Out in the Mountains 'iis#;aii§§:rreaisnt:fe ‘ ’ Business’ ‘ \Stev'en_lllIest totals ' wé wiuaot i=1.u.bI:'s.i:.:any. . which as ofvertlv; racist. séxist. = anti-Semitic, ageist, classlst, or homophobic. . ‘ ’ ~ All materialsgsubmitted must be signed. However, within the pag- es of the newspaper, articles may appear anonymously, upon ltywillbeobserveck ' V To subtmrartiétes _ . A . ' &Letters ‘ ' readers to dov'whatithey‘can to by gay, lesbian." and...bisexual - border. ates. and ac-":’_.' request, and strict confidential-~ We encourage and tinplore our:: make OITM [a paper both for and , Vermonters. ‘Please assist: usrby _ typing iyo,urja,rti,c|,e_§ .;and_ letters ‘ double-spacfledi f; and -jncluzdlng From the Editor: Condom Sense? or Dental Dam It! Fred Kuhr WINOOSKI -- I have always been the kind of person who is willing to follow the rules as long as I know what the rules are. One problem with the AIDS epidemic, however, is that the rules keep changing. When I first came out, the rules were “always use a condom” and “never swallow”. Then came the rumors from Canada saying that you could swallow north of the (Was this geography, politics, or pure falsehood?) Oh, and then came the reports that you could get HIV through oral sex even if you did not swallow. Out magazine recently reported the cases of men in the U.S. who followed the supposed “rules" of safer sex and still became infected. And now comes the latest change in the rules, “negotiated safety”. Although not endorsed by any AIDS groups in the U.S., the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay ‘ Men’s Health Centre of Australia is getting a great deal of media attention in the American gay press because of a series of full-page ads the group is running in the Australian gay press promoting “negotiated safety”. Negotiated what?!? According to this idea, a gay couple can throw their condoms to the wind (or just paint rainbow stripes on them and hang them out the window) if they follow eight steps. As outlined by New York Newsday columnist Gabriel Rotello in a recent issue of The Advocate, negotiated safety goes something like this. “Step 1 is to discuss whether having sex without condoms is an important issue to both of you. If it’s not that important, keep using condoms. But if you decide it is important, Steps 2, 3, and 4 are to get tested, wait several months, then get tested again. If one partner tests positive while the other tests negative continue to use condoms every time. If you both test positive, you are advised that unprotected sex can lead to additional infections.” If both partners text negative “you can proceed to Step 5: Promise each other that you won’t have unsafe sex outside the relationship Step 6 reads, ‘Discuss and promise each other that if either of you slips up or has an accident with unsafe sex outside the relationship, you will tell the other immediately and go back to safe you has unsafe sex outside the relationship and then admits it to the other, it won’t mean the end of the relationship." Could you promise your partner that kind of punishment-free honesty? Well, this Australian system has a disclaimer, “If this feels like too much to expect, then keep using condoms, always.” .'-ri.~ 5 ’ 2: 5:37 AIDS Project is to convey “a sense of personal safety and personal responsibility.” Tebbets says that AIDS groups “need to give gay men a sense of future.” I must admit that my little foray into the intellectual‘ land of AIDS and latex did not give me the answers I wanted to hear. But maybe the point is that no easy Condom nation No statewide or5i-’answers exist. Negotiated safety national AIDS agencies yet endorse negotiated safety. _So__why bring it up? The better question is (why are Australians looking for and promoting tvvgst on (‘safer sex practicegfi Vera be; your latex” is not working? According to an informal survey from last year, sponsored by Vermont CARES and the Vermont Department of Health, of less than 100 MSM (men who have sex with men), 68% said they had unprotected anal sex in the last six months. According to Chris Tebbets, Vermont CARES’ Men’s Health Project Coordinator, “by and large, men who have sex with men know how to use a condom but that doesn’t mean they’ll use one when they need to.” He also feels that the “just use your latex” message gives people a “false sense of security It’s more than ‘just wear a condom’.” Tebbets speaks of a holistic approach to safer sex of which “honesty is a part.” Just for the taste of it One of the reasons unsafe sex is making a comeback, according to Carey Johnson, Outreach Coordinator of the Brattleboro Area AIDS Project, is that “prevention efforts haven’t been sustained Part of it is the temporariness of the media (looking) from crisis to crisis (with) no sustained effort and devotion of resources.” Johnson cites the advertising campaign of the Coca-Cola company, whose product is arguably the number one product in the world, yet the company spends obscene amounts of money to keep you thirsty for more. Tebbets agrees, “Studies show that if you take away the constant message, the behavior goes away.” Condom and dumber Is negotiated safety a dumb idea? According to Johnson, “individuals have been negotiating what they conventional wisddtrr Er -“'jLl.’.tstl§,=’l_'s“e§4__ mayindeed be a great idea then, helping people of all sexual orientations through the maze of safer sex choices that they have been stumbling through, successfully or unsuccessfully, over the past fifteen years. Before you can be honest with your partners, however, you must be honest with yourself. How much is your future, your life, worth to you? Each of us must answer that question for ourselves. And maybe that is the answer I knew all along. V ietters tothe Editor Longer and More Human Feel Congratulations to you and the staff of OITM on recent improvements The addition of "Opinions In The Mountains, " longer, more personal editorials, "Coalition Notes", and the use of humor in articles (like the condom—wearing Sasquatch!) give the paper a livelier, more human feel. It's wonderful to see our community using 01 TM to discuss (and argue about!) the issues facing us today. The ongoing debate taking place by your readers is testament to the effectiveness of 0ITMs outreach into the g/1/b/t community. Congratulations, and keep up the great work. We all definitely appreciate it. Tom Aloiei Burlington ***** Was It The Caffeine? Having never really been much of a conspiracy theorist, I was incredulous when I read Gene Bai'field's letter in the March 1995 issue of, OITM. After thinking about the letter, I realized that Gene simply must have had too much coffee prior to writing it or had just seen the movie JFK. In his letter, Gene outlined the (alleged) statewide g/1/b plot to ignore and, essentially, be mean to former VCLGR Co-Liaisons Keith Goslant and Holly Perdue. According to Barfield, while OITM and members of the VCLGR are the leaders of this conspiracy, co-conspirators include thousands of ungrateful gay, lesbian, and bisexual Vermonters. Ironically, with his irrational attacks on the VCLGR and 01 TM, Barfield is the only person appearing ungrateful and, unfortunately, performing a great disservice to Keith and Holly. It seems to me that the time Barfield spent concocting his hair-brained fantasy and writing to 0ITM would have been better spent writing a well—deserved and fitting tribute about Keith and Holly to share with the readers of OI TM . Gene, switch to decaf and leave the conspiracy theories to Oliver Stone. 5eX_ Ufltil Y0U’Ve both been testcd consider safer sex situations” for as Paul 015% 3831“ 5€V°T31 months .1atCT- Ste}? 73 long as safe sex has been around. Colchester V Y0“ both {T105} agree _ that elthef “The concept of negotiating sex is partner can insist on using condoms nothing new}, The challenge for agam at 311)’ t1me- Steli 8 YOU groups such as Brattleboro Area both have to agree that if one of Where to find OITM Barre Chester Middlebury Rutland Pe_n Dragon g Misty Valley Books Chester Addison County Women in Crisis PFLAG . n _ Craflsbury _ __ llsley Public Library Rutland Free Library Benmrigton Free Library Craftsbury Public Library Middlebury Natural Food Coop United Methodist Churh Bennington College Center Rufland Storm Cafe Grace Cong. 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