ACON: keep safe during Mardi Gras

ACON hopes to invigorate the community to focus on its health and safety during the Mardi Gras season with a new campaign called Right Here, Right Now -¦ get the facts and look after yourself.

ACON CEO Stevie Clayton hopes the campaign, comprising 20 key messages relevant to gay and lesbian wellbeing, will reinforce the idea that decisions about one’s health should always be based on factual information.

The website www.rightnow.acon.org.au expands on the fact-based print and electronic media campaign material with detailed recommendations and contacts for professional help.

The core messages are targeted to both specific groups and the wider gay and lesbian community, softened with imagery described as cheeky and fun because Mardi Gras is, after all, a party season.

In addition to safe-sex, the combined approach addresses issues like health testing, domestic violence, anxiety and depression, drug mixing and addiction, and street safety.

The campaign launch comes as a similar New Zealand scheme found itself the target of a violent homophobic attack, with a bus shelter advertisement first defaced with anti-gay graffiti, then smashed.

The vandalising of New Zealand AIDS Foundation’s safe-sex advertisement has left Gay Men’s Health Team coordinator Douglas Jenkin saddened and disappointed.

HIV flourishes in environments of ignorance and hatred, and cowardly actions like these make our work that much more difficult, Jenkin said.

The advertisement was part of the Men Seeking Men campaign, which included a website promoting condom use and HIV awareness for gay and bisexual men hooking up via the internet.

There is now a substantial online community of men who have sex with men who haven’t been previously targeted with safe-sex messages, Jenkin said.

Many of these men don’t go to gay venues or read gay media, or they live in areas where they don’t have access to gay venues or media. They miss out on the free condoms and safe-sex information provided through these venues and media.

ACON’s Right Here, Right Now campaign will also attempt to reach that demographic with online advertisements, including banners on popular dating websites, and print advertisements in major NSW newspapers.