - back in the mid 90s up until 2002 I was one of the fortunate individuals who benefited from early payouts on life insurance policies. These policies, or the majority of them, were through employers and were part of my benefits package. In the initial case I sold mine back to the Federal government and was paid handsomely, the others were from at least two other future employers, one being United Health Care. For the record, at no time time did I misrepresent my health status in obtaining these policies. As mentioned, they came along with my salary and health benefits. When I left the Federal government, the FEGLI policy I had was paid at 96 percent of twice my annual salary. To this day, I am obligated to give my location, cell phone and doctor information to a third party who watches over policies that were sold in this particular fashion. I sold the other policies to a third party, and those companies are long gone, many due to fraud complaints. Again, I was honest with these companies, they had my labs and doctor's "notes" that are taken at the time you see your physician. Here is my question. 2002 was a long time ago, and from 1996 to 2002 the percentage of the face value I was paid by these third party companies decreased dramatically. The easiest policies to sell were those that guys had from their employers. At times, though it may sound goulish, I was actually given bonuses if I referred an individual to one of these companies and his policy sold. That happened maybe three times. Those gentleman are still alive today, and at the time, they appreciated the information I provided on how to go about selling your policy. So no harm, no foul. However, certain companies, most based in Florida, shut down or the Federal government shut them down. They were misrepresenting the health of their clients to investors so there was fraud involved. I can tell you when I sold my policies I had a viral load of over 1 million and less than 50 T cells, and I also had KS. I was an example of someone who an investor would take a look at, as my life expectancy was indeed, questionable. Sorry to tell the investors, I am still alive and kicking and it 2022, and they have been paying my premiums ever since. Who would have thought, based on my medical records at this time?? So here is my question, what next? I don't want to be a burden on anyone, but all that money that I received during the time period mentioned, is gone. I went through a lot of cash, new car, vacations, etc. What I am finding, and I know the question "In the past three years, have you tested positive for exposure to HIV, been diagnosed with AIDS or ARC or have you seen a physician regarding this illness", blah, blah. I think anyone who has looked at an application for life insurance knows that question and it has been there for years. I mean years guys. The only insurance company I am aware of that does NOT ask that question is Colonial Penn. Their premiums are high and they payouts are low. But you are guaranteed a policy no matter what. Now here is the $64,000 question. Recently it came to my attention that someone I know applied for life insurance, and that question was on the application. He indicated no. He received a letter back from the insurance company denying his application. So BZ members, how is his health status getting to an insurance company? I called people involved with Ryan White case management, as well as my own insurance company and Medicare. I even contacted several pharmacies. I was assured that not one of these groups would release any health information to a life insurance company. Anyone have ideas as to how someone's HIV status got to say, Globe Life Insurance. I thought HIPPA would prevent the sharing or sale of any of that information. Okay, I know insurance is a dry, boring subject. But money is not and if anyone KNOWS how an insurance company would get this information I would appreciate it. Please no speculation, if someone works in that industry, how can they find out an applicant takes HIV medication or has been treated for the illness? Thanks guys for your time.

With MeWe sites, Zoom is not so obvious until you are established. There are various "groups", like different types of slammers from different parts of the world. You need to apply for membership to be part of the group. They ask maybe four silly questions, "do you enjoy sex on Tina", "do you like bareback sex", etc. Once you are approved these groups have various meetings, all done on Zoom. You get invitations daily. So once you are approved, I must be part of 30 groups, you get daily invites to cam. All of them are done on Zoom. It is not exactly evident at first, but the majority of those meetings are done on Zoom. Very well done, with a moderator and usually some great dance music.

No need for apologies. When I first joined I felt I was a bit targeted, that some people didn't appreciate my point of view. You encouraged me to stay. Had I not heard from you and another poster, I may have just deleted my account and left. Now I am enjoying myself and being able to express my views. When I read what you posted, I almost thought you were just a top version of me. You didn't call me out specifically. I like your postings and if we disagree, that's fine. But I appreciate the fact you went out of your way, early in my time here, to tell me to just keep on posting and be myself. THANKS for the encouragement, I consider you an ally on this site.

I am surprised more posters did not receive this notice or think it may concern them. I suppose they do not use or frequent sites where web cams are used. Skype has been dead for awhile. I knew that, it's great for a one on one connections AFTER I have met them on say a Zoom meeting thru MeWe, or other web cam sites. Once I was informed Zoom does not fall under Microsoft jurisdiction I was relieved that these fun "chat" rooms would continue without the fear of them being closed down. I appreciate people looking into this because it came as a shock to me, just as when Google closed down the Google Plus rooms. I mean I knew it was coming, but I was surprised Zoom stepped in and picked up the slack, and gave guys an alternative. Thanks to those who looked into this....

Alright, not my finest moment, or my best post. I hear the cynicism in your response all the way from south Florida. I am starting to feel the kick back towards my posting, thank you very much. It's my fault, I was trying to get around the topic, so to speak. Change it into something it was not meant to be, my bad.

