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I have always been extremely passionate about sexual health. When I was 15 a friend of mine was bullied for having herpes - which she contracted when she was sexually assaulted by a 19 y/o. I bore witness to the cruelty of others, the stigma around sexual health & was also victim of both. People whispered that I had herpes because we had sleepovers - they knew nothing about transmission, treatment, etc Then in my first year in the industry, I started to do porn as well as strip. Two strippers started up a lovely little rumour that I had HIV from doing porn - these two individuals were offering extras, going home with clients & couldn’t tell me the last time they were tested - they also thought you could contract HIV from sharing a joint. Another example of peoples lack of understanding of sexual health. When I was 17/18 and in first year uni, I contracted Chalmydia 2x. First Sem from a man who went home on winter break and fucked his ex without protection & came back and fucked me. He had symptoms - I did not. The next semester I had unprotected sex with a lover who said he had been tested the week before - he got a call the next day from the clinic. Both times I was given 4x pills of Azithromycin and was good to go after a week. With a reccomendation to retest after 4weeks At that point in my life I had had sex with at least 50 people - mostly unprotected because I was young, naive, foolish and on birth control. I am now 25, I have been in the industry since I was 19, I have had sex with hundreds of men, women and GNC folks at this point in my life. Last year I was dx with “Stage 0” cervical cancer - which means that the cervical biopsy I had indicated the abnormal cell growth was high grade and 50% likely to become cancerous. This was most likely cause from exposure to HPV from unprotected sex with one of my colleagues in the industry , one of my lovers or one of the clients who has jumped through the hoops & paid for the privilege to film with me in that capacity. Most clinics won’t test for HPV and it’s so common the WHO reccomendation is that everyone receives the updated vaccine - Gardisil9 I has received Gardisil when I was 12 & This last year received the 3 doses of Gardisil9. The updated version covers 5 strains of cervical cancer causing HPV and 4 strains of oral-pharangeal causing HPV. in the last few years the window for detection of HIV has gone down from 6 months to 3. And at the same time the leading result of HPV exposure is of oral-pharangeal cancer - this is a result of unsafe oral & a lack of education around how STIs can be transmitted. We all have seen how limited the gen publics understanding of transmission of disease is with the last few years of covid. sexual health is no different. and as the world evolves , so must we - if we want to continue to be kinky slutty ppl. With that being said: I had my first ever personal experience with an STI as a SWer. I tested Jan 10- results received Jan 16. blood, urine, throat/rectal swab, all neg Jan 31 - results for blood Feb 2 neg Feb 03 urine/rectal positive for chlamydia , Feb 07 throat swab pos for chlamydia. I was treated Feb 03 with the classic 4x Azithromycin and give. The clear to be sexually actively again after Feb 10. i contacted my clients and collegues for the last several weeks including from before Jan 10 and informed everyone of my positive test. I cancelled all of my apts , posted to Twitter and IG and have been informing new inquiries of this experience. I know this will deter some because of deeply rooted ignorance around sex, sexual health and SW. But I am grateful I am able to do my part to combat stigma. I despise language such as “clean” or “d/d free” - stigma literally kills. if you know anything about the HIV/AIDS crisis you know it was called GRID initially aka Gay Related Immuno Deficiency- and until it started affecting cis women we just let the gays die. We lost an entire generation of queer people to what is now a disease that’s easier to live with than cancer - yet still is highly stigmatized because of its association with sex & gay sex specifically. also to be clear - I should not have to be - I am not HIV +. My panels continue to be neg. One thing I did learn today though after a call with the health unit is that if you retest before 4 weeks it’s possible you will trigger a false positive test because the tests detect dead cells as well. My next test date is Feb 13. the. Feb 28 & first week of March. So let’s talk about sexual health! Let’s talk about BV, Yeast infections(esp after antibiotics) , UTIs, interstitial cystitis, urine tests, throat rectal and vaginal swabs etcetceetc let’s have some honest conversations and dispel some of the stigma & fear. sti’s are a part of the risk of being sexually active - we have to take our health and our responsibility to ourselves and others sexual health seriously! A huge shift for me since receiving this news is going to be requiring clients to provide me test results for BBJ or paying a premium rate for the risk I am taking. Hopefully this encourages clients to get tested more often as well - I know far too many who have expressed that they don’t go because they know the providers they see do. Do yourself a favour and go get tested! I know many of my colleagues who only go 1x a month due to accessibility/time/etc. We can all be supporting one another in being safe and slutty

