Take it From Dr. Mitch

enlarge photo >>

I walk into the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare clinic at 2 p.m. on a sultry April afternoon. I pass a few nondescript storefronts that look as if no one is home to get to the clinic that serves the straight porn industry (and civilians too). A red-tailed Amazon parrot is drooping in his cage, lazily cracking seeds. The walls are littered with posters and pamphlets; a long glass case against one wall displays various kinds of lube, posters, and T-shirts. A plastic water jug “for donations” sits on the counter, a few dollar bills scattered on the bottom.

It’s busy today; three people are in line ahead of me. I stand behind a statuesque girl dressed in white. “I’m not here for a test,” I say when I get to the receptionist. “I have an appointment with Dr. Mitch.”

That’s former porn star Sharon Mitchell’s pet name at AIM, which she started in 1998 in response to an industry AIDS scare: An actor was using a fake negative test and, as a result, infected six people. Something had to be done, and Mitchell stepped up to the plate, armed with a phlebotomy certificate and the kind of street-smart good sense that comes only from experience.

Dr. Mitch (she has a doctorate in human sexuality) barrels out of the office and into the waiting room. I approach her; rather than shake my hand, she pulls me in for a hug. Her grip is surprisingly strong for a petite woman. She smiles at me, emerald eyes conveying welcome. “Can you just wait a few minutes, honey?” she asks. “I’ll be right back.” She spins on her heel and dashes inside one of the lab rooms, a specimen jar in one hand, a young man trailing her.

I’m here because I’ve known about the PCR DNA test for some time now, which can detect HIV in the DNA a mere two weeks after exposure, the results of which AIM furnishes for you the next day. My friends and I have been coming to this clinic for years; gay and straight, we realize that a two-week window is much more helpful than the six-month window offered by the ELISA test for HIV. What I did not realize until recently was that not many in the gay community know anything about the test—and that the gay community and the straight porn industry have a lot in common: Both have been maligned, judged, and the target of much right-wing vitriol, but have managed despite this to educate and support each other—and both have a lot of sex. However, when it comes to managing STDs, especially HIV, it must be noted that the straight porn industry has a clear edge over the gay community. And that has everything to do with Mitchell.

Mitchell is every gay man’s dream: a foul-mouthed, sexy woman with one helluva past, who shoots straight from the hip. She drops phrases like “double anal” and “cock sucking” as if they are the most nonchalant of utterances, and can rattle off facts and figures on sexual health with the most seasoned of educators. Below is a transcript from our chat about how the PCR DNA test could help the gay community, public-health programs that work, and how duct tape can prevent the spread of genital warts.