Condom Cult - Page 2

With incidence of new HIV infections rising across the entire state of South Carolina, there is much cause for local concern.

CHAMPS Supervisor Mark W. Gray has witnessed the many ways that young gay men can be taken advantage of as well as the consequences of that. “A lot of guys new to the bar scene haven’t built up a level of confidence that allows them to negotiate condom use. They think, ‘this guy is really hot and if I start talking condoms, he’ll lose interest.’ So they put themselves at risk.”

Emotional and physical abuse exists in the gay and lesbian community just as in the world of straight relationships. The patterns of abuse can be similar, particularly in issues of control and jealousy within relationships, with the same sense of entitlement among abusers and the same feelings of helplessness among the abused.

Members of CHAMPS note that their message of safe sex is not always welcomed when they are recruiting in the bars. “Especially the guys into barebacking,” Bob says. “They see us as cutting into their pool of guys who won’t insist on a condom."

That’s the other name for the Mpowerment project that gets tossed around the bar: The Condom Cult.

Bob leaves the fun packs with them anyway and simply moves on to the next group of men at the bar. “There is a lot of work to be done still,” he says.

Continued on page 3

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