Campaign: Backgrounder

“Studies show that gay men fall into three groups: those who take HIV risks frequently, very rarely, and not at all. Three out of four gay men are in the latter two groups - they choose safety,” explains epidemiologist Dr. Tom Lampinen of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV “The really exciting news involves that second kind of guy, the one who takes HIV risks rarely. Real power and potential rests with him. If he can commit to no HIV risk for just one to two years, he will force a decline in new infections.”

The humorous “Gay Men Play Safe” campaign was created to validate and support gay men’s safer sex practices while reinforcing the fact that sexual safety, including condom use, is a community norm. AIDS Vancouver and partner AIDS organizations from across the country worked with Rethink Advertising to create a new kind of HIV message that challenges the widely held perception that gay men suffer from condom-use fatigue and apathy.

“It’s time we recognize gay men for more than 20 years of practicing safer sex and using condoms,” says Phillip Banks, Director of HIV Prevention at AIDS Vancouver and national coordinator of the campaign. “It’s undeniable that gay men’s efforts in the early days of HIV had the greatest impact on reducing HIV infection rates. This campaign validates these efforts and encourages gay men to keep it up.”

According to Dr. Terry Trussler, Research Director at the Community Based Research Centre in Vancouver: “Surveys show that gay men are aware and concerned about the continuing threat to health posed by HIV. This campaign doesn’t threaten or blame gay men. Rather, it acknowledges that as a community, gay men continue to support HIV prevention.”

“Gay Men Play Safe” is the second and final campaign as part of a $562,500 grant by the Public Health Agency of Canada to fund national HIV-prevention campaigns targeted at gay men – the first program of its kind in Canada. This is the second time Rethink Advertising has produced a campaign pro bono for AIDS Vancouver.

The bilingual campaign includes an Internet/TV commercial and websites at www.GayMenPlaySafe.com and www.NousJouonsSafe.com. It is being launched today in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax.