Canada: Quebec gay man arrested, remanded in custody for non-disclosure prior to bareback orgy

A judge in Quebec has remanded a 32 year-old gay man in custody after the Crown prosecutor branded him a "danger to the public" following allegations that he did not disclose that he was HIV-positive with men he met for sex on the internet using the pseudonym bbackbottom31.

The man currently faces four charges relating to sex with two men during a bareback orgy – two aggravated assault charges and two aggravated sexual assault charges – but since his name and photo have appeared in the press along with the usual 'fishing expedition' from police to contact them if they have been in contact with man via the internet or in person, there are bound to be more charges.

In some of the most stigmatising reporting to date of a gay case of non-disclosure in Canada, several articles in Le Journal de Quebec (here and here, in French only) paint the man to be a sexual predator who didn't disclose "to make others pay" and his willing sexual partners to be innocent victims of sexual assault.

The reality of gay sexual mores is not so black and white.  He advertised himself as a bareback bottom - and even if he didn't disclose his status, any gay man who chose to have unprotected sex with him should have been aware of the risks (which, as a recent case in British Columbia has shown may not actually reach the 'significant risk' test for disclosure of HIV-positive status).

This arrest and the ensuing publicity is a travesty.

Highlights (if I can call them that) of the two articles in English, using Google translate, are below

HIV positive, he recruited on the web

A public danger 
The Crown prosecutor objected to his release given the seriousness of the charges. In all, four charges have been brought so far against this individual, two for aggravated assault and two for aggravated sexual assault. "There are different ways to commit aggravated assault. It can be wounding, maiming, disfiguring or, as is the case in this context, life-threatening danger," said Mr. Gagnon... "He sexually assaulted by not giving information that would have provided free and informed consent and, in parallel to this, he endangered the lives of others."

Victim of a web relationship
A resident of Quebec, [accused's name], 32, faces justice for having unprotected sex with alleged victims met on the internet, whilst he knew he was HIV-positive. Using gay sites to meet with his partners, [he] met at least two victims in recent weeks. Jimmy (not his real name) fell into his trap in the autumn of 2009. Since that time, he believes he had unprotected sex between seven and ten times with the defendant.
 
"When I met him, he assured me he was clean and safe. I was single in those days.  Subsequently, when I had a boyfriend we met for threesomes," said the totally desperate 40 year-old. Jimmy will not know if he has contracted HIV for three months. Meanwhile, he is receiving a preventive treatment that gives him several side effects. His ex-boyfriend is also a complainant in the case.

[The article then says that Jimmy was told that the man was HIV-positive by a nurse when he was visiting him in hospital. When confronted, Jimmy was told it was none of his business. But Jimmy claimed he knew that the man continued to have unprotected sex with men he met on the internet.]
 
Act of revenge
The defendant frequented sites like Gay411 under the pseudonym bbackbottom31.  Investigators believe they may have been other victims.  At least two other men were allegedly involved in sexual activities between [the accused] and Jimmy and his partner. "You cannot gamble with the lives of people like that."...The orgy took place at the residence of [the accused], at [his streeet address].

[The final few sentences don't make sense as translated but appear to suggest that Jimmy thinks the accused didn't disclose as an act of revenge.]

Le prévenu faisait croire à ses victimes qu’il était représentant sur la route. [The accused gave the impression of his victims he was representing on the road.] [Il] aurait pu agir par vengeance. [He could have acted out of revenge. Se sachant atteint de la maladie, il aurait décidé d'en faire payer le prix aux autres. [Knowing the disease, he decided to make it pay to others.]

Canada: Two more arrests as Xtra analyses criminalisation laws

In the past few weeks, there have been two further arrests in Canada for sex without condoms and disclosure. In Alberta, a 32 year-old Calgary man faces eleven counts of aggravated sexual assault based on a short-lived relationship he had with a woman over a couple of weeks: he was charged for each time they had sex. And in Ontario, police issued a warning/'fishing expedition' to women who may have had sex with a 32 year-old Peel man who they arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault and sexual interference for having sex with someone under-age.

In the first of two articles to be published in Canada's GLBT paper, Xtra, Dale Smith examines the issues facing HIV-positive Canadians (including those who may be unaware they are infected) as arrests and prosecutions continue unabated.

The Xtra article includes interviews with Alison Symington, senior policy analyst with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; Glenn Betteridge, a legal and policy analyst who has done work with the Ontario HIV Treatment Network; Isabel Grant, law professor at the University of British Columbia; and Barry Adam, senior scientist and director of prevention research with the Ontario HIV Treatment Network.

Highlights include these quotes:

“Canada was one of the first countries to start laying charges with respect to HIV exposure or transmission. It was the first Supreme Court in the world that had ever considered the issue.”

