Deeply closeted men living in isolation from any identifiable gay community are partly fuelling the surge in new HIV infections in the South Island, says NZAF gay men's health manager Kerry Price. The statement comes as part of a provocative poster and billboard campaign in Christchurch and Dunedin featuring nude men and “back to basics” condom messages, launched yesterday for World AIDS Day. An earlier NZAF survey revealed that men who were isolated or too scared to come out and identify as gay were highly likely to practice unsafe sex, and it was difficult to reach these men with support and safe sex education. "It's a particularly strong view in men in rural communities that HIV isn't an issue for them but some of these new infections are among men in rural communities,” says Mr Price.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 2nd December 2003 - 12:00pm