Originally published in Charleston City Paper October 13, 2004

The Condom Cult: CHAMPS spreads awareness and condoms

Jason A. Zwiker

It’s long after midnight and an angel of a young woman, dark brunette in a crisp white blouse, is taking a long, slow kiss from her girlfriend, who is straddled across her lap near the bar. Cigarette smoke dulls the already dim light above the bartender, the pool tables, and, further off, the karaoke singers. Two young Southern gentlemen, both tall and moving with a slow confidence that suggests either could have their pick of men in this place, break away from one another and migrate off to opposite ends of the bar. This is where Bob comes in.

With his sideburns, crumpled white dress shirt, blue jeans, and a Marlboro Menthol tucked behind his ear, Bob could pass for a very young James Dean. An adolescent James Dean, even, dusted with glitter and just a hint of mascara. He is older, he assures me, than he looks. Then he excuses himself, walks up to one of the two alpha males at the bar and begins to talk. Tonight, Bob is recruiting. As the outreach coordinator for the Charleston Area Mpowerment Project (CHAMPS), Bob will make certain that each person he speaks with tonight leaves with a clear understanding of what his organization hopes to provide within the gay community. He’ll also place in their hands a “fun-pack” sampler of condoms, lubricant, and safe-sex instructions.

“Mpowerment reaches across the lines that normally separate cliques within the clubs,” Bob tells me. Originally developed in California, the program focuses on gay men between the ages of 18 and 30, educating them on safer sex practices and empowering them through communication and negotiation skills training. The group mobilizes individuals to act as agents of change within their social networks.

“Mpowerment helps gay, bisexual, and questioning men come into a sense of who they are,” says Virginia King, prevention collaboration coordinator for Lowcountry AIDS Services. “The self-efficacy it builds helps them to say, ‘I’m not going to be taken advantage of’ in their relationships.”

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