License to Bone

by Jessica

This is either really Orwellian or a step in the right direction for openness: you can get a card that’ll prove you’re STD-free!

Yes, just like you have a license to drive, STFree Communications gives you a license to bone! Your card comes with a phone number on that back that potential partners can call to prove you’ve recently been tested.

Not that you need us to remind you, but STDs are scary stuff. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in ‘06 that roughly 19 million STD infections occur each year, almost half among young adults aged 15 to 24.

But what happened to simple, honest communication when it comes to the “sexual history” talk? The Daily News reports over 15,000 people across the country have signed up already for the Safe Sex License, so apparently, enough people are fine hearing it from a third-party source. I think nothing beats hearing it from the person with whom you’re going to be intimate, though. (Unless you met your partner on a dating site just for people with STDs — that awkward convo’s kinda moot then, isn’t it?)

Sure, getting tested and being able to prove on paper that you’re “clean” is great. Knowing is certainly better than not knowing at all, or hearing that you might have an STD anonymously. But would someone who has herpes, crabs, or worse really keep it to themselves and make their potential partner make a phone call to find out what’s up down there?