Why Didn’t Honey Boo Boo Disclose That Uncle Poodle Became Infected With HIV After Having Bareback Sex?

In a new interview published this week on something called “Fenuxe.com,” Honey Boo Boo’s gay uncle character Uncle Poodle labels people who have bareback sex “damn fools,” but he does not reveal how he contracted HIV from his boyfriend—a boyfriend whom Uncle Poodle had sent to prison for infecting him HIV.

While some will use this opportunity to debate HIV criminalization laws and barebacking, the elephant in the room for Poodle is something much more serious: Why wasn’t Uncle Poodle’s HIV status and Uncle Poodle’s prosecution of his HIV-positive boyfriend featured on the Honey Boo Boo show?

Isn’t a reality show supposed to explore all the facets of its characters’ lives, warts and all? We know so much about Honey Boo Boo herself, her sisters, and her mother June. We’ve welcomed them all—including Uncle Poodle—into our homes every week, but no one on the show or its producers bothered to tell us that Uncle Poodle was HIV-positive? Didn’t we have a right to know? If we can’t trust Honey Boo Boo‘s depiction of reality, whose can we trust?

Uncle Poodle:

I was adamant about getting my HIV status checked on a regular basis. On March 16, 2012, I tested negative. Then, in May of 2012 my test results came back positive. I knew it had been my boyfriend who infected me. I later learned he had been HIV positive and was not taking medication and had not bothered to tell me about it. I was advised that I should press charges and, hesitantly, I did. It was the right thing to do.

He is serving a 5-year sentence. I would have been cool with his HIV status if he had been honest. I don’t have an issue with the disease. I would have known how to protect myself.

[Barebackers] are damn fools! They are playing Russian roulette; they are playing with their lives and that of their sexual partners.

Viewers of Honey Boo Boo are just learning about Uncle Poodle’s HIV-positive status and his boyfriend’s imprisonment now, nearly a year later. Isn’t HIV-positive men being sent to prison something that viewers of Honey Boo Boo would be interested in? Wouldn’t Uncle Poodle’s presumed bareback lifestyle and seroconversion have been key character traits that would have provided a richer and more three dimensional gay man for Honey Boo Boo viewers to relate to?

Why did TLC and Honey Boo Boo hide Uncle Poodle’s gay sex life, HIV-positive status, and imprisonment of his HIV-positive boyfriend? Will you still watch Honey Boo Boo knowing that producers haven’t alerted viewers of Uncle Poodle’s HIV-positive status?

 

22 thoughts on “Why Didn’t <em>Honey Boo Boo</em> Disclose That Uncle Poodle Became Infected With HIV After Having Bareback Sex?”

  1. I didn’t read this story the same way. I read it as he obviously is saying he was not using a condom with his boyfriend who was deliberately pretending to be HIV-negative. When he says you’re a fool to have sex without a condom, it seemed to me he was saying that applied to his own behavior, too.

    But none of that negates the sociopathic behavior of a person with an incurable disease deliberately giving it to another person. I can’t really understand why some gay people think it’s “hate” to be outraged by a person with HIV deliberately helping to spread it. It’s not hate against all people with HIV, it’s rightful anger against those who sneakily seek to spread it. To Butch Harris: Your comment about responsibility means…just about nothing. Many victims of crimes are “responsible” in some way for putting themselves in harm’s way, but that doesn’t mean the people who took advantage and harmed them are good people who shouldn’t be made to pay in some way. Everyone would agree that if someone becomes HIV-positive from having sex without a condom, yes, he or she is responsible for taking a risk. However, why does that negate the very obvious culpability of the person who lied to him and made him think the risk he was taking was minimal instead of HUGE? Do you think people with HIV are totally in the right to pretend they don’t have it and fuck people in the ass? That’s crazy. People with a life-altering (the medications, the expense, the insurance woes, the stigma, the possibility of death) illness who don’t care if they give it to others are diseased in the mind more in the body.

    Anyway, I also think when you ask why the show doesn’t cover this topic, you have to realize this is so NOT in the parameters of what the show’s about. It’s fair that it was left out. Kudos to Poodle (you don’t often type that) for bringing this up in the media, though. Reality shows are all fake. All. Fake. ALL. They’re all scripted, period. Thanks for the piece, though, and for asking questions to get people thinking. Love the Sword. Live and die by it? No. But love it. :)

  2. No – if you’re in a relationship or not – it is YOUR responsibility to insist on safer sex with a partner. Yes, relationships are supposed to be safe havens, etc., but common sense tells us they are not. Most marriages and relationships – gay or straight – end in divorce, and often the underlying reason behind the divorce is infidelity. So, unless you are willing to risk contracting HIV – or a number of other STDs – either remain single and celebrate or take proper precautions when having sex with others. It’s the truth of the matter. Ultimately, no matter how much time someone spends in jail or infecting another, the fact remains that YOU will remain HIV+. You can only take responsibility for yourself as love does not in fact conquer all.

  3. I never cared for Honey Boo Boo, her family, or her over-the-top persona. Someone needs to give this kid a SERIOUS reality check. Like to the point where she cries. In my neck of the woods, we don’t spare the rod.

    1. In reality this doesn’t happen. In fact, many HIV testing centers are set up to specifically forbid the presence of another when results are delivered.

  4. Oh and btw I love the Honey boo Boo show and that Uncle Poodle episode was one of mt favourites !! He should be featured on the show more often.
    I would LOVE to see Mama June and him as guest judges on Rupaul’s Drag Race.

  5. I don’t see why people find it so difficult to use a condom…are you that desperate for sex that you can’t think, so many complications could be avoided if you just stop and think.

    1. Well it takes one sicko to hide his HIV status from his partner,especially in a LTR. The blame is and should remain on him. Don’t forget you break the law everytime you have sex without telling someone you are HIV+.

      And rightfully so . I’m all for tolerance, acceptance and shit but if you’re gonna expose someone to a deadly disease they have a right to know in order to make an informed decision.

      It helps that 1/4 gay men, in some cities 1/3, is HIV+, so you won’t be bothered about having less opportunities to fuck.

      With those AND the bug chasers around, it’s safe to say that being honest won’t make you miss much .

      Hate on my post all you want :-D

        1. Admittedly, if you’re casually barebacking you’re kind of an idiot if you think you can avoid HIV. But in a relationship is it really such an onerous duty to say “I’m positive” or “I’m not sure” and use a condom? Plenty of guys will have sex with an HIV+ partner, but both people should be in the same page.

        2. Say what you like, people with HIV who lie about their status are the ones spreading the disease.
          They will sleep with you, tell you “oh it’s OK, I’m clean” blabla. So once the condom breaks (intentionnally, mind you), I ask if he has been tested recently. Keeps saying “I’m clean” blabla turns out the motherfucker was an ass snorting cocaine escort (I found out later) who was indeed HIV+ and intentionnally exposed me to it.
          Thankfully I took a month of preventive tritherapy afterwards and didn’t get anything.
          Since then I have low tolerance levels for bullshit, I sleep around a lot less, and yes I think it’s wrong if a person doesn’t declare her status prior to meeting.

          Get tested, take your meds and inform your partner.

          I have since slept with another HIV+ guy who was honest about it and it went fine.

          Sneaky motherfuckers on the other hand…Can’t stand them, sorry.

    2. If both are informed of the respective HIv status, I agree, but if one of them lies about it, then the fault is one-sided.

  6. Interesting. I remember hearing something about her having a gay uncle. I don’t watch that show but this is a new twist.. I still won’t watch since they won’t talk about it anyway

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