Bug Chasers and Gift Givers

What are Bug Chasers and Gift Givers? When I first heard of these terms, I automatically assumed that a “Bug chaser” was someone who aspired to be like the Crocodile Hunter of the insect world. In my mind, it was either that or the Orkin Man 2.0. I thought a “Gift giver” could be anyone: Family, friends, neighbors, etc. Boy, was I wrong. Well.. Not wrong, just slightly ignorant of these names. It wasn’t until I began to ask questions and do my own research that I really began to understand what these words meant. In my journey, I also learned of other terms such as Serosorting and Serodiscrimination. The definition of these terms blew my mind. Ready for the truth? Here goes.

A Bug Chaser is: A person, usually a gay male, who aspires to “catch” HIV/AIDS. They usually engage in all kinds of erratic sexual behavior with almost anyone. This isn’t a hoax or a rumored wild sexual Urban Legend. A “Gift giver” is: A person who is a carrier of HIV/AIDS, “The Gift” who engages in unprotected bare-backing with an HIV person (The bug chaser). The goal is to pass “the gift” to the bug chasers. This is what is wanted on both sides. It is all completely consensual. Everyone who is involved normally knows what they are doing. The horror doesn’t stop there. The setting of this is usually at an orgy full of bug chasers (usually outnumbering the gift givers), engaging in sexual activity with multiple partners. For a lot of the Bug Chasers, the goal is to have unprotected sex with as many gift givers as they can, all in hopes of receiving a positive HIV result in the future.

In some instances, the gift givers have a biohazard sign tattooed on their bodies somewhere to silently advertise that they are carriers of the virus. As I write this article, I recollect the first time I heard this term used. It was about 7 years ago in Atlanta. At first, I really thought that this was a bunch of Boloney. I mean, come on: Who in their right mind would opt to welcome this virus into their life with open arms? After seeing something today, I feel that it is my journalistic duty to speak on this. This is happening for real.

So, what have we learned in a nutshell? A Bug Chaser is someone who is basically playing Russian Roulette with their life. The Gift Giver is the trigger. HIV/AIDS is the bullet. Peep the footage below.

I simply had to obtain more of an understanding of this. What is the thought process of a bug chaser? I turned to the World Wide Web to find answers. I stumbled across a website called www.thebody.com (An HIV/AIDS Resource Center for Gay men). It was here that I read an interview with a former Bug Chaser turned statistic, which gave me a little more incite into the Bug Chaser’s mentality. What is interesting about this guy is that he is not a “Gift Giver” now. He is just HIV+.

Dave: So you thought that if you finally caught HIV, you’d be okay and all you’d need to do was go on the medication? So where was the danger, or the thrill of chasing the virus? Why was it so exciting when you knew you’d probably have reasonable health if you caught it?

Jamie: I don’t know. I guess if you look at it like that, it shouldn’t have been so exciting but it was like being in an exclusive club. Bug chasing was chasing HIV. Then every bit of sex I had was a real turn on because I knew there was a chance of getting it. Nowadays, I can’t even get an erection most of the time. It’s just not the same.

Dave: So the sex itself didn’t turn you on; it was the prospect of converting that did it for you? When did you start having these feelings, or these desires?

Jamie: I read about it on the internet and watched some porn videos about seeding and breeding and bug chasing. They were wild. Before that, sex was okay I guess and I could do everything just like everyone else but when I knew there was a risk involved, it was like, doubly erotic. The first time I did it bareback, I couldn’t stop shaking with excitement. The guy thought I was just nervous but I wasn’t, I was just so turned on at the prospect of getting HIV.

I encourage everyone to please continue reading the rest of this compelling interview at www.thebody.com.

This isn’t just a homosexual thing. In recent years, there has been a new trend of a different breed emerging called “Phantom Gift Givers”. These are people who are carriers of HIV/AIDS. Like regular Bug Chasers and Gift Givers, they engage in crazy, sexual behavior with multiple partners as well. However, unlike a “Gift Giver,” A “Phantom Gift Giver” does not want you to know their status. They couldn’t care less about their partner, they are usually angry/bitter with their diagnosis or life, and they want everyone around them that they come into sexual contact with to suffer the same as they are. I can only imagine that the knowledge of this diagnosis can only be compared to the feeling of Hell burning on the inside. The Phantom gift giver is an angry individual.

A crazy story hit the media on March 12, 2014. It is alleged that a female college student has knowingly infected over 300 men in Kenya. After receiving a positive test result, she decided to start “marking” men. This picture is supposed to be of her. She accidentally wrote in a local newspaper from her Facebook page, and her true identity got leaked… Read the full story at www.topconservativenews.com.

In the instance of the Phantom Gift Giver, we have actually seen a few of them via YouTube and Worldstarhiphop as well. Some were fabricated, and some aren’t. I recall watching videos where someone decides to announce their status as being HIV+ or better yet, full-blown AIDS, and then go down a crazy list of like 100+ people that they have slept with raw, trying to prove a point.

This is the reality of the world that we live in today. People are hurting. What would make a person knowingly want to be infected with this disease? What kind of hurt are you living in? The interview that I read with the Bug Chaser turned HIV+ has opened my mind but it still does not make me understand or condone this at all. Just think, you find out you are HIV+. What do you do? Some people go mad. As in the case with this Kenyan student. She said her goal is to infect 2,000 men. She feels that her life was over at the hands of one terrible night that simply went to far.

With that being said, I conclude this article by stating this: