Date: Mon, 2 Oct 1995 17:33:31 -0400 From: LesbigayRC@aol.com LESBIGAY RADIO CHICAGO 1246 West Pratt Boulevard, Penthouse Chicago, IL 60626 Great Gay Sex hits the Airwaves! Unique private-public partnership creates a fun, explicit radio education program to help gay & bisexual Men develop the tools they need to have safe= r sex For Immediate Release Wednesday, September 27, 1995 Contact: Alan Amberg Lesbigay Radio Chicago 312/973-3999 [Chicago]=BE Studies show that cases of gay and bisexual men slipping back = into unsafe sex are on the increasing, as are cases of new HIV-infection. Thank= s to a private foundation grant and the combined efforts of two non-profit organizations, a government agency and three private corporations, Great Se= x! with Dr. West begins an initial four-month run on September 17th. =20 I have always felt my place in the AIDS epidemic was to talk with men about how not to catch HIV, says Alan Amberg, co-host of Lesbigay Radio and creator of Great Sex. Since I had a lover for four years who had AIDS and I=92m still negative, I=92m living proof that safer sex works. =20 Amberg applied for and received an initial grant from an anonymous foundati= on in May to do safer sex education. Part of the condition of the grant, not= es Amberg, was to have a team of professional HIV educators help develop and target the messages. =20 When an initial meeting was held with educators from the Cook County Department of Health (Suburban Cook), Stop AIDS (City of Chicago) and Bette= r Existence with HIV (Chicago, Evanston, North Shore), there was immediate concurrence that a program which was authoritarian and AIDS-oriented would not work. =20 A recent study by the Cook County Department of Health surveyed suburban ga= y men and revealed that though many gay men had some information about safer sex and HIV, many had skewed ideas about how it applied to them. Across the country studies show that it isn=92t so much whether men know ho= w to put on a condom, but rather if they feel good enough about themselves to as= k for it, says Doug Mitchell of Better Existence with HIV. As Jim Stolz of Stop AIDS points out, Very often, unsafe behavior happens n= ot just in public sex environments like baths, but between two guys who have m= et at last call at a bar after three drinks or between two people in a new relationship who are in love and want to prove it. So we are going to try t= o help men in any environment have information and strategies to ask for what they need. It was decided that a broader based program, helping men recognize the different dimensions of sex and relationships featuring a actor protraying = a guest sexpert would be a better way to carry the message. According to Cook County=92s Timothy Pilcher, We decided that the best way to promote healthy= sex would be with a broad-based program that helped men recognize the different dimensions of sex and relationships. Using a fictional guest character who interviews real sex-experts is the best way to carry that message. By listening to the feature, men will learn ways they can become better, hotte= r lovers. And since most men recognize that sex is much hotter when it is worry-free, the goal is to focus on sex that has little risk of transmittin= g HIV. =20 Combining the resources of Lesbigay Radio and the educational agencies, ad agency MSAN and private sponsors signed on to the program. Cupid=92s Treasures, an adult toy and erotic clothing store on Halsted Street is one of the underwriters of the series. Gay customers of the store will be referred to safer sex workshops at the agencies. Additionally, Cupid=92s w= ill provide Safer Sex Starter Kits for workshops at Stop AIDS and Better Existence with HIV. =20 The Unicorn Club, a private gay men=92s baths on Halsted Street also provid= ed major support. We see our facility as a safe way for men to meet, explore their sexuality and have fun, not to infect each other, says manager Brian Short. While our club is plastered with safer sex information and voluntee= r educators are here four nights per week, the radio provides us with a broad= er way to prepare people before they are in charged situation.=20 Finally, as part of Cook County=92s Suburban Health Outreach Program, a liv= e interactive workshop is planned for Hunter=92s Dance Club in Elk Grove Vill= age in October. Hunter=92s has graciously donated their space and financial support to advertise the program among suburban gays, says Lesbigay=92s Amb= erg. =20 FORMAT AND CONTENT Chicago gay cabaret luminary Honey West will serve as resident sexpert, interviewing guests on a variety of topics including 101 Lines to Tell Guys to Pick Up or Pack Up, The Second Date Syndrome=B8 Massage, Leather & Kink= =B8 Sex Over 40, etc. At all times, a professional HIV educator will be onhand to handle any difficult questions. Listeners will be invited to call in with questions. What makes this program exciting, says Stop AIDS=92 Stolz, is that we are drawing questions and concerns from gay men in workshops. The issues and questions that Honey and her guests will be tackling are the real heartfelt concerns gay and bisexual men face in trying to develop healthy and safe sexuality. Erotic commercials designed to draw attention to the series of features and alert men to workshops where they can learn more debuted on September 17th and are based on writing by Stop AIDS participants. These will run on the off-weeks between Great Sex! segments. The writing and jingle for Great Sex! are being created by Better Existence with HIV volunteers.=20 Eventually Amberg plans to involve more educational organizations and to develop a parallel program for women=92s health and sexuality. We are thril= led to take the real needs of gay and bisexual men to push HIV education to the next level. Since American men in general don=92t get much help developing their sexuality (witness the growth of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease among heterosexuals), we=92re glad to be the first of t= he Chicago broadcast media to tackle this issue in an ongoing way, concludes Amberg. # # #