SEPTEMBER 17, 1993 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 7
:
AIDS IN A 'SECOND-TIER' CITY
"We still get calls about basic contact risk. Landlords wanting to know what to do to an apartment where someone with AIDS has lived."
to get it to a social norm to practice safe sex," says France. From that survey resulted the "Myth/Fact" campaign, familiar to most Cleveland area gay men from fliers posted in bar restrooms. The "myths" cover a wide range of issues, from specifics, (there is a lot of misunderstanding about oral sex), to issues about relationships, ("We've been together a month. Do we need to practice safe sex?"). The print campaign has recently received a badly needed facelift, a necessary move to capture the eye and re-emphasize the message.
HIT counselors and volunteers also spread the word at bars and bathhouses. "Safer Sex Central" is a direct way to provide education, condoms and advice at bars and other public settings. A new strategy has been to target social leaders within the community for training brunches with HIT educators. These leaders might be bartenders, DJ's, drag personalities, "as many people as we can get to get community support for safe sex, peer support, to say 'we're looking out for our friends," she said.
Is the message getting through? A survey is being done right now to gauge current attitudes. Results of the survey will not be known for a year, says France.
Women, Hispanics and blacks all receive attention designed for their specific needs. Since many women discover that they are HIV-positive through secondary means (such as infected partners or having a baby), rather than direct testing, HIT developed the Secondary Prevention program. Women who want testing are given education and provided with a "sister" to accompany them to a testing site.
The needs of the Hispanic community are equally unique. The problem of language is obvious. Says France, "It's hard enough to work the system for a native English speaker. To a client who only speaks Spanish it's almost impossible." Because the family is central to Hispanic cultures, outreach to Latinos with HIV must also include educating the entire family.
HIT sponsors a speakers bureau of health professionals and members of the HIV community to provide information to groups throughout Cleveland. A newsletter is published quarterly to update Clevelanders about
HIT and to provide a medical update on current work. There are also plans to publish a less technical newsletter in Spanish and English for people with HIV, one that would be widely available as a health resource in hospitals, clinics and health centers.
HIT is also working hard at finding new clients, people who slip through the cracks. France is happy that lesbians are coming forth at bars where there's a Safer Sex Station, demanding, "Where's the stuff for us?" Inroads are being made into area prisons, and educators are providing HIV prevention materials to women on pre-release from county jails and workhouses.
When there is need for collaboration, HIT doesn't hesitate to link up. “We've each carved out a niche for ourselves. There's enough for everyone to do." Sometimes collaboration may involve SAMM, or maybe Project SAFE (Staying AIDS-Free through Education), a service and education provider aimed at the IV drug community. There's no worry any one group will seek to do it all. "We get so many requests, requests for people to do things we can't fill," France commented.
While there is certainly a public out there getting educated about AIDS and HIV, and targeted groups that need special help in order to avoid the staggering statistics predicted for them, can education be expected to provide all the answers? Not without the help of the larger community.
Says Chrisse France, "AIDS is a problem for the whole community. We have to get away from pigeonholing people. We have had an opportunity to see what works and what doesn't. What works in San Francisco may not work in Cleveland. We have to make it relevant to the entire community."
"We are all fighting this disease," says an emphatic Victoria Cargill. "There's a wealth of expertise here. We should draw upon it and not fear being tainted as 'AIDS people.' If we are prepared, we won't become another New York or Miami. To do so would be a failure of the system because there's been adequate warning."
Next issue will continue examining AIDS services in the Greater Cleveland area.
Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland Free anonymous HIV testing
Monday through Friday, 5:30-8 pm, 721-4010.
Stopping AIDS is My Mission (SAMM)
Volunteer line, 844-7266;
Outreach to schools and community groups, 881-7266.
Health Issues Taskforce (HIT),
Volunteer and Outreach services, 621-0766.
...With us the members of the North
Coast Men's Chorus (NCMC).
We're about to launch our exciting sixth season, and we're looking for new members to join us in song, brotherhood and a range of social activities. There's no audition required.
We sing everything from Bach to the Village People.
We were selected as the 1993 "Men's Group of the Year" by the Gay People's Chronicle.
INTERESTED? Join us at our first rehearsal of the season, Sunday, September 26 at
6:45 p.m. Location is Judson Manor, 1890
E. 107th St. Non-singers are welcome as well. For more information, call 473-8919.
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
NORTH COAST MEN'S CHORUS
CLEVELAND ▼ OHIO
Safer Sex Mythology Series 1:
Myth:
66
I'm always safe. I always make
him pull out before he cums.
Anal sex without a rubber is unsafe whether he cums or not. Men can leak semen before they actually cum. So use a rubber every time.
Fact:
Fire follows threats in Georgia
Willacoochee, Ga.-Authorities in this southern Georgia town are still investigating the cause of an August 28 fire that burned the house of a gay couple recently targeted by death threats and a cross-burning.
Tony Giddens, an investigator with the district attorney's office, said a preliminary inspection at the home of Roy Kirkland and Doug Sebastian seemed to point to a possible electrical fire. The state fire marshal's office is investigating.
Damage to the house was extensive, Giddens said. "It's totaled it out. What didn't get burned was heavily smoke-damaged," he said. Neither man was home when the fire occurred.
On July 21, someone burned a cross in the yard of the house, which is owned by Kirkland. The mailbox at the home has been
destroyed twice and the two men returned from a trip to Jacksonville, Fla. a week ago to find two death threats on their answering machine, Kirkland said.
The police officer responding to the crossburning incident was indifferent, said Sebastian, and made a racist comment about the men's neighbors. The men say they spoke about this, and the cross-burning itself, at a city council meeting. The resulting publicity led some in this South Georgia town of 1,200 to avoid them, and others to show support.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the cross-burning.
Kirkland said he helped build the house with his father, who willed it to him in 1991. Kirkland and Sebastian have lived there
since February.
HEALTH ISSUES TASKFORCE 2250 EUCLID AVE., CLEVELAND, OHIO 44115 (216) 621-0765
SAFER SEX MYTHOLOGY SERIES FUNDED BY AMFAR
WE GOT YOU
COVERED!