Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
 |
The San Francisco Examiner - Friday, Sept. 26, 1997
Lisa M. Krieger, Examiner Medical Writer
"When the men begin hitting the bars this week, they'll discover that there's plenty of rubber to go around," said Steve Gibson of the Stop AIDS Project.
"Beginning this week, gay and bisexual men in San Francisco will have easier access to free condoms than ever before," he said.
With thousands of gay men expected to join the celebration of the raucous Folsom Street Fair this Sunday and the Castro Street Fair the following Sunday, activists are going door-to-door to distribute condoms to 67 gay bars, clubs and businesses.
Clubs like the End Up, the Leather Zone, and the Men's Room are each being given a container full of the popular Kimono "microthin" condoms, a product known for its sensitivity and defect-free track record.
The free condoms are paid for by a $150,000 grant from the San Francisco Health Department's AIDS Office, created at the urging of gay Supervisors Leslie Katz and Tom Ammiano.
Gay tourists from as far away as New York and London flood The City's bars, clubs, restaurants and stores in late September and early October for the two gay events, according to Robert Perez of the Stop AIDS Project.
In addition, the weekly Sunday dance party at Club Universe, called "Pleasuredome," is expected to draw 2,000 men in one night.
The festivities come on the heels of a disturbing new finding by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the number of gay men diagnosed with gonorrhea has increased in San Francisco and several other U.S. cities - raising concerns that HIV may also be on the rise.
Between 1994 to 1995, the number of gay men with gonorrhea in a sampled San Francisco clinic increased 24 percent, from 271 to 336, according to the CDC study.
The study linked rising gonorrhea rates with attendance at specific sex clubs and other places frequented by gay men in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.
Cases have also climbed in those cities, as well as Honolulu, San Diego, Denver and Long Beach.
This is a far cry from the rampant levels of sexually transmitted disease reported in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before safe sex practices became commonplace.
In 1980, a total of 5,100 cases of rectal gonorrhea were reported in San Francisco.
Gonorrhea infections are considered a sentinel of the spread of the HIV virus. The same unsafe sex practices that transmit gonorrhea also spread HIV.
Because rates of HIV are less easily monitored than rates of gonorrhea, because of confidentiality concerns, epidemiologists watch gonorrhea trends for evidence of a rebounding in the HIV epidemic.
In recent years, new HIV infections have plateaued. In 1996, San Francisco had roughly 500 new HIV infections, down from about 950 annually five years ago.
"(This study) suggests there is more unprotected sex," said Ammiano. "There is also a chain of causality - that the more STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) you get, the more vulnerable you are to HIV. That worries me."
San Francisco's Stop AIDS Project has been distributing condoms, on a limited basis, for three years. But the new "Condoms Now!" program seeks much wider distribution of condoms in bars and clubs catering to high-risk gays in the Castro, Polk, and South of Market neighborhoods.
In addition, The City distributes about 165,000 free condoms at health clinics, schools and needle exchange sites.
San Francisco's estimated dozen public commercial sex clubs are not included in the giveaway campaign because they already istribute condoms, as required by law.
The majority of gay men who engage in unsafe sex aren't deliberately choosing it as a "lifestyle decision," said Perez of the Stop AIDS Project. Rather, they revert to unsafe sex on rare, uninhibited occasions, often because they're lonely or using recreational drugs or alcohol.
970926
SE970910
Copyright © 1997 - San Francisco Examiner. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the San Francisco Examiner, Permissions Desk, 110 Fifth Street, P.O. Box 7260, San Franciso, CA 94120.
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, iMetrikus, Inc., John M. Lloyd Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1997. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 1997. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .