Acons lack of action at the looming pandemic of HIV infection in Sydney

[streetsurfer]

This is a letter I have sent to the Aids council of new south wales. If anyone else feels in a similar way I urge you to email [email protected] and voice your concerns. I feel this post is appropriate here as much of HIV transmition has been associated with Crystal meth and the gay community are big drug consumers as a population. Cheers


I am writing to express my distress, anger and dismay at Acon's efforts (or lack there of) in protecting the welfare of gay men in Sydney. Especially the young.

Why are you not actively out there campaigning on Flinders Street outside of ARQ nightclub and bodyline sauna (a sex on premises venue) on Friday and Saturday nights??

This is where most young gay guys meet and many have sex, this is the common point that is associated with much of the infection in Sydney regardless of whether the sex happens there or not as many meet and go home from there.


These venues, especially Arq are negligent in their duty of care to their clientele by not providing adequate education on safe sexual practices.

Consider the 18yo, newly on the scene, new to drugs, unaware that their is many many HIV infected guys have no qualms about infecting others, and will lie about their status and readily agree to unprotected sex or even propose or initiate it.

How many 18yo's would know to beware of guys who remove the condom during sex?

Acon should be far more proactive in reaching this population. It should be using innovative marking methods, having people out on the street on Friday and Saturday nights, Laser footpath messages, moveable billboards, 6ft 5 Trannies screaming it from the Park in tayler square.

I am a nurse, not a marketing expert yet I can come up with these ideas as I type, what the hell is Acon doing??



In the 2 years I spent on the scene which was almost every weekend I am sad to say, the only safe sex messages I saw, were scummy torn graphitized posters on the back of toilet doors in Arq, a few in the chill out areas of bodyline, and a messed up pile of pamphlets among various other ones in Stonewall hotel with a crappy wicker basket full of condoms and lube. (Not even that at Arq). What about bar mats with the message, pool cues with it written on it...? What about bodyline?? How about safe sex messages totally covering the backs of doors in the booths? Painted on the mattress’s

All these ideas I come up with right now.

I realise these business's are not obligated to do more than the little they have but a name and shame campaign would I belive, result in interventions like these being implimented rather rapidly.


I put it to you that Acon is a government body dedicated to the social control of gay people, not to advocate as you purport to.

A very public demonstration of my view is the full page advertisements supporting the Red Cross ban on sexually active gay men donating blood you ran reciently (a grossly discriminatory practice with no justification).



Also I remember not long ago Acon complaining it had no responses for a drive for volunteers yet I volunteered, as a qualified nurse with a vast amount of experience in drug and alcohol harm minimization and received no reply. Nothing.



Some questions I would like answered are:

Does acon make public its commercial "sponsership" from these businesses, and the amounts it receives?

Does acon receive instructions to not pursue these types of interventions from government sources outside of the department? I would imagine alot of tax revenue comes from these business's and with it, a certain ammount of influence over governenment decisions and policy.

Why are you not seeking sponsership from the pharmacetical industry that makes many millions of dollers from antiretrovirals, the majority of which are consumed by gay men?

I am dumbfounded at Acon’s negligence in protecting our welfare; I look forward to your response to my concerns.



Regards



xx

 

[mike0]

although i agree HIV is a ever rowing and very serious problem - why should these clubs/venues have to canvas their establishment? Gay men should as well as the hetro community the importance of safe sex. HIV in the hetro community is ever increasing also - it's not a problem only in the gay community - why not get them to implement some form of education at school or elsewhere...not just ont he street which would fall on deaf ears i believe

 

[hoptis]

While it is generally acknowledged that the widespread use of crystal meth in the gay scene has contributed to more people practising unsafe sex, this post is not really about drugs at all.

Also, if I were to keep it here I'd have to remove all venue names which would make the post fairly meaningless.

Sending over to Aus Social

 

[preacha]

I am writing to express my distress, anger and dismay at Acon's efforts (or lack there of) in protecting the welfare of gay men in Sydney. Especially the young.

yes, because even though homosexuals and heterosexuals are completely equal, we still need a government body to tell us that buggery without protection is a no no.

do you really expect anyone to take you seriously with this post?

 

[Chaos Butterfly]

^^

Preacha, mate, srsly.

Unfortunately, this is about as serious as it comes.

