[Article] Explicit comic for young gays 'is healthy read'

MarcusGarvey

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/18525-print.shtml

THOUSANDS of explicit comics are being circulated among gay Scottish teenagers in a radical bid to fight a feared explosion of HIV.

The 34-page magazine, aimed at 16 to 24-year-olds, is full of cartoon strips about different sexual encounters and includes pictures of the characters in different sexual positions.

It is hoped the publication, which also uses sexual puns and innuendo, will provoke discussion about taking safe sex precautions among its target audience.

Healthy Gay Scotland , a health promotion body funded by the Scottish Executive, undertook the project amid rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases and fears that a surge in HIV is around the corner.

Cases of infectious syphilis in Scotland have risen dramatically from 13 in 2001 to 67 last year, while incidents of gonorrhoea have soared in a decade from 463 in 1993 to 835 in 2003.

As symptoms of these conditions emerge quickly, they are considered a barometer of sexual risk-taking in the community. In contrast, HIV can go undiagnosed for years.

Roy Kilpatrick, chief executive of HIV Scotland, an umbrella group encompassing Healthy Gay Scotland, said: "The prelude to the initial surge in HIV infections in the mid-1980s was hepatitis B among both drug users and gay men. Often we do see a rise in sexually transmitted infections before we see a rise in HIV. This is the basis of our concern."

It is thought younger generations of gay men may take more risks because they missed the publicity about Aids in the 1980s, when efforts ploughed into raising awareness about the illness provoked change.
A recent survey found 47% of younger gay men had unprotected anal sex in the previous year. In the mid-1990s the proportion dropped as low as 33%.
Mr Kilpatrick said the number of people living with HIV is now much higher, but because it has fallen down the agenda since the 1980s, younger gay men felt more distant from it.

The comic, designed by the Scottish Cartoon Arts Studio, cost £14,000 to produce.
Called Cock Tales, the free publication carries the warning "Do not read if easily offended" on its front cover and is labelled "for the 16-plus".

Cakes and T-shirts promoting the magazine, which was launched at the Gay Pride march in Glasgow on Saturday and which has been welcomed by a number of politicians, have also been created.

Mr Kilpatrick said: "Safe sex and sexual health are essential to people's wellbeing, and there are numerous risks as well as pleasures in sex, and we want young people to enjoy sex safely and to avoid becoming HIV positive – a condition for which there is still no cure."

Jamie Rennie, chief executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, described the comic as a "landmark resource for the UK" which no other promotion had even touched.
He admitted it would raise a few eyebrows but continued: "It is no more explicit than Viz magazine was. In fact it is perhaps a lot less explicit than not-the-top-shelf magazines which can be bought anywhere."

Professor Phil Hanlon, chairman of Scotland's Sexual Health Strategy Reference Group, which published its recommendations on improving Scotland's poor record in this area last year, said the problem with health promotions aimed at young people was that a trendy approach could become passé very quickly.