Would you be willing to put your face on a condom pack or poster promoting safe sex?

Four Canberra locals have proudly become the face of the AIDS Action Council’s latest safe sex campaign, I ♥ sex, l ♥ condoms, launched at SpringOut Fairday at Westlund House. If you went to any of the major events during SpringOut this year, chances are you would have seen this exciting safe sex campaign (also in FUSE08 and FUSE07.)

What’s unique about the campaign is that it is designed to remind the community that most gay men are using condoms most of the time.

Naturally it would be good if the use of condoms were higher and if rates of transmission were lower, but whenever the rates of HIV diagnoses go up, the gay community is often branded in the media as ‘complacent’, which is simply not true. The reality is that there is a culture of safe sex in the gay community. Using safe sex not only shows you care about your own health, but that of your partners as well.

Ever since the HIV epidemic broke out, it was the LGBT community that first started driving the safe sex culture and encouraged gay men to use condoms (I say LGBT deliberately because members from all across the community came together to respond to the crisis in the community).  It was the community’s own initiative that was the biggest factor in Australia’s successful HIV response, before government money or media campaigns and long before treatments. The safe sex culture has continued, as evidenced by the results of the Canberra Gay Community Periodic Survey each three years. Few people would use condoms if there was no risk of transmitting HIV or other sexually transmitted infections, but condoms should be a symbol of pride and fun sex.Pride in taking care of our own health and our partner’s, and fun sex because we can enjoy sex with condoms without stress and fear and with whoever we want without worrying about HIV status. If you love sex, then you can love condoms as well.

Lesbian and bisexual women are also part of the community and have been targeted in this campaign to put lesbian sexual health on the agenda. When the results of the Snapshot Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Health Survey is released shortly, the community will have a picture of current sexual behaviour in the community and can feed into discussion over women’s sexual health.

The new safe sex packs are available now from Westlund House and social venues.

www.aidsaction.org.au