5PM: A bogus ‘press release' – demeaning gays and smearing the AIDS Foundation – is circulating, making fraudulent use of the NZAF's logo. The document states that local “gays and lesbians” are “welcoming” the Wellington City Council's decision to reopen a public toilet enabling sex onsite. “We are extremely concerned,” says Rachael Le Mesurier, Executive Director of the NZAF. “Not only because it perpetuates homophobic stereotypes about gay men, but because we feel it brings both NZAF and the Wellington City Council into disrepute by suggesting we encourage and advertise the use of public toilets for sexual activity.” The poorly laid out document, which includes numerous grammatical errors, arrived at the Wellington City Council last week. It is attributed to David McGuire, yet contains no contact details, which are standard with bona fide press releases. Council staff members were “immediately concerned about its authenticity,” and contacted the NZAF, said Council spokesperson David Venables. The document includes the NZAF logo, along with imagery from a current safe-sex campaign. The ‘press release' claims that after a two-year closure the Council is re-opening the Clifton Terrace car park toilets, adjacent to the Wellington Urban Motorway. The release quotes ‘Michael', a “local government employee” saying he was “devastated when the toilets were padlocked” and “thrilled” they are reopening. “I used to go down 2 or 3 times a week… There was always somebody new to meet for anonymous sex.” The document says the toilets were “a long standing favourite of the Wellington gay community – [and] were unexpectedly closed in 2004 in apparent [sic] anti-gay backlash.” The Council responded swiftly to enquiries, denying any truth in the claims made by the anonymous McGuire. “There are no immediate plans to re-open the toilets,” said Venables. He said they were closed due to substantial damage and concerns that the dated design of the amenities compromised public safety. The Council has since developed a new design for public toilets. The NZAF is working with the Wellington City Council to trace the perpetrator of the smear. The Foundation has dispatched a letter to the Council expressing its concerns “about the poor behaviour of someone trying to discredit us both.” “If it is a mere prank by someone bored than we hope they can remove their mind from the gutter and move onto something more rewarding,” said Le Mesurier. “However, if it is as we suspect from opponents of the gay community, who have been unsuccessful in countering our safe sex messages, it is a very poor reflection on the credibility of their arguments that they have now had to stoop to falsified smear campaigns and fraudulent use of our logos to try and discredit NZAF and take a swipe at the gay community in Wellington.” Ref: GayNZ.com (d)