“Gay guys are the horniest people in the world. They’re disgusting. Dude, most of them probably have AIDS.” SAY WHAT? The charming quote above arrived via Paris Hilton in September. But
context is key. A cab driver recorded the hotel heiress’s private conversation with a gay friend who had just described hookup app Grindr and how an HIV-positive gay dude used it to have unprotected sex. Hilton soon issued an apology, telling the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation:
“HIV/AIDS can hurt anyone, gay and straight, men and women. It’s something I take very seriously. Gay people are the strongest and most inspiring people I know.”
Back to School Californians Sue for Better Sex Ed
(HILTON) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MICHAEL CAULFIELD; (PAPER PLANES) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/KIMIKODATE
The Golden State requires public schools to teach about HIV/AIDS, and it prohibits abstinence-only education. But Clovis Unified School District is playing hooky; a lawsuit from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Gay-Straight Alliance Network and students’ parents alleges the school textbooks still promote abstinence and fail to mention condoms. That’s bad because, as the complaint spells out: “Clovis adolescents live in…a region with limited access to reproductive health care and…with high rates of teen pregnancy.”
Abstinence-Only Linked to HIV Rates
Researchers in New Orleans linked abstinence-only sex ed to high HIV rates among Louisiana youth—specifically low-income African Americans. Youth ages 13 to 24 make up nearly 25 percent of new infections in the state, the only age group to see an uptick from 2009 to 2010. Lawmakers need to get schooled. They voted down a measure to teach comprehensive sex ed.
Oral Sex Less Common Among Youth
iPad Video Game to Teach HIV Prevention Skills What’s new in Elm City?
The games people play might lower their HIV risks. That’s what researchers hope as they develop an iPad video game for at-risk youth of color. “Our game aims to change behavior in teens before they begin having sex,” says Kimberly Hieftje, PhD, who works with Yale’s Play2Prevent initiative to develop “serious games.” Based on interviews with kids in New Haven, Connecticut, the interactive, educational game— titled PlayForward: Elm City Stories—allows youths to create avatars that face real-life decisions. Once players find out the results of their actions, they can go back in time to make better choices. This way, in reality they won’t need a do-over.
Nearly two-thirds of 15- to 24-year-olds have had heterosexual intercourse, according to a CDC survey, but only 26 percent of girls and 24 percent of boys engaged in oral sex first. This challenges the idea that most young people have oral sex before vaginal sex. What’s more, fewer teens have intercourse today (43 percent in 2010 versus 51 percent in 1988) and more use condoms. Sound good? Not so fast: In 2010, half of sexually transmitted infections occurred among 15- to 24-year-olds. Clearly, comprehensive sex ed is in order. And let’s include same-sex activity in these surveys; our LGBT students count too!
Hershey School Settles HIV Suit
After Milton Hershey School in Pennsylvania allegedly denied an HIV-positive teenager admittance because of fears he might have sex with other students, the boy fought back in court. The school apologized this summer, changed its policy and invited the student to attend, but he didn’t drop the case. Good thing: In September, a $715,000 settlement was reached. Sweet.
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poz.com DECEMBER 2012 POZ 23