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Well, this kid is 16 years old. Now, I don't know how much experience you have of growing up with non-normative sexuality, so I won't make any assumption about that, but one of the things that I often find in my experience is that one is very short of role models - if you like, of guides to acceptable behaviour.
So, this 16-year old may well have had very limited contact with other gay men in social situations. As such, it seems perfectly credible that he might not have any models for dealing with the information that a person is seropositive, except that which had just been modelled - that is, gossipy and bitchy. Possibly social education for gay teenagers is better in your neck of the woods. Certainly, a good telling-off would be entirely appropriate there.
But but... bringing a teenager to a club then, having provided no oversight on what kind of behaviour is acceptable, spitting in his face and telling him that he is disgusting for ... behaving precisely like the behavioural role-models that you've left him in the care of while off dancing is, I think, sending out pretty mixed signals.
Now, back ontopic, there's the question of regret. I tend not to think that regret is a very useful emotion, except insofar as it drives better behaviour in future. In this case, the useful thing to do is probably to consider what one might do a) with this situation and b) in future situations where learnings might be applied. The (a) there seems, if at all possible, to make the other part aware that this is _not_ how one ought to behave, and that this is acknowledged and regretted, and then to stay as far as possible away from the aforementioned. The (b) might be to consider, if one is invited to act as a tour guide again for the world of club kidding, the planned itinerary or, indeed, whether this cup should pass from one's lips entirely. |
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