Condom Cult - Page 3

“Telling people not to have sex doesn’t work,” Gray adds. “But if you can get them to use a condom, you can reduce their chances of infection.”A number of barriers – political, economic, and social – remain as hurdles for the group to overcome.

“The Internet is huge right now,” he continues. “There are so many men out there looking to hook up immediately. You need to recognize that if you want to stop these things from spreading.” In addition to HIV, the incidence of other sexually transmitted diseases, including syphilis and gonorrhea, is also on the rise.

“Part of it is ‘AIDS Apathy’,” Gray suggests. He pulls out a stack of magazines directed toward the gay community and points to advertisements for HIV/AIDS medications featuring healthy, handsome men. “People need to realize that these are paid models. A lot of the young guys out there don’t want to hear the reality of HIV or AIDS. They look at pictures like these and figure that it must not be that bad of a problem. Older gay men remember the images of end-stage AIDS, what it looks like to see someone you love dying."

But scare tactics, he is quick to add, are not going to work. To bring people in, the group must contribute to what the demographic they are targeting sees as more immediate needs; socializing, the need to connect with others, to meet people and have fun.

One of the specific issues that Mpowerment addresses in the Southeast is the sense of isolation that gay men can feel within communities that are not necessarily open to them. “Even in the [gay] bars,” Bob says,” you find different groups that see each other every night but never talk.” Breaking down those barriers facilitates communication and helps the men of the group build a healthy, responsive community.

Continued on page 4

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