I'm a 47-year-old man and my wife is 49. We got married four years ago. Two days ago, she came back from the doctor and told me she has genital herpes. I am floored. She said she just found out. She said she must have contracted it years ago and never had an outbreak until 10 days ago. She has been to the doctor countless times over the last 20 years. I don't know what to think. Is it really possible she didn't know?
I know she needs me to be a loving husband now, but it's hard when I can't believe she just found out about this. If she knew about it and lied to me, my trust is destroyed. Also, how can our marriage survive when I can't bring myself to have sex with her? What do you think?
Marriage In Serious Trouble
I think you're being a douche, MIST.
But, hey, everyone's entitled to a little douchebaggery now and then. The wife's got a sexually transmitted infection — that's upsetting and you're freaked. Understandable. You're also overreacting and misinformed, and continued douchebaggery on your part may end your marriage. So let's set down the douchebag and start getting informed, OK?
"His wife could have been exposed to the herpes virus decades ago," says Karen J. Pataky, a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington. Which means it's possible that your wife didn't know — believe it. Why would she suddenly have an outbreak? "Her immune system could have kept it contained all this time," says Pataky. "As we near 50, our immune systems become a little less competent to deal with certain things."
And guess what? If your wife could have been infected for years without knowing, then you could have been infected for years without knowing. Pataky connects the suppurating dots: "It's possible that he is the one who infected her and he has not had an outbreak. Or he had a small outbreak and it went away quickly and he didn't think twice about it." So why not do the decent, loving thing and just assume you're already infected and refuse to let a piddling thing like herpes destroy your marriage?
"Cancer, HIV, heart attacks — that's horrible news," says Pataky. "This is not horrible news. Herpes is not something to ruin a marriage over, medically speaking. It's never life-threatening and it's possible to go years without any outbreaks."
Do you love your wife more than you fear an STI that you've probably already been exposed to and may have exposed your wife to in the first place? If the answer to that question isn't "yes," you're a bigger douche than I thought.
Four weeks ago, I met a guy I felt a genuine interest in and he let things develop. Then he told me that he would be moving to Las Vegas at the end of July, but wanted to date until he left. With plenty of opportunities to find someone who may actually be here for more than a few weeks, I declined. After bouncing back, I met someone even more wonderful. He's someone I could see myself with long-term. Then he tells me that he, too, is moving at the end of the month! Am I the gay goodbye committee? Any wise words to help a lost little 'mo?
Left Behind
Left Behind
Yeah, LB: Stop whining. In four weeks, you've met two guys you could see yourself with long-term. There are fags out there having a hard time meeting guys they can see themselves with through happy hour. Keep going out, keep meeting guys and, again, stop whining.
Oh, and speaking of lost little 'mos …
Tyler Whitney is an up-and-coming conservative activist. Just 18 years old, Whitney is working for the GOP's most rabidly anti-gay presidential candidate, Tom Tancredo, as webmaster; he heads up a rabidly anti-gay political group on his college campus; and he carried a "Go Back in the Closet!" sign at an anti-gay protest. Which is odd, since Whitney is gay and has recently been outed.
Well, not outed, exactly. Whitney had begun quietly coming out to friends when a conservative blog posted an item about him that hurried the process along. Between the Lines, Michigan's gay newspaper, published a story, which was then picked up by national gay bloggers.
Predictably, conservatives are rallying around their pet self-hating homo. Bay Buchanan, senior adviser to Tancredo, says Whitney's "sexual preference is a personal matter" and that it should have "nothing to do with the campaign."
Sorry, Bay, but gay-bashing thugs — people like you, your horrible brother Pat, your vile candidate — can't have it both ways. If Whitney's sexual preference is a personal matter, then so is mine. If Whitney's sexual preference shouldn't have anything to do with the campaign, then nor should the sexual preference of any other American. So long as the GOP insists on attacking gay and lesbian Americans, Whitney's sexual orientation — to say nothing of his hypocrisy — is relevant to a debate that the GOP started.
Some stupid homos, of course, are saying that we should feel compassion for poor Tyler Whitney. Uh … nope. Want to feel sorry for someone? Feel sorry for Sean William Kennedy, a 20-year-old gay man who was beaten to death outside a bar in South Carolina.
[email protected]