A TikToker Wants To End STI Stigma, And Shares That He’s Had Chlamydia Three Times

Chris Olsen, a social media star with 9.6 million followers, is making headlines for a TikTookay by which he admits he’s had chlamydia thrice. Yahoo! stories that 25-year-old Chris casually mentions this truth firstly of his video and follows it up with “End the stigma!” earlier than launching into an anecdote a couple of nurse making an attempt to set him up together with her son throughout a routine STI check. The video now has 8.4 million views. So, the identical quantity of people that dwell in Switzerland are actually conscious that Chris Olsen had chlamydia thrice. That is the facility of social media in 2023.

In his TikTookay, Chris says his nurse, Christina, requested, “What kind of person do you like?” Chris was impressed that Christina didn’t assume he was a “raging homosexual,” and knowledgeable the nurse that he likes tall males. She replied that Chris was a catch and talked about she had a son he may be all in favour of. Chris bought the man’s title, discovered him on Instagram, and found “he is the ex of one of the men who has ghosted me in the past year.” Chris ends the video by saying the nurse simply referred to as, and, “this time,” he doesn’t have chlamydia “So, little wins!” Here’s the TikTookay:

@chris

THIS WORLD IS TOO SMALL

♬ unique sound – Chris Olsen

Obviously, the anecdote is of no consequence. What persons are targeted on is Chris’ laissez-faire admission that he’s had a number of STIs. Many of the commenters have praised him for being so open about a difficulty that may be a supply of disgrace. Ireland Baldwin commented, “Congrats!” Jewel wrote, “Omg I love you,” and the official Access Hollywood TikTookay account wrote, “Felt like we were FaceTiming bestie ily” (HEH?!). Others applauded Chris for being accountable and getting examined.

Yahoo! stories that constructive STI instances reached an all-time excessive for the sixth 12 months in a row in 2019, with greater than half of all new STI instances present in younger adults between 15 to 23. Since the pandemic, gonorrhea and syphilis instances proceed to surge. The STI Project board president, Jenelle Marie Pierce, tells Yahoo that de-stigmatizing STIs by telling private tales in such an open approach is an effective mannequin for the way younger individuals can speak about their sexual well being:

“What I love most about this video is the casual conversation that’s taking place between the influencer and the audience, which is none too different than a typical disclosure conversation,” Pierce tells Yahoo Life. “In some ways, it’s serious, yes, but it can also be fun and affirming. It’s a dialogue where information is shared and decisions are made and then, hopefully, fun is had. What’s not to like about that, right?”

Oftentimes, conversations round STI disclosure get “wrapped up in a lot of trepidation, fear, ethics, and morality,” she notes. And whereas a few of that concern and disgrace is unavoidable, what individuals typically neglect is that disclosure could be a easy dialog amongst companions — one thing which Olsen’s candor demonstrates.

Jenelle says the extra celebrities like Chris (yeah, I hadn’t heard of him earlier than this story, both, however clearly Gen-Z has) talk about their diagnoses, the much less remoted us normies will really feel about our personal diagnoses. She shares that, sadly, there aren’t numerous constructive examples of this. Jenelle factors out that Anne Heche was “essentially blacklisted” when she talked about contracting herpes after experiencing sexual assault.

Honestly, good for Chris. Who amongst us hasn’t contracted syphilis or the non-cancerous sort of HPV from a one-night stand who lives in a Liberty Village apartment (Toronto refereeence)? Getting an STI is nothing to be ashamed of. In truth, based on the CDC, 4 out of 5 individuals who have by no means contracted an STI are literally big fucking losers who married their high-school sweethearts. The extra you realize!

Pic: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images