Cough Blood on the Moon Soon.

When people feel ashamed of their STI status, or when they feel too embarrassed to talk with a partner about safer sex, or when they don’t feel comfortable going to the clinic or asking their doctor for an STI test, they’re a lot less likely to take steps to prevent STIs. The more we shame people and the more shame we create around STIs, the harder we make it to actually change anything.

The funny thing is that we don’t attach nearly as much shame to other bacteria and viruses. After all, who hasn’t gone to work instead of staying home with the flu? And if someone gets measles, we rarely tell them that they deserved it. There’s much more shame dumped on STIs than almost any other medical condition.