Drugs in the gay scene, and older, more experienced men who 'prey' on the new fresh meat on the scene and don't care about infecting people, are a huge issue.

ACON does a lot of good work, but it could definitely do more.

Although the increase in infections is continuing in both the straight and gay communities, to the best of my knowledge it is still more widespread in the gay community, and gay venues, be they pubs, clubs or sex on premises venues, need to address this issue more forthrightly.

So I think that there is quite a lot of seriousness associated with this thread.

CB.

 

[McWigga]

+ 1 to mike0.

I'm really not sure if it's up to gay clubs to educate patrons. I mean, straight clubs don't warn people about unwanted pregnancy. I'm not really familiar with how much ACON does, but I'm sure they wouldn't exactly have a blase attitude towards the situation and would do what they could with the funding they have.
I grew up going to ARQ and being on "the scene" when i moved to Sydney for years and I would never think it was up to anyone but myself to know how to be safe, or blame any group for not educating me. Why should it be someone else's responsibilty? Just my opinion.

 

[streetsurfer]

What makes these business's different from a hetrosexual establishment and therefore responsible for gay mens health:

(1) We are a small community, Arq is THE nightclub, the midnight shift comes a distant second. It is where the hardcore drug users go to dance as opposed to the drinking crowd at stonewall. It is where we go to socialise, to dance, to get high. We extend our patronage and the (obsenely high conver charges) to this venue week after month after year. They are a part of our community and they are bound by law to have a duty of care towards their clientelle. Violence is a problem at some clubs, the first kick that gets the ball rolling in a hiv infection starts at these clubs which brings me to my next point

(2) The corner of flinders street, and taylor ave, is THE GEOGRAPICAL EPICENTRE FOR THE MAJORITY OF NEW INFECTIONS IN NSW. Arq, Bodyline, Manacle.

50. square. meters.

(3) There are preditry, evil fucking guys out there. Girls are brought up to beware of men like this, but guys arn't. An 18yo new to the scene from the western suburbs see's it all as happy lovely people.... I know I did.

Rapes and sexual assults happen, frequently.
I am sorry to say this but we are men, just like stright guys. We will lie, manipulate and coerse to get what we want. This may not be us day to day, but add a drug like crystal meth into the mix, and being up for 2 or 3 days dancing like an idiot and its not lovey, its not about connecting or bonding. Its all about you and getting what you want.
I was like this, and , if I went back to the drug, and the scene I would be again. I can admit it, most can't.

(4) Acon, with its vast ammount of resources at its disposal could PAY these clubs to advertise, much as bacardi do (plenty of room for those posters)


What I am probably not doing a good job in getting accross, is that there are all these young naive volenarble guys out there. Their decision making is impared by drugs they are new to and they have not been properly educated about hiv and certainly don't remember the grim reaper campaigns that I do when I was young and are exposed to a culture where barebacking (unprotected sex) is trendy.


In an area of 50 square meters. That is where it all starts.

And this is where we can stop it for fucks sake!!!

There is a tragjity unfolding and nothing is being done and it makes me want to fucking fall apart.
There is so much mental illness, alianation, explotation and self destruction from drugs and nothing is being done about it.

I fucking hate being gay sometimes, we are so spineless shallow as a whole and we don't give a fuck about anyone or anything but ourselves our popularity and our looks and what we do give a fuck about we are too gutless to fight for.
.
So many gay mens world begins and ends and the boundrys of darlinghurst and Surry hills.
We live in a ghetto and we have a ghetto mentality.

And you know what? Just like Aboriginals you could argue that we are too far gone to help ourselves and we need to be helped and as a part of society as a whole, do we not deserve it?
Would aboriginals be better off if someone took over and made changes on their behalf, like a neostolengeneration without stealing the kids... Fuck yes, in the short term untill they are empowered enough to get shit together, fuck yes.
We are fucked we need help


I would like to have cleaned this up before I posted it but I am just too worked up about it, as I was when I sent acon that letter (BTW they have replied and offered to meet with me)
L8r

 

[McWigga]

What I am probably not doing a good job in getting accross, is that there are all these young naive volenarble guys out there. Their decision making is impared by drugs they are new to and they have not been properly educated about hiv and certainly don't remember the grim reaper campaigns that I do when I was young and are exposed to a culture where barebacking (unprotected sex) is trendy.

