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“The chemistry between us just became weird”: Affective-sexual relationships of young men living with HIV/AIDS and with undetectable viral load

Abstract

In this article, we discuss narratives on affective-sexual relationships of young men living with HIV/AIDS, with undetectable viral load and possibility of not transmit-ting HIV. We conducted ten semi-structured interviews with men who have sex with men, aged between 18 and 30 years old, followed at a specialized health service in Salvador, Ba-hia, Brazil, in 2017. In these narratives, the undetectable condition appears as an impor-tant [bio]identity change, and its maintenance as an ongoing responsibility to themselves and others. Despite biomedical advances, the ‘undetectable equals Untransmittable’ (U=U) campaign and new interactive possibilities open up in this scenario, the stigma of HIV as well as a notion of dangerous/risky bodies persist, supported by discourses of fear and guilt for a possible virus transmission.

Key-words:
HIV/AIDS; undetectable viral load; men who have sex with men; sexuality; prac-tices of care

Centro Latino-Americano em Sexualidade e Direitos Humanos (CLAM/IMS/UERJ) R. São Francisco Xavier, 524, 6º andar, Bloco E 20550-013 Rio de Janeiro/RJ Brasil, Tel./Fax: (21) 2568-0599 - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brazil
E-mail: sexualidadsaludysociedad@gmail.com