Alison Symington on Canada's role as world leader in criminalisation.

“We’re starting to understand more and more about the likelihood of transmission of HIV, and it’s not as high as I think some people assume that it is. Particularly if there’s anti-retroviral medications, it’s not immediately obvious that one act of sexual intercourse is likely to cause someone’s death. I think it’s a real stretch to make this murder, not only on policy grounds, but also on the narrow interpretation of Section 231.”

Isabel Grant on the lack of relevance between sexual HIV transmission and Section 231, which says that death as a result of aggravated sexual assault becomes first-degree murder.

“My worry is that the courts’ fixation on the issue of disclosure presumes that they’re discouraging transmission, but I don’t think that it works out in real life quite the way they think it does. People who disclose actually have a poorer record of safe sex than those who don’t, and [that] makes a certain amount of sense because disclosure is about trying to figure out if you can sero-sort or not, to find out if the other person is the same sero-status that you are. It becomes an invitation for unsafe sex.”

Barry Adam on why mandating disclosure is harmful.

“The law says that if you are suspicious, and you deliberately close your mind to the possibility of finding out, that’s considered wilful blindness and we treat you the same way as if you know. In this context, let’s say I’m not going to get tested for HIV because I really don’t want to know if I have it, because then nobody can charge me for passing it on. If that suspicion arises in your mind, and you deliberately close your mind to finding out, the law says you’re just as blame worthy.”

Barry Adam on not testing to avoid prosecution.

To read the full article on the Xtra website, click here.

Behaviour: Gay men's 'promiscuity' not the reason for increasing HIV transmission in US

http://wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=7072021

Number of Partners Doesn't Explain Gay HIV Rate

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 13 (HealthDay News) -- The HIV epidemic among gay men can't be explained by their number of sexual partners, U.S. researchers report.

More than half the new HIV infections diagnosed in the United States in 2005 were among gay men, a team at the University of Washington, Seattle, noted. In addition, as many as one in five gay men living in cities may be HIV-positive.

But the sexual behaviors of gay and heterosexual men in the United States may not be as different as most people think, the researchers said.

In fact, two surveys found that most gay men have a similar rate of sex with unprotected partners compared to straight men or women.

"Just because gay men continue to have much higher levels of HIV, we can't jump to the conclusion that that means that they are promiscuous or that prevention messages aren't working," said lead researcher Steven Goodreau, an assistant professor of anthropology.

In the study, Goodreau and a colleague, Dr. Matthew R. Golden, analyzed data from two large population-based surveys. Using those figures, they estimated how many sex partners gay men and straight men and women have, and what number of gay men have either insertive or receptive anal sex, or both.

The report is published in the Sept. 12 online edition of Sexually Transmitted Infections.

"We found that even if gay men behave the same way heterosexuals do -- in terms of sexual partner numbers -- gay men would still have a huge HIV epidemic," Goodreau said.

Conversely, "even if heterosexual men behaved the way gay men do, they would not have a huge HIV epidemic," he added.

In fact, for straight men and women to experience an epidemic of HIV infection as widespread as that of gay men, they would have to have an average of almost five unprotected sexual partners every year -- almost three times the rate of the average gay male, Goodreau and Golden found.

So, why the higher HIV risk for gay men? "A couple of different things could give gay men an overall higher risk for HIV than heterosexuals," Goodreau said.

One reason HIV remains epidemic among gay men is that anal sex is much more conducive to the transmission of HIV transmission than is vaginal sex, the researcher said.

"That puts gay men at much higher risk overall," he said.

In addition, HIV transmission is more easily transmitted through the penis than via the vagina or the anus, Goodreau said. Heterosexuals tend to maintain the same role (insertive vs. receptive), while gay men can switch roles -- making the transmission of HIV more likely, he noted.

So, for gay men and straight men who have the same number of partners and have unprotected sex, gay men are more likely to transmit and receive HIV, Goodreau said. "That's why you can get huge epidemics among gay men and virtually none among heterosexual men," he said.

To end the HIV epidemic, gay men would need to have significantly lower rates of unprotected sex than those seen among the straight men, Goodreau believes.

One expert believes the study does have its flaws, however.

"The information here is mostly based on people's reports of their own behavior," said Philip Alcabes, an associate professor at the School of Health Sciences of Hunter College/City University of New York. "When trying to make use of information on self-reported sexual behavior, we have to remember that it isn't clear that anybody tells the truth," he said.

More information

For more on HIV, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

SOURCES: Steven Goodreau, assistant professor, anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle; Philip Alcabes, Ph.D., associate professor, School of Health Sciences, Hunter College/City University of New York; Sept. 12, 2007, online edition, Sexually Transmitted Infections

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