Sniffies' Cruising Confessions
Sep 24, 2026 · 14 min · 11 segments
What are all these swabs for? Haven’t we been swabbed enough! This sweeping episode asks some silly questions about various kinds of STI tests and what those different swabs and samples can actually…
Demetre DaskalakisGuest
Gabe GonzalezHost
Chris Patterson-RossoHost
I think for a very long time, people assumed that HIV could only be transmitted through anal sex.
Uh, we know this is incorrect now, but how much do you think that misconception still plays into the way people think about HIV treatment today?
When you have people who are getting sick from something, and you decide that the, the best name for it is gay related immunodeficiency.
... anything that will create that same stigma that was created in the, like, early '80s by rather than saying, like, there is, like, activity that could potentially cause disease transmission, saying that disease transmission was related to your identity."
And so the, the impact of that is this almost cultural leftover stigma that was generated in an instant-
... at the beginning of this epidemic and has been nearly impossible to shake off.
Like, someone goes like, "This is a gay disease," and like newsflash, that did a big disservice to injection drug users and to women.
19% of new HIV diagnoses are among people who have vaginas and cervixes.
I think for a very long time, people assumed that HIV could only be transmitted through anal sex.
Uh, we know this is incorrect now, but how much do you think that misconception still plays into the way people think about HIV treatment today?
When you have people who are getting sick from something, and you decide that the, the best name for it is gay related immunodeficiency.
... anything that will create that same stigma that was created in the, like, early '80s by rather than saying, like, there is, like, activity that could potentially cause disease transmission, saying that disease transmission was related to your identity."
And so the, the impact of that is this almost cultural leftover stigma that was generated in an instant-
... at the beginning of this epidemic and has been nearly impossible to shake off.
Like, someone goes like, "This is a gay disease," and like newsflash, that did a big disservice to injection drug users and to women.
19% of new HIV diagnoses are among people who have vaginas and cervixes.
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