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cal news
Disco-test
Youth lined up at The Rage on a recent night didn’t just come
to dance they came to get tested for HIV
,
T
by Patrick Collins
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Ed McMahon
mid a swirl o f high-energy dance mu­
sic, club lighting and video screens,
about 80 young men and women were
tested for HIV during the late-night
hours of Nov. 13 and early into the
next morning.
The event, dubbed The Party o f Life Show, was
sponsored by Cascade AIDS Project, Outside In
and The Rage Nightclub, a primarily underage
downtown dance club that attracts many queer
youth. Along with oral HIV testing, the evening
featured free admission, free condoms and live
performances.
Zachary Heusinkveld, 21, organized the event.
He says he got the idea from “testing parties”
where people soften the harsh edges of the experi­
ence by going in for an HIV test in groups.
From that starting point the idea germinated
into the concept of bringing the testing services to
A
subject isn’t such a taboo anymore. W e’re Figur­
ing out how sex is being adapted to our lives.”
John Brown, a 17-year-old from Lake O s­
wego, says he was a little nervous about being
tested in such a public environment.
“I ’m addicted to this place,” he says. “ I ’m here
every weekend, and I know most of the people
here. They are all going to see that I ’m getting
tested. But I think this experience will help
people— it will scare them. It scares me.”
Brown, who describes him self as 90 percent
safe, adds, “People say, ‘I can’t get that, because
I’m clean and good.’ People don’t see what can
happen. But if something happens to one of your
friends you might change your habits. I think
seeing people die would change a lot of people.”
Dawn Spellman coordinates C A P’S HIV coun­
seling and testing program. “The best part of this
is that the idea to do testing here came from
503-297-5250
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Videos help to keep nerves at bay as young people wait outside the makeshift HIV testing area above
The Rage Nightclub in Portland
those least likely to access them otherwise— in this
case, the under-21 crowd.
Heusinkveld, who has experienced Portland’s
street and youth cultures as both a homeless person
and a volunteer outreach worker for Outside In,
says he was impressed with the support his idea
received.
“There were a lot of people from the agencies
who offered to volunteer for this event,” he tellsiust
Out. “ It shows they care about w hat’s going on.”
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someone w ho’s part of the youth population w e’re
trying to reach,” she says. “And he has much more
awareness of these issues than any of us at the
agencies.”
Spellman also admits she doesn’t have any
catch-all answers about how to best reach the
youth population.
“Older people have seen AIDS in a very direct
way. For young people it’s always been a part o f
their lives, and I d on’t think it’s as scary for them
“I think we're breaking through some of the repression of earlier
generations when it comes to our ability to talk about issues
around safer sex and AIDS. The subject isn ’t such a taboo any­
more. We 're figuring out how sex is being adapted to our lives."
— Z a c h a r y H e u s in k v e ld
The large turnout, he adds, offers a glim m er of
hope when it com es to understanding the way that
many young people perceive HIV/AIDS.
“The idea that sex can kill you has gotten
through,” Heusinkveld says. “ I think we ’re break­
ing through some o f the repression o f earlier
generations w hen it com es to our ability to talk
about issues around safer sex and AIDS. The
because they’re used to it,” she says. “Also, since
AIDS doesn’t happen overnight after infection,
it’s less immediate. And the protease inhibitors
are pacifying people even more. People seem to
be taking more chances than before.”
Both Spellman and Heusinkveld, meanwhile,
say they hope to see similar testing events in the
near future.