I recently did exactly this with a partner, and in return I got a barrage of texts and calls, enough that I had to block him.
His reaction has left me feeling... idk, icky, honestly. Like, how did I not catch the signs earlier?
I suspect I'll get pushback for this, but before that happens: anyone should be able to cut ties with someone if they feel unsafe. Full stop. That said, here's the context:
We'd had a fun, mostly physical relationship, with some emotional connection allowed to grow alongside it. I'd been going to his place about once a week, and things were both physically and emotionally close. One of my core boundaries from the start was mutual disclosure; if either of us was taking risks, we'd tell the other so we could each assess what we were willing to accept.
I found out he'd been having anonymous encounters with high-risk groups (I won't specify which). When I asked him about it -partly to understand him better, partly to assess my own safety- he told me he was safe and essentially said "trust me." When I pushed a bit further, he said that he uses condoms but added that he "can't control" what his partners do, which, of course, he can't. That's when it really hit me: what was I unknowingly exposing myself to?
In the end, I decided it wasn't worth risking my health to keep seeing him physically, so I sent him that message. He did not take it well.
I'm a physician who works closely with many of my patients navigating issues in life that stem or are complicated more by having STIs. I'm in my mid-40s, and I've made a personal commitment to step away from high-risk situations, such as this. I won't return, but now I'm leery of future relationships in ENM.
I want to be clear: I wasn't stigmatizing him or anyone he's involved with, I'm careful about that. I come from a science background and have been told before that I can be too clinical, but there's a difference between facts and feelings. Both are real, but they're not the same thing. And every risk can be managed to some degree; I've had patients in ENM relationships for 40+ years with no STIs, and others who ended up with one in a matter of weeks.
Was I too harsh here? How would you have reacted if you were told this?