Poz: Definition and Understanding of the Term
Definition : In french gay jargon, when you hear "poz", "S+", or simply "positive", it means only one thing: the person is HIV positive.
- Keywords
- HIV positive, HIV, undetectable, barebackers
- Topics
- Sexual Health & Prevention, Sexual Roles and Archetypes
- Updated
What does the term Poz mean?
In french gay jargon, when you hear “poz”, “S+”, or simply “positive”, it means only one thing: the person is HIV positive. It’s a diminutive of “positive” in English, a word that has been adopted and reclaimed by the community to reappropriate the diagnosis.
Why is the word “positive” used for HIV?
It’s quite simple. When you take a screening test, the laboratory doesn’t look for the virus itself, but for the antibodies your body has produced to defend against it. If the test finds these antibodies, the result is “positive”. This doesn’t mean it’s “good news”, but simply that the expected chemical reaction has occurred. The test has “positively” identified what it was looking for.
Being “poz” therefore means having confirmation that HIV is part of your life.
How has the term Poz evolved?
Beyond the medical term, “poz” has become a way of talking about one’s condition without the weight and drama of the word “HIV positive”. It’s more direct, rawer, less clinical. For some, it’s even an affirmation. A way of saying: “Yes, I’m HIV positive, so what? I’m still here, I’m still having sex, I’m living.”
In ads or discussions, a guy who calls himself “poz” doesn’t hide. He lays his cards on the table. It’s information, not a sentence. With current treatments (triple therapy) and the concept of an undetectable viral load, being “poz” no longer means the same thing as it did 30 years ago. An undetectable “poz” guy no longer transmits the virus.
The word is a shortcut, a code. It says the essential so that the conversation, or action, can continue. It’s a word that has evolved, from a simple laboratory result to a marker of identity for many gay men. A word loaded with history, struggle, and today, a form of normalization.
What is the current status of the term Poz?
UPDATE: “poz” is very rare to encounter in profiles because it is now very restricted to the barebacking community. As with “plombe”, there is no consensus on whether these terms should also include undetectable people and that “undetectable poz” would be a nonsense. The test of an undetectable person shows less than 20 copies of the virus in the blood, just like for an HIV-negative person. So, wouldn’t the undetectable status be more compatible with HIV-negative people than with “poz” guys? The term will evolve like others.