“Rising levels of HIV in the gay community threaten us individually and as a group,” says Paul Kidd, the editor of Positive Living, in a widely diseminated e-mail. “I don’t want us to be subject to increased levels of government interference in our sexual lives, criminalisation of unprotected sex or restrictions on sex venues. That’s why I’ve joined Rug Up for Winter.”
Rug Up for Winter is a new grassroots campaign that urges gay men to take the initiative in combating the rising tide of HIV infections, instead of assuming that such actions are the responsibility of AIDS Councils and similar organisations. Based around the use of such technology as SMS, e-mail and a website, the campaign aims to sign up 10,000 gay Australians to a simple, three-step plan to combat HIV infection.
The idea for Rug Up for Winter grew out of a discussion Kidd had with his friends about the rising rates of HIV infection recorded in Australia last year.
“We’re all Melbournians, so we were particularly concerned by the recently announced rise here in Victoria,” he explains.
According to official figures, HIV infection rates in Victoria jumped 28% last year, the highest level recorded in the state since 1991. Based on those statistics, five to six Victorians, most of them gay men, become infected with HIV each week.
“We were talking about how we as a community might respond to that, and what the implications might be if rises of that kind continue,” Kidd says.
Rug Up for Winter was the result of the group’s discussions. The campaign, which was launched last week, urges gay men to use condoms for casual anal sex for the three months between July 1 and September 30; to get a sexual health check up between those dates; and to sign up six friends or sexual partners to join the campaign.
“Rug Up is about what one person can do to make a difference, especially if people unite in taking action,” Kidd says. “What we understand from the experts that we’ve talked to since we came up with this idea was that if enough people sign up for Rug Up, that it has the potential to have a substantial impact on the amount of STI’s in our community, and if that occurs, it’s likely to have a strong impact on the amount of HIV infections.”
At the time of writing, the campaign, which has been running for one week, has already gained over 200 members without any media coverage or publicity.
“The idea is that we ask our friends to join; they ask their friends and so on,” Kidd says. “The initial response has been fantastic. The number of guys who’ve visited the site and signed up has exceeded our expectations, and the AIDS community, the AIDS Councils and people living with AIDS from around the country are all supporting what we’re doing.”
Kidd hastens to explain that the decision by himself and his friends to launch a personal campaign to address the rising levels of HIV infection should not be seen as an indictment of the current Federal Government’s strategies for dealing with the AIDS crisis, nor a covert criticism of organisations like the Victorian AIDS Council.
“This isn’t meant to be an indictment of anybody or anything. What this is about is recognising the key to our success in combating HIV since the very early days of the epidemic has been grassroots community action. It’s been ordinary gay men who’ve been prepared to stand up and do what they can do. Whenever HIV infections increase in our community, it affects us as a community. We think that there’s an opportunity for all of us this year to say we’re going to take a stand.”
Kidd believes that while the campaign is, on the face of it, about getting individuals to practise safe sex and have themselves tested for STI’s, it’s also about empowering people, and increasing the level of dialogue that goes on in the community about HIV.
“We’re taking people’s existing friendship networks and turning them into a force for change,” he says.
Rug Up for Winter: www.rugup.org.au
This article originally appeared in MCV #279 on Friday 12th May.
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