Whatever Suits You

You’re right—condoms do not protect you from everything 100% of the time. They are absolutely a good start, but not guaranteed, as some sexually transmitted infections (STIs)—like herpes—are not necessarily confined to the genitals and passed by skin-to-skin contact.

Fetishizing latex a bit is a good idea—and it’s kind of fun that you’ve stumbled upon something that you like. I’ve never seen a latex suit (the image from the sex scene in film Naked Gun 33 1/3 keeps coming to mind) but I’m sure they’re available somewhere, and if you’re into it, well then, go for it. No matter how into it you are, though, it’s still a different experience than actually curling up skin-to-skin with someone else.

So how do you keep yourself safe? I can think of three things:

Give up sex completely—or, at least, give up sex where you come into contact with someone else. You already said this isn’t really an option for you, which, hey, I can get that— it isn’t for me either. But it probably is the only thing that is 100% safe.
Have only safe(r) sex, using gloves, dams, condoms, or perhaps a full-latex suit. This isn’t quite as guaranteed to protect you, since there are still things that pass orally and by the skin. But it’s much better than nothing, and you kind of like the plastic anyway: Win!
Communicate extensively with your sex partners. Get to know them before you sleep with them. Find out how trustworthy they are so that when they tell you a) how many people they’ve slept with, b) whether or not they practice safer sex, c) when they were last tested, and d) what their results were, you’ll know more about how reliable that information is.

Also, keep educating yourself about the processes around sexually transmitted infections—for example, when you say, “test me for all the diseases,” your doctor may still leave some tests out, and some infections take many months to manifest any sort of symptoms. You have to know what to ask to be tested for, follow up, get informed, do your research.

Remember too that an STI is not the end of the world—or your sex life. They are, unfortunately, extremely common, and it is still possible to have an active, safe sex life. Check www.scarleteen.com for much more information about STIs—it’s a site geared toward teens, but that just means the information is plain and accessible.