Review Ordered for HIV Programs to See if Campaigns Too Sexy

Faced with accusations that their HIV/AIDS workshops are too sexy, public health officials in San Francisco say they will comply with federal guidelines following a review that found some gay workshops were "obscene" and encouraged sexual activity. The review of workshops run by San Francisco's Stop AIDS Project prompted a national review of all federally funded HIV/AIDS programs.

"This group's activities were brought to our attention by an activist in San Francisco," said Roland Foster, an aide to the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, which undertook the inquiry. In an Oct. 12 report, Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector Janet Rehnquist said the program's "Booty Call" and "Great Sex" workshops could be viewed as "obscene" and as "encouraging, directly . . . sexual activity." HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson later ordered the national review.

In a statement released Friday, the Stop AIDS Project said all its educational and promotional materials had been approved by a locally appointed CDC materials review panel. And public health officials defended the programs, saying San Francisco must use a variety of messages that may not work elsewhere to reach its large gay community. "We're doing it not out of ill intent, but we're doing it to prevent more people from getting sick," said Steven Tierney, director of HIV prevention at the city Department of Public Health. He noted that while HIV rates are on the rise, infections have fallen dramatically from 8,000 a year in 1984 to about 700 now. The Stop AIDS Project received nearly $698,000 in federal funding last year. CDC guidelines state that HIV prevention programs cannot encourage sexual activity or be obscene, as defined by the Supreme Court in 1973. "Our goal is to ensure that sexually active gay and bisexual men have the tools and the skills necessary to prevent new infections. Period," Steve Gibson, co-executive director of the Stop AIDS Project, said in a statement.

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