10. The Gay Man as Cross-Carrier. Gay men have long been seen by society as errant children, and the imagery and mythology of the Bad Boy and the Rebel are pervasive in gay culture. AIDS both reinforced this idea and provided an escape. Promising to practice “safe sex,” raising money for “AIDS research,” obeying physicians, and dying nobly are all activities that allow gay men to change roles from scapegoated Bad Boy to sacrificial Good Boy. Gay men become cross-carriers, bearing society’s projected sins as sacrificial People With AIDS. Here, in an ad for a drug rehabilitation program, cross-carrying becomes orgasmic torment.
