In response to the alarm in g rise o f sexually tran sm itted d iseases am ong queer m en,
should the M ultnom ah County H ealth D epartm en t consider regu latin g P ortlan d sex
c lu b s? Why or why not?
N
o, the Multnomah County Health Depart-
ment should not regulate the clubs; if we
want government to stay out of our sex lives,
then we shouldn’t invite it in. On the other
hand, I’m astonished at the idiocy out there.
And annoyed: These same people are probably
banging the drum for government health care,
expecting the rest of us to pick up the very
expensive tab for their irresponsible behavior.
Think again....
A la n B atie
Beaverton
O, N O, NO. Trying to legislate good,
healthy behavior will never be successful.
The most it will do is drive that type of sexual
activity to locations that are not accessible to
safe-sex educational messages and places that do
not have condoms available. Such regulation by
the county would be counterproductive. Maybe
the county should provide free testing for all
STD s and vaccinations where such vaccines
exist. This might help toward solving the prob
lem instead of driving it further underground.
barebacking and dnigs, but how can anyone
expect a club to go around watching everyone
have sex?
I don’t go to the sex club dump downtown;
it’s far too much of a dive. The one time 1 did go,
I saw one guy take on four people, and no one
used a condom. (None were to be seen avail
able.) The one across town is way too small, and
I have yet to see hardly anyone in there. The
bookstores are a mess and a big problem, as they
pretend sex does not happen, but 1 have seen it,
and there are only condoms for sale there.
D ick M oran
S tu a r t W agner J r .
Portland
• • •
Doug Beebe
Associate Broker
503.471.3479
Portland
• • •
R
egulation sounds awfully scary— generally
not a good idea. And how could they pos
sibly? Would there be “hall monitors” walking
around handing out detention slips or penalty
cards? What’s the next step— regulating hetero
sex to prevent unwanted pregnancies? Hey,
maybe that’s not such a bad idea....
On the other hand, I really appreciate the
health department’s efforts to publicize the
problem. I, for one, am staying away from casu
al sex for the moment— even though it’s very
difficult for a singleton like me who relies on
such occasional encounters to alleviate the
monotony of masturbation.
And another thing: No fair that a (relative
ly) small group of slutty barebackers is making
casual sex more dangerous for the rest of us. I
wish people would realize that, yes, we are all
responsible for our own decisions but that sex
doesn’t happen in a bubble. The ghosts of all
your past and future sex partners are there with
you every time.
C hristopher C u tt o n e
Portland
• • •
N
o. The patrons of these clubs are adults
and as such are responsible for their own
bodies and therefore should be aware of what
the risks are and how they can protect them
selves. As a proud hi female member of our
G LB T community, it is my definite opinion that
we don’t need anyone baby-sitting us or looking
over our shoulders.
C or i P ierce
Portland
• • •
A
thorny question, but if pressed, I’d have to
say no to regulation. I was living in Los
Angeles and San Francisco when each city
closed its sex clubs. Remember, these regula
tions are created and administered by straight
people who usually have their own agenda. The
hetero community’s lack of involvement in the
early ’80s at the beginning of the A ID S crisis
continues to rankle. Just because they find us
“entertaining” these days doesn’t mean they
really care about our health; they just want to
find another way to control our behavior.
And to what avail, anyway? I’d wager that
most harebacking is done privately; parties
abound. What the community needs to do is
massive education— and perhaps a little fear
wouldn’t hurt. We need to counter the current
idea that HIV doesn’t cause A ID S (we didn’t
lose a generation of men and cross out half our
address books because of a myth!), and we need
to change SILEN CE»D EATH to BAREBACK-
1NG=DEATH. It's interesting that, at a time
when gay people are trying to convince society
that we’re responsible, law-abiding citizens “just
like you," so many simply ignore one of their
foremost responsibilities.
D onald F inch
Portland
• • •
T
he only problem I have seen has been the
lack of support from Cascade AIDS Proj
ect. Club Portland has even donated a entire
room for C A P to use for testing, etc., and I have
yet to see them use it! Club Portland has free
condoms everywhere and posted rules against
I
think the sex industry, gay or straight, should
for public health reasons be legal and regulat
ed. It is not a matter of “thou shalt n ot....” Peo
ple will do what they will in their own worlds;
education and ad campaigns are the key here.
My mind reels with the details on how one
might try to do this, but the commercial realm
should be held to standards just like restaurant,
liquor and care facilities.
T eri N oble
Aloha
• • •
G
overnment regulation of “unhealthy” pub
lic sex venues will only cause “unsafe"
behavior to move elsewhere, which will make it
much harder to stop. The Bush administration's
anti-gay AIDS prevention policies are what
need changing.
Federally funded programs that have helped
HIV-negative men stay safe are being canceled
to fund increased HIV testing. This is calculat
ed to artificially inflate the HIV statistics and to
incite a moral panic over gay bareback sex.
Prevention programs are also being required
to focus on only HIV-positive individuals. This
is a shameful attempt to stigmatize and blame
HIV-positive men.
Finally, many men have bareback sex
because they believe HIV does not cause AIDS,
yet the government refuses to aggressively rebut
this increasingly popular idea.
T homas K raemer
Corvallis
Ju st O ut columnist L isa Bradshaw hated the first episode of T he L Word. Q ueer Willamette
Week columnist Byron Beck loved it. W hat did you think? A re you looking forward to the rest
of the season? Respond a t www.fiistout.com. (D on’t forget to include your nam e, city and daytime telephone num ber.)
n ext I Lid! 14
I suggest that other communities agree. A
Get Tested, and Steam Guys Are Smart Guys—
Gay men are sexual creatures with a biological
casual
survey
of
publications
from
arinind
the
urge for physical connection. Emotional connec
Smart Guys Play Safe.”
country at the Adult Industry Convention in Las
With more than 5,000 members in less than
tion is also part of our makeup, but often the phys
Vegas earlier this month showed a wide range of ical connection is the driving force. This physical
one year, the staff of Steam Portland truly
understand and welcome that we arc an impor messages focusing on individual respoasibility. It connection is often labeled “anonymous sex.” How
makes sease. The effective solution here is indi- j anonymous is a sexual act when two people choose
tant link in promoting a safe-sex message. Our
vidual action. Let’s get the message out.
objective is to provide a clean, safe, first-class
to provide sexual gratification to each other?
club environment that removes shame. Sex is a
The difference between the advent of HIV
fundamental component of the human condi D avid A nderson
in the ’80s and the current increase in sexually
Steam Portland
transmitted diseases is knowledge. HIV was a
tion, and there is no shame in healthy sex.
totally unknown condition when it initially
This crisis will be solved when each individ
emerged. We have learned a tremendous
ual involved in sexual activity assumes personal
respoasibility for his own health and responsi
amount about transmission of the infection, and
To the E ditor :
we are aware of how to contain it.
bility for endangering a sex partners health. A
\ s members of a minority community facing
campaign to promote individual responsibility
There is no mystery about the current
L \ another health crisis, it is incumbent on
as a cultural norm is in order. While some may
increase in the rate of HIV infection and the
label this as a negative message, I say that such | gay men to approach the challenge of increased
transmission of HIV and STD s head on.
Continued on Page 7
a message attacks the problem, not the person.
Blaming and shaming
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