I’ve always been a stickler for language & as I’ve seen several threads on the topic lately across the boards (not to mention the many private discussions w potential partners through the years)—

Can we please stop using the word “clean” to refer to negative STI tests?! Clean is a judgement - not to mention inaccurate as it implies 100% without STI and the truth is that it is actually impossible to know. No one chooses to have an STI and if you happen to get one, it says nothing about cleanliness as one can do everything right (testing, visual checks, condoms, talk about history) and still end up with an STI that no one knew about. You can transmit the skin viruses (hsv & hpv) without having any active symptoms and most routine STI screenings don’t cover them unless specifically requested &/or symptoms are present.

You never know your potential partners’ history and one of you may have an sti and not know it, so saying one is not ‘clean’ just makes people feel bad and gives a false sense of security to everyone.

Of course, if you disagree with me, please feel free to discuss but I can’t tell you how many times I have to explain this concept to people.