I was one of those guys, exactly as you described. I was fresh up from Canberra and never been to a gay anything. Everyone at clubs seemed so fun and nice and what have you. After reading your post I guess more could be done to alert young guys to the bad stuff, but I still can't help feeling the bulk of the responsibilty rests on the individual.

Really can't back you up on these points either:

"we are too far gone to help ourselves and we need to be helped"

"Our world begins and ends and the boundrys of darlinghurst and Surry hills.
We live in a ghetto and we have a ghetto mentality."

"we are such a spineless shallow vapid population as a whole and we don't give a fuck about anyone or anything but ourselves our popularity and our looks and what we do give a fuck about we are too gutless to fight for"

I know it's just generalisation, but I'm not in agreeance. But you believe in the cause so keep at it and hopefully you'll see the change you're working towards. All the best with it

 

[THR!]

yes, because even though homosexuals and heterosexuals are completely equal, we still need a government body to tell us that buggery without protection is a no no.

do you really expect anyone to take you seriously with this post?

Yes. It is a huge problem and obviously a lot larger than what you realise.

Preacha aside, I agree with your sentiment. I totally agree with you that it is an issue that needs greater publicity and action (particularly from the federal/state government). I myself wasn't aware how serious the problem was until quite a while after I moved here when someone I knew shared their secret that they were +. I was naive at that point but didn't do anything to put myself in danger.

I don't necessarily think it's the responsibility of Arq or any other establishment to mother somebody. It wouldn't be effective, they're never going to do it so there is no point in trying, and the problem doesn't stem from anything they are doing - they are simply providing a venue.

ACON provide a really useful function in the community. Remember that many people within the organisation are just volunteers. They don't have a huge amount of funding. If you want to point the finger at anyone, it's the federal government that deserves it, because it is they who are really in the position to coordinate efforts against the problem.

Finally, ostracising people doesn't help - protesting outside these venues would only do that. The purpose is education and there really isn't enough of that going on. It's still such a taboo subject and one that's not given enough attention - people pretend it's not there. And it's a quarter of a century old now for gods sake 8)

Sorry for the jumpiness of my response, I haven't had time to clean it up. But I'm interested in discussing this one further.

 

[doofqueen]

I think it's interesting that there isn't many std's and so forth pased on between girl on girl contact but still speaking of safe gay sex here is a website (just to add to the safe sex side of the discussion)

http://www.girl2girl.info/intro.html

 

[streetsurfer]

http://lifeormeth.com/

 

[IXinX]

Even though I would not attend at a place like this, I find it disturbing that I can walk outside from where I am now in one direction in ten minutes and have what sounds like an aids infested pit.

But since I haven't even walked through surry hills yet, I wouldnt avoid it just because of one persons flame.
Maybe you have more than enough reason to feel the way you do streetsurfer and I certainly agreed with some bits of your opening letter to the organisation in question (even though your grammatical skillz are not that great 8) ) there needs to be more substantiation of what you say.

Wasn't there similar epidemics to this in places like Miami which became notorious for barebacking butt orgies on ice? Search bluelight, I read about it on here, think someone was doing a term assignment on it or writing a paper... can't remember exactly.

How was it dealt with there? I urge you to search out more information yourself to help substantiate what you claim now (being an AIDS/ICE/Gay-linked epidemic

 

[THR!]

^^ It's certainly not like something out of Silent Hill - there aren't aids zombies walking around everywhere. But it is an issue.

 

[streetsurfer]

CRYSTAL DEBATE HEATS UP by Ian Gould


The crystal meth debate has again turned confrontational, with activists accusing ACON of an inadequate crystal strategy and the health organisation insisting its response meets community needs.

Activists ratcheted up the argument this week by using the Star’s website bulletin board to strongly criticise ACON’s approach to crystal meth.

With recent National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre figures showing crystal meth use and related psychosis are on the rise, the activists urged ACON to investigate new education options.

Shayne Chester, a former crystal meth addict and author of several of the bulletin board comments, said ACON should consider a campaign that graphically depicted the drug’s effects, similar to those seen in the United States.

“I think people in this community at least deserve education and to understand what crystal will do to them,” Chester told the Star.

ACON president Adrian Lovney strongly rejected the claims, saying a graphic crystal campaign would alienate users.

