Just ask ….

Just ask ….

If you visit Gaydar or any of a group of sex-on-premises venues (SOPVs), you have probably noticed us online or in person.

We are the Outreach Project volunteers who are there for you to answer questions about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmi

tted infections as well as a whole heap of other stuff.

In the SOPVs we are usually there on Friday and Saturday nights, and on Sunday afternoons. We wear T-shirts with ‘Outreach’ and an ID around our neck. Online we appear as ‘The Outreach Project’ with the Victorian AIDS Council’s Red Ribbon as our profile picture.

Wherever you see us, we are there to assist you with answers to any of the varied questions about sexual health.

However, we don’t just grab a T-shirt and ID and plonk ourselves online or in an SOPV. There is a selection interview to screen out guys for the project and this is followed by a two-day training course on two consecutive Saturdays, to bring us up to speed on all matters relating to sexual health and the types of issues we get asked questions about.

During the training course there are small and large group exercises to give us an idea of the types of guys we are likely to be chatting with, either online or in an SOPV. There are also guest presenters who chat with us about their areas of expertise. These include representatives from the South East Centre Against Sexual Assault and the Victoria Police Gay and Lesbian Liaison team.

Another presenter is an openly HIV positive gay men who can discuss what it is like to be HIV positive and to be someone cruising both online and in SOPVs, including how positive folk handle rejection and knockbacks from other gay and bisexual men.

Finally, we meet two members of the Outreach Project who work online and in SOPVs to get a real understanding of what it is like to talk with other same-sex attracted men in these environments.

Every guy undertaking the training gets a manual of information and resources that covers what we have done during the training days. This is a great help, especially for those who work online as we tend to do this on our home computers. In every venue where we work, there is a copy of the manual so we can help those guys who ask questions outside of the norm. Before working alone without supervision, we are mentored online and in SOPVs by guys currently in the team.

The next two-day training is on March 12 and 19.

INFO: by TEX McKENZIE from the Victorian AIDS Council and Gay Men’s Health Centre. For more info, contact Tex via [email protected]

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