Jorian (38) got vaccinated against Hepatitis B

“My sex life is care free, relaxed and satisfying”

The 38 year old Jorian lives in the centre of Amsterdam, and the neighbourhood will know about that. All year through a rainbow flag hangs out of his window with pride. "I have become more vocal throughout recent years. When I was younger, I was having a hard time with it, but now I dare to be who I am and to do what I want. If I'm different, then so be it." Talking openly about sex and sexual health is something he now does without effort, even if it were on a busy terrace. "People need to be less prude."

When Jorian moved to Amsterdam about two decennia ago, he was already sexually active, but not as informed about sexual health like he is now. For a lot of people, Hepatitis B stays under the radar. Hepatitis B is a disease of the liver, and is transmittable through blood or sex without a condom. For Jorian this was the case as well, until it was pointed out to him during a regular STI check at the GGD. "The friendly lady who helped me saw in my file that I hadn't been vaccinated yet. Because I have sex with men, she advised me to get vaccinated. So I thought, why not? Getting vaccinated is a no-brainer to me. Apart from one day of muscle ache in your shoulder, a vaccine is no big deal."

“Getting vaccinated is a no-brainer to me.”

Testing, vaccinating and talking with your sex partners are the best ways to have a healthy and responsible sex life, according to Jorian. "I get tested regularly, I am vaccinated against Hepatitis A, B and mpox. If HPV-vaccinations were offered when I was younger, I would have taken those as well. And maybe it's not the most horny thing to ask someone you're about to have sex with, but I always check when someone was tested on STI's for the last time." It can always happen that you do catch an STI after all, but Jorian won't worry about it any more than necessary. "It is not nice, it happens, but what annoys me is that not everybody is honest about it. A lot of people still see sex and STI's as something nasty, something that isn't good. There still is a taboo on sex, but for me it doesn't feel that way at all."

Jorian doesn't have a steady partner, and is satisfied with his sex life. "My sex life is care-free, relaxed and satisfying. Where before I felt shame about my preferations, nowadays that is no more. I do feel the space to say what I do or do not like. For example, people really shouldn't touch my nipples."

“Regular testing is wise and effective”

Also the vaccinations have taken away a lot of worries for Jorian. "Apart from not having to get the infection, it is also a plus for a happy and healthy sex life. That carefreeness gives me a much more free and relaxed approach to sex." About keeping a healthy sex life, Jorian is clear: "Regular testing when you behave a certain way sexually is not difficult at all. It is wise and effective. Finally, just get vaccinated. On the long term you only get profits out of it."

* For privacy consideration the name Jorian is fictious. 

Editor's note

Men to Men regularly interviews men about how they protect themselves against HIV and STIs as well as their experiences with sex. We believe it is important for people to be well-informed and are able to make informed decisions on how to protect themselves. We hope that the variety of personal stories of people’s experiences help them with this. They do not necessarily reflect Men to Men’s standpoint.

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Because Jorian would like to stay anonymous, we used a stockphoto with this story.
Dutch text: Matthijs van Els
Stockphoto: freepik.com

This story was published first in Dutch on Winq.nl.