Several recent threads in different places have raised questions about sexual health and sexually transmissible infections (STIs). I thought it might be worthwhile to review and discuss some basic information. 1. Perfectly nice, respectable and trustworthy people can carry STIs without knowing it because they may have no symptoms. They can infect other equally reliable people without intending to cause any harm to them. 2. Everyone is responsible for their own sexual health. Only you can ensure that you are practicing safe(er) sex and that you are not at risk of being infected, actually infected or transmitting infections. 3. Free and trustworthy confidential sexual health testing is available in every major centre in Canada. If you're not comfortable asking your doctor for tests, you can go to a free clinic where you will not be questioned or judged. I do this, myself, every two months. The staff are friendly, pleasant, efficient and easy to work with. 4. STI test results are only a "snapshot" of your sexual health status when the tests were performed. They are not a guarantee that you do not have an STI a few weeks later. In fact, since some STIs incubate for weeks or months before producing symptoms, markers in blood samples or showing up in vaginal swabs, even though your STI test results are clear, you can still be harboring an infection that has not yet made its presence known. 5. STI tests should be repeated for at least six months before you can consider yourself likely to be infection-free, assuming that you have not changed sex partners during that time and that your partner(s) also have not had new partners. 6. Most STIs are easily treated with antibiotics. Some, such as herpes, cannot be cured but can be managed with antiviral medication. HIV/AIDS is increasingly becoming a manageable infection in Canada's larger cities. 7. HIV/AIDS is probably the most-feared STI. It is also a very fragile virus that does not communicate easily. You can't get HIV from doorknobs, sharing a plate or a glass, from kissing or from doing someone's laundry. HIV needs easy entry to one's bloodstream, usually via a cut, a tear in one's vaginal or anal mucous membrane, or a contaminated injection needle. In North America, heterosexuals who do not use illegal injectable drugs are at low-risk for having or transmitting HIV/AIDS. The problem, of course, is that because we cannot be certain about our sexual partners' other partners, it is not safe to assume that there is no HIV risk when having sexual contact with anyone. 8. Condoms offer the best protection against STIs. Condoms are effective for oral sex as well as vaginal and anal sex. Non-latex condoms are available and effective for those who are allergic to latex. Female condoms are not made of latex and are also effective for those who have allergies. Condoms made of sheep intestines and other materials are effective for preventing pregnancy, but not effective for preventing STIs. Sperm are significantly larger than viruses and bacteria, which can slip through the membranes of these "natural" condoms. 9. There really is no such thing as "safe" sex. Things such as condoms, dental dams and gloves can make sex safer, however. Even so, the herpes virus is "shed" by up to 5% of infected people even when they are not experiencing outbreaks. This means that one may transmit or contract herpes unknowingly. 10. Some STIs are more prevalent in some parts of Canada than in others. For example, a syphilis epidemic has been going on in Vancouver since the early 1990s. Syphilis is one of the viruses that can inhabit a human throat for months without any symptoms. Nonetheless, even if you and your companion both live in Saskatoon, it may be difficult to be sure that neither of you has had contact with anyone who may have come in contact with syphilis recently. 11. Common wisdom about STIs is usually inaccurate and untrustworthy. For example, one will hear that "everyone knows" there is only negligible risk in oral sex performed on a man. In fact, giving and receiving oral sex places both parties at high risk of STI transmission for all infections other than HIV, in which case the risks are lower. 12. Sexually active people have a responsibility to ensure that they have the best, up-to-date information about STI risks. Only with accurate information can we make informed choices about our sexual behaviour and infection risk. You can get this information many places including the Health Nurse's Sexual Health Information website and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's STD Resource website.