Just out., April 21, 2000, Page 27, Image 27

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Says Dave Christensen, a community health
nurse and Gay Life member: “Gay men are
sophisticated consumers who need up-to-date
transmission and prevention information to
assist them in making informed decisions about
health.”
And sometimes it may take Rimmo the
Clown to transmit that informa­
tion.
According to Gay Life, Port­
land State University’s Grand
Ballroom will he transformed into
a three-ring circus “to provide gay-
hi men an opportunity to have some
laughs and learn the secrets to a
healthy butthole.”
Men will also learn, for example,
why condoms can sometimes hurt and
how to solve the problem.
“We like the circus theme,” says Gay Life
member Dean Sidwell, “because it’s not exclu­
sive or stodgy. It’s very accessible to people.”
The topic of sex, meanwhile, and man-on-
man anal sex in particular, is clearly one of soci­
ety’s least accessible areas of discussion.
“I think for many people there’s a lot of
shame around it,” Sidwell explains.
Shame that can lead to low self­
esteem and uniformed and unhealthy
behaviors.
Enter the Tunnel of Love, which
brings butt sex into the open and lets guys
hear from their peers in a nonthreatening
environment.
Three years ago, a similar production
was held that brought guys together to
talk about dating.
In April 1997, a standing-room-
only crowd of an estimated 300 people,
mostly gay men, turned out for a pro­
duction called It’s Raining Men, which
was hosted by Rose City personalities
Poison Waters and Stephen Michael
Rondel. It featured a gay-guy version
of The Dating Game as well as a rov­
ing microphone that captured
audience insights into "exploring
the perils and promises of meeting and dating
gay men in Portland.”
Snappy video clips of local queer guys
answering dating-related questions were shown.
During the event, held at the former Sunny-
apri 2 1 .2 0 0 0 *
- ay City— and now Gay Life— strives to
55 focus on issues that are relevant to queer
men’s lives and is employing provocative pro­
motional materials and events designed to draw
large numbers of men who might not otherwise
seek HIV prevention services.
The daring nature of all this may unnerve
some people, even within the gay community.
The Oregon Citizens Alliance, for instance,
is trying to qualify a new statewide anti-gay ini­
tiative for the November ballot, and
some may feel an event such as Tun­
nel of Love provides more fodder for
the O CA .
“Why not educate men
about anal sex in a quieter,
less extravagant and atten­
tion-grabbing manner?” crit­
ics may ask.
To that, Rose answers:
“That’s,what we have been
doing throughout the years.
This could be a way to reach
men we’ve never reached
before. We saw that with
X
' i \ • <•
It’s Raining Men.”
’
And while Rose says
he understands the
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concerns, he says Gay
Life is simply acknowledg­
ing the reality that anal sex
exists, “and we want people to
be safe.”
As for whether Portland is
prepared for Tunnel of Love, he
says, “I’ll guess we’ll know after
May 4.”
C
4 l unnel of Love is being bolstered
I by both private donations and
public funds.
Sidwell says Portland
State University’s Queers &
Allies group secured the
school’s ballroom for the event.
He adds that Gay Life has met with a student
advisor to Queers & Allies and presented a posi­
tion paper outlining Gay Life’s philosophy and
the purpose of Tunnel of Love.
“We didn’t want there to be any surprises for
[PSU],” he says.
Eric Hildebrandt, community events produc-
T
"W e g o t responses like,
7 never kn e w there were this m any g a y men in P o rtlan d ,'
to 'G e t a bigger venue.
FROM
$
er for Seattle’s Gay City, recommends guys
attending Portland’s event go and enjoy them­
selves— and maybe learn a thing or two.
“We’ve spent decades apologizing for who
and what we are.... It’s time to change that,” he
says.
■ TUNNEL OF L ove is slated for May 4 at Portland
State University 's Grand Ballroom on the third floor
of Smith Memorial Center, 1825 S.W. Broadway.
The forum starts at 7:30 p.m.
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— Alan Rose
side Masonic Temple at Southeast 39th Avenue
and Hawthorne Boulevard, participants were
asked to fill out surveys ‘ hat in part asked them
for their reactions to the gathering.
“We got responses like, T never knew there
were this many gay men in Portland,’ to ‘Get a
bigger venue,’ ” Alan Rose told Just Out back
then.
As with Tunnel of Love, that night was
designed to generate a sense of community
among gay and hi men, as well as begin the trek
toward lower HIV transmission rates.
J n t M t 27
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