When It Comes to Gays Partying Maskless, Does Shaming Serve a Purpose?
I’m a 51-year-old cisgender gay man living with HIV. I’ve lived with HIV for 20 years and written about HIV for nearly 30 years. As such, I know a lot about shame. And I’ve long adhered to the prevailing public health–sector belief that shaming and scolding don’t stop risky behavior, such as (in the pre-PrEP days) fucking without a condom or doing hard drugs like heroin or meth. Shaming drives these phenomena underground, making the people doing it double down, often resentfully, on their behavior.