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In researching this article, I went undercover to get a glimpse into this hidden world. I posed as a bug chaser on Bareback Real Time as well as on Grindr, the most popular gay dating app, and on Recon, another dating app specifically for men with sexual fetishes. I have not included the names of those who communicated with me out of respect for their privacy. All the chasers and gifters I found were gay or bisexual men, and they came from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and ranged in age from 18 to 59.

Over several weeks, I reached out to men whose profiles identified them as HIV-positive, zeroing in on those who said they had a “high viral load” — in other words, those whose medical tests indicated that their blood contained a large number of copies of the virus (and who would therefore be most contagious). I asked them each to have sex with me and made it clear that I was seeking to become HIV-positive.

As I had hoped, I received a handful of outright rejections, including a heartfelt one from a 28-year-old Grindr user who poignantly told me, “I nearly died of AIDS. I’m not going to purposely give someone the thing that almost killed me.”

By contrast, however, I received more than 100 messages via Bareback Real Time from men who said they were willing to have condomless sex with me — and some of whom invited me to “conversion parties” that they said they would organize at their homes or at local hotels, like the Travelodge, at the corner of Market and Valencia streets, or the Casa Loma Hotel, at Fillmore and Fell streets. Both locations are popular meeting spots for gay cruising and sex parties.

“You are too fucking hot,” one guy told me. “And I’m on a little meds break. (I have a couple of FB’s who wanted me to poz them). One is [already], the other we’re working on. Would LOVE to experience the intensity of poz fucking with you.”

“Stay negative so I know I’m the one who pozzed you,” another guy demanded. “My dick is rock hard already.”