Those of you who know me fairly well will have heard me, at least once, bang on about STI problems in our society today, especially among young, gay men. It's a big bugbear of mine, and rather than just moan about it, am going to attempt to make a contribution.

At the end of this academic year, I commence my "Project Option" - basically, an 11 week research rotation in the field of my choice. A few months ago I decided mine would look at HIV/STI attitudes in our age. I plan on focussing this on gay men - those out/sexually active in the 80s & those after 2000.

As a group, or community if you like, gay men were the first highlighted by the HIV epidemic. Whether rightly or wrongly, there's a definite feeling in society that we are somehow responsible for it. This might irritate a lot of you, but I say "FUCK IT" - if that's how we're going to be perceived, let's do something better: BE RESPONSIBLE. Full stop, fin, period, end of.

It's quite a worry to me that there seems to be an increasing apathy among my generation - gay & straight - towards STIs. Most heterosexual people I know would only wear a condom to avoid pregnancy - syphilis, or the dreaded HIVs barely crosses their minds. Even fewer get tested - why not? Fear, I can understand, but I imagine it to be more than that. I've often said there's probably a lot to do with the fact we never saw quite how frightening the impact of HIV was in the 80s, perhaps had more us encountered it's horrific effects, we would've be more proactive about protecting ourselves.

Another point; although most of us discuss sex quite freely, there's a sort've added stigma to sexual infections over normal infection. If one of us was to have a friend tell us they caught gastroenteritis from eating bad sushi as Yo Bar or summat, we'd all avoid Yo Bar. In fact, if it was us, we'd feel a duty to. With STIs, even more trivial ones, like crabs, are treated with an added shame. If those who had experienced an STI were more open about how unpleasant it was, maybe it would encourage others to think that bit more about trying to avoid getting it - rather than adopting that rather head-in-the-sand "oooo-eck, hope it doesn't get me".

ANYWAAAAAAAAAAAY - what am asking for is a favour: if I get clearance to go ahead with my study, I may need volunteers to answer an anonymous questionnaire which would be quite personal - I aim to find out a rough sexual history, attitudes towards casual sex, use of condoms etc, any previous infections, your experiences (whether personal or relative) of STIs and will try to find out what shaped your attitudes towards sex & sexual health.

You don't necessarily need to be a gay male, so anyone saying they'll take part will be thanked profusely, at the very least - I'll let you know when I need you. I am also sworn to absolute confidentiality, and as I've said, results would be anonymised anyway.

Thank you & good night.

DISCLAIMER: I *know* HIV & Me has recently been on, I've just seen it, but this has been in the pipeline for months - it just spurred me on to setting it - honest! Ask anyone!

1. How old will you be in five years?
28 *panic ensues*

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today?
Me, myself and I - that's depressing.

3. How tall are you?
5'11"/6' depending on my mood, the measurer and what time of day it is

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?
Erm....not much rally. Pride may be fun, but I suspect otherwise.

5. What's the last movie you watched on dvd?
How to Kill Your Neighbour's Dog - surprisingly good for 97p

6. Who was the last person you called?
Ermmm....*goes a-hunting for phone*......Meeennaah

7. Who was the last person to call you?
Eggtastic

8. What was the last text message you received?
Summat from Eggtastic telling me to stop playing piano loudly if it was hurting my hands. How logical - pffft.

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail?
Denise telling me which pub she was in.

10. Would you rather call or text?
text

11. What were you doing at 12am last night?
Readin'

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced?
Seperated. Finally.

13. When was the last time you saw your MUM?
About 11:30pm last night.

14. What colour are your eyes?
Blue/Grey/Green - you decide. I reckon blue-grey.

15.INTERMISSION OF RANDOMNESS!
I need the tooooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiilllllllee
 eeeeeeeeeeeeet

16. What are you wearing right now?
Resevoir Dogs T-shirt and combat cut-offs

17. What is your favourite Christmas song?
The Holly & the Ivy

18. Where is your favourite place to be?
On a beach, when it's sunny/in a club, when it's dirrrrrty

19. Where is your least favourite place to be?
On the wards (shurely shum mishtake!?)

20. Africa-New Zealand-Japan?
OOOH - erm....I dunno. Africa, just ahead of NZ

21. What do you think you’ll be in 10 years?
......if all goes to plan, a GP with an STI clinic *more panicking*

22. Do you tan or Burn?
Burn lightly then fade into a tan

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
Aliens

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?
Still Game on ra telly last night

25. How many TVs do you have in your house?
3 (Manc)

26. How big is your bed?
Double....I want bigger though

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer?
Laptop - though it's Knackered.

28. What do you wear to bed?
Nothing )

29. What colour are your sheets?
At the moment white n green

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?
3, but use only one (the others are for when I read)

31. What is your favorite season?
Summer (not amused at the apparent skipping over of summer this year)

32. What do you like about autumn?
The colours the leaves go

33. What do you like about winter?
Snow and ice!

34. What do you like about the summer?
Sunbathing

36. How many countries have you lived in?
2 - Scotland and England

37. What cities/towns have you lived in?
Glasgow, St Andrews, Manchester

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
Bare feet - always have, hence weird spread toes now.

39. Are you a social person?
A little too social

40. What was the last thing you ate?
A piece n cheese

42. What is your favourite ice cream?
Cookies n cream

43. What is your favourite dessert?
Profiteroles or mum's clootie dumpling

We seem to have lost 44.....

45. What kind of jam do you like on your Peanut Butter and Jam sandwich?
As If

46. Do you like Chinese food?
LAILAILAILAI (yes)

47. Do you like coffee?
I do - with muchos sweetener in

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average?
None, I don't like water v.much

49. What do you drink in the morning?
Coffee/Pepsi Max

Where's 50???
Up yer bum?

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
No

52. Do you know how to play poker?
Texas Hold 'Em only - I get bored very easily and end up playing to lose (Which, ironically, is when I start to do best)

53. Do you like to cuddle?
Bien sur!

54. Have you ever been to Canada?
Narp