When I first saw this thread, I thought you were asking if I would only sleep with a guy one time and never again. Funny, with all the issues these days, health and drugs at the top of the list, I had developed a sort of "go to" list. For the record, I am in a relationship now, but when single I had three or four guys on my phone and I would type in the words "Do you wanna fuck me" and after doing enhancements, would push the send button depending on what I was in the mood for. One actually called me out on it, because I was so messed up, I actually misspelled some words. With that being said, these four guys I could call, no matter how messed up I was and they would still drive over, still have sex with me, and still come back. So I can say I am not a one time guy, I would do you more then once, but I am not sure I was ever really capable of doing it twice in one day with ANY guy for that matter.

I agree with everything you said. I knew the pay was rotten, the guys were used and spit out, and almost all escorted to make ends meet. What I didn't say much about was the "what's next" equation for Onlyfans performers and I am glad you mentioned that. So many of these guys (and I have been around quite a few who have no "Plan B"). They don't think about what it's like to be 40, or God forbid 50! They live in the moment and that is it. I know of a few who take online courses, but for the most part is all about planning the next "shoot". I have one friend who complains about the constant travel, arranging guys who get along to have sex for an hour on camera, and then complains the escort service he works for when he is in town does not understand he needs to go to the gym and take a break from, well, sex. Everyone needs to make a living, rent has become outrageous and many of these guys live in big cities. You mentioned you have friends doing onlyfans and you haven't had that conversation with them - "the what's next?" conversation. It is a tough one to have because months turn into years, and I know of guys in south Florida who worked for major studios and are now in their 40s, escorting, and working for smaller studios and trying to work in onlyfans. I feel bad for them because they really are in a tough spot as each year creeps by. I would ask them, point blank, what is the plan for ten years down the line? I know of at least two who receive SSD or SSI, so they feel they will always have money coming in. If you friends are a couple, I would try and find the more logical of the two, corner him, and ask some hard questions. Like, "what are you going to do in 2032?" It's not easy, you might get some push-back or denial, but if they are friends and you care about them, I think at least one of the two has probably thought about this. I would not be surprised if onlyfans looses it's luster. It is already available on torrents, so it is possible these guys are not being compensated for their work. It's great they have a friend like you, because when they are 45, friends may disappear. I wish them luck.

Don't apologize about the rant, a lot of what you mentioned I have experienced. The people pulling your curtains open, trust me, if they live in Florida they have been in my house. The theft of items, even those we would consider mundane and ordinary are an invasion of your privacy and your home. You sound like me, you accept an apology, and sure enough - the same cast of characters do it again. When I go to someone's home, I ask them what room to go into, where to put my bag, and where to sit my ass. I don't move, I don't ask for anything, and I don't touch anything that does not belong to me. I do not manipulate someone's computer, their TV or VCR, or any other electronics. This business of looking out your windows is PURE crazy. They don't realize the jeopardy they put everyone in. I once had a guy go to the front door, open it completely, and stand there buck naked. A man was doing construction on the next building roof over actually drooped his wheel barrel. So I know these things happen. You try to be nice, be accommodating, and these individuals put you in a very awkward and possibly negative situation with your neighbors, apartment complex, or HOA. I have been there and I know exactly what you are talking about. It's tough to make someone leave, no one wants to be "the bad guy", but when they are gone you will have to deal with the consequences. If I have anything say it would be this. One offense - and they are gone. I don't care what they look like, who they came with, they are out of my house. Because their behavior could cost you your living situation. Be strong man!

You are really scaring me here with you post regarding Truvada. I was on it for more than five years, maybe seven. I was changed to Descovy and Prezcobix, only after I became resistant to the Truvada combination I was taking (after I was on four meds at once). My bf takes Truvada and I believe it now more than five years. Thanks for posting this, because to be honest, I am not sure just how closely his kidney functions are monitored. We switched doctors so I am sure if our current physician knows exactly how long he has been on Truvada, and our labs are only drawn twice a year. Thanks for the warning!

I blame the usage of "enhancements". When I first came out, I went after guys who I was attracted to. The first question out of my mouth was not "Are you a top or a bottom". To be honest, I didn't even think of that. It was about the guy, what I liked about him, did he like me, etc. Today, everyone is put into a column. Top, bottom, MAYBE vers. I think things changed in the advent of online hook up sites and the use of drugs. In a bar, you don't know, so you talk to the guy you are attracted to. Online, it clearly states. I understand on some sites you can actually screen out all the tops so you can concentrate on the available bottoms, and vice versa. What a shame. My personal feeling is this - if you are really attracted to a guy, you want to continue to see him, you can work the details in the bedroom. Some people may think that is a very unrealistic attitude to have, but I know from experience I have had long lasting sexual relationships with guys who claim to be either top or bottom. You can works these things out guys....

Thanks for that, I am relieved. Zoom was my concern, I am glad you informed me. I feel a lot better, thanks!