Educators Debate Ways to Bring HIV Prevention Messages to Gay Black Community

As part of the 13th National HIV/AIDS Update Conference, a group of educators met Thursday to discuss methods of bringing HIV prevention messages to the gay black community, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports. The educators, responding to reports revealing " soaring" HIV rates among gay black men, "admit[ted] their failures" and brainstormed ways to communicate safe sex and other prevention methods more effectively. Susan Kegeles, head of the Mpowerment Project, which uses peer groups to set up a dialogue and a "safe place" for gay and bisexual men to discuss their experiences, suggested establishing a group similar to her organization that would target the gay black community. She added that the gay black community "needs to be examined more closely" because gay African-American men "do not necessarily frequent mainstream gay bars and other venues." Leniere Miley, assistant coordinator at the House of Latex Project, added that raising AIDS awareness among gay African Americans "goes far beyond simply sponsoring hip-hop dances and posters depicting black culture." Miley added, "People have different ways of communicating and hearing things. ... [The prevention message] has to be tailored to the communities they're going to" (Mason, AP/Sacramento Bee, 3/23).