“I accept that there are some criticisms. Whether those criticisms have come from a broad range of people or just one or two people, I’m not sure,” Lovney told the Star.

He said ACON had a wide-ranging response to crystal meth, including circulating an information booklet, running community forums and counselling.

“We have done some work but we absolutely want to do more,” Lovney said.

“We can’t make money appear from nowhere. There needs to be a funded response and we need to be able to get access to funding to do more.”

In the last financial year, ACON spent about $90,000 on crystal meth-related education, including resource production and campaigns. It also spent about $150,000 on services such as counselling for people with specific drug- and alcohol-related issues, including crystal meth.

Lovney said he had offered to meet with some of the authors of the website bulletin postings, but none had taken up his invitation.

This week’s debate also focused on the distinction between harm minimisation and abstinence, with several activists preferring the latter.

Lovney said ACON supported both – and the two could work together.

This is the "offer to meet" people that I recieved today. Sounds welcoming doesn't it

Dear Mr xxx,

We received your e-mail raising the issue of HIV education in and around a number of Sydney venues among other issues. Thank you for your input.

We would like to invite you to a meeting with myself, Brad Gay, (Education Manager) and Nick Corrigan (Director of Community Health) to further discuss these issues.

My contact details are below. Should you wish to discuss your concerns further I encourage you to e-mail or call me and we can make a time to meet face to face.

Regards
Brad Gray
Education Manager, ACON

Direct: (02) 9206 2082 | Mobile: 0418 679 089 | Switch: (02) 9206 2000 | Fax: (02) 9206 2069 | PO Box 350 Darlinghurst NSW 1300 |
9 Commonwealth St Surry Hills NSW 2010 | www.acon.org.au | www.whytest.org | http://avp.acon.org.au | http://ssdv.acon.org.au

 

[THR!]

lol, he misspelt his name as "Brad Gay". Anyway, are you being sarcastic about the "welcoming" bit? It sounds like an appropriate response to me.

 

[streetsurfer]

^^ Your kidding?

Brad Gay,pffft lol (Education Manager) and Nick Corrigan (Director of Community Health) ... you get a picture of sitting in front of 2 guys in suits as they throw statistics at you. It says put up, or shut up.
Well, I agreed to meet them, asked for a propper interview on acons position and asked to bring my journalist friend and even offered to send the questions in advance.

 

[psychetool]

^^^
You sound like an ass complaining to them, and then when they give you an audience you already have negative thoughts towards the whole situation instead of looking at how you could do some good. Why don't you get out there and start your own gay-education organization if you are so adament about it and get off these guys figurative dicks. You have a chance to do something good here, don't fuck it up or write it off as something you can't accomplish. You do that and you're fucked before you even step in the door. If they didn't care they wouldn't waste their time responding or letting you interview them and share ideas.

 

[EntrenchdMentalist]

It says put up, or shut up.

Of course it does, and you absolutely should. Complaining is easy, activism is hard. I hope you do, it sounds like a real shame waiting to happen that could be avoided. They've given you exactly what you want, a chance to collaborate in fixing the problem. Accept that for what it is and I think you might just save some lives, but I think going in there with a hostile/negative attitude will be detrimental to your cause.

Good luck

 

[THR!]

Nothing in their response suggested they were anything but interested in meetng with you to discuss your thoughts. You obviously have some pretty strong negative preconceptions about ACON, for whatever reason, but your own personal bias is hardly conducive to a productive meeting - how about you actually try and discuss the issue rather than just create noise?

 

[Innocuous]

Put that blame stick down kiddo, we get enough of that crazy arse shit from straight people without getting in on it ourselves. Put up or shut up? Not quite, maybe something alonge the lines of: Get your arse into making that change, or tell someone else who will.

Voluntary organizations are what we make of them. I don't think blaming or getting arsey at ACON is going to achieve shit. Criticism, suggestions and getting involved in it yourself on the other hand, brilliant.

Maybe you should focus on what needs to change and what you can do to change it?

That is after all how we got as far as we have.

Edit: I refer not to your letter, which was fabulous, but your rather childish and unhelpful comments on their reply.

ACON does seem far less relevant then it once was, and that has to change, but it can only change if we, the younger crew, get in and change it. Getting all whining and 'down with the man' is utterly unproductive.