Taking A Risk For safer Sex
Taking a risk for safer sex
First there were the calendar girls to, umm, expose themselves for a good cause. Then the French rugby team exposed more, much more in fact, in the gorgeous and deliciously homoerotic Dieux du Stade calendars, books and DVDs.
And now the guys of Cape Town, irrespective of their sexual orientation, have taken a risk for safer sex and posed naked for a photographic exhibition to increase awareness of responsible sex among Cape Town’s gay community.
The exhibition consisted of 60 framed black and white photographs and was entitled Taking A Risk For Safer Sex. The newly-opened Adam & Eve Lounge Bar in De Waterkant hosted the rather controversial exhibition that coincided with the International Aids Society (IAS) conference that recently took place in the city.
At the official launch, internationally renowned expert on gay men’s health Professor Ken Mayer of Brown University addressed guests and this was followed by an auction of a selected number of photographs. Ian McMahon and Blaine Shapiro-Dodds acted as auctioneers and all proceeds went towards the ongoing promotion of safer sex.
The exhibition was initiated and convened by Health4Men, a non-profit organisation that provides free sexual healthcare to men. Health4Men is a partnership between Anova Health Institute, PHRU, the Western Cape Department of Health and HIVSA. Free sexual health services, including access to ARV treatment, are provided at Health4Men’s clinic, the Ivan Toms Centre for Men’s Health based in Woodstock. Both Health4Men and PlayNice, the project’s HIV preventive campaign, had successful display kiosks at the IAS Conference.
Glenn de Swardt, project co-leader of Health4Men and PlayNice and the coordinator of the Taking A Risk For Safer Sex exhibition said: “The response to the campaign has been very positive and very enthusiastic with over fifty guys volunteering to be photographed.
“The concept of the campaign emerged from our knowledge that countless guys in Cape Town are taking sexual risks on an unprecedented level; for many, unsafe sex is the norm. Countless men are prepared to risk their health by exposing themselves to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and yet they’re not prepared to expose their bodies in public, so we invited guys to take a risk on another level and show more flesh than they ordinarily would – in order to raise consciousness around these risks.
“The exhibition also focused on our narcissistic obsession with bodiliness and various concepts of physical attraction and reflected the ‘beauty’ in all men. It challenged our issues of denial and the ‘secrecy’ of our sexuality, while also celebrating our rich individuality.
“I salute everyone who participated in this campaign to promote responsible sex awareness by making a public statement. The response has been inspiring and it will certainly become an annual event for the PlayNice campaign. I’m hopeful that, with time, it will develop into an inspiring coffee-table book of photography of Cape Town men. We may even see a DVD develop from this because the behind-the-story scenes tell an equally rich story.”
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