Over the past ten months The Calgary Coalition for HIV and AIDS (CCHA) has been working on a social marketing strategy addressing condom fatigue with young males having sexual contact with other males. The purpose is to address the rising rates of HIV by directly focusing on the barriers around consistent condom-use. The coalition has been attending events and hosting focus groups throughout the community speaking to gay youth about condom-use. HIV rates have been on the rise in Canada for men who have sexual contact with other men between the ages of 15 and 24, therefore CCHA wanted to find out what issues youth were facing.

We spoke to Project Coordinator for CCHA Youth Initiative, Jane McCloy. “We went out to several nightclubs, the gay rodeo and other gay events, chatted on Gay.com, took out advertising in major publications, did focus groups through GLASS at the University of Calgary and The Inside Out youth group as well as posters around the city. We offered honorariums for people that participated, although it was still somewhat difficult, due to our target group’s comfort level with the topic.”

The research brought about some important information - new generations of gay youth claim that prevention efforts are overused and tediously boring; therefore ‘safe sex’ messaging is now falling upon deaf ears. Many are having unprotected sex regardless of the risks and this phenomenon is now called ‘safer sex fatigue’ or ‘condom fatigue.

“Three issues regarding condom-use came out of the interviews and focus groups: First was Condom Accessibility - People are not sure where to get condoms, are not being proactive to have them before they need them, and [are then] unable to get them when they need them. Most were unsure about where to access free condoms in the city, therefore CCHA will be distributing information as to all the places in Calgary that one can access free condoms. Secondly was Basic Condom Skills - There is still confusion on things such as circumcised vs. uncircumcised, how to put them on, which way to roll them, and still some youth that had trouble putting on a condom and felt shy or embarrassed to be seen fumbling with it. The third issue is Condom Negotiation Skills – People don’t feel confident and comfortable negotiating condom-use sometimes. There was much agreement that it was difficult to talk about condom-use and to ensure that a partner used one. The target group also identified that posters and pamphlets have been ‘done’ and therefore safe sex messaging is falling on deaf ears. Youth enjoy events, participatory things that were hands on with straightforward, realistic and practical yet humorous messaging. That is why we decided to host an event at The Twisted Element.”

The slogan for the campaign is “Give a Fuck”. As the name suggests, the whole premise is to get youth to start giving a fuck – to care about themselves and their sexual health. “Give a Fuck” takes place Saturday, December 4th at 10:00pm at The Twisted Element and will be hosted by local drag performers.
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“The event is a fun-and-games night where all are welcome to attend and participate. With that in mind, we have created about ten different games and competitions – fun things to get people involved, having fun and laughing but learning some skills. For example there will be condom relays, ‘Pin the cock on the ass’ and trivia. It will be fun games using condom skills. If this event is a success we will be approaching other bars for more events. The main thing we have done to address condom accessibility is that every person at the event will be getting a canvas condom carrying case. It’s a sleek case that can be attached to a key chain and holds two condoms. Inside there will also be a handout on condom negotiation skills as well as listing all the places you can get free condoms in Calgary. Our hope with this is to get people in the habit of carrying condoms with them and have a case that won’t damage them.”

To further address condom accessibility, CCHA will be donating a new condom machine to The Twisted Element.

“One of the things brought up about condom machines is the fact that they are expensive [and dispense] low quality condoms, and sometimes the machine wouldn’t work so you would lose your money. So we are buying a good quality, glass-fronted machine that will distribute boxes of three Durex condoms for $2.”

The slogan “Give a Fuck” is certain to make people sit up and take notice, something that the project is striving to do.

“We haven’t gotten a lot of feedback from the campaign yet, we will be doing an evaluation piece on it in the new year. Most importantly we care about what our demographic thinks about it. ….The reason we chose ’Give a Fuck’ is it was identified in the focus groups that the gay males didn’t want to be targeted specifically. While this project is trying to reach that group, they didn’t want something identifiably gay so we didn’t want that in our messaging. This message was ambiguous, plus attention grabbing. It speaks to our campaign of getting people to be proactive and care.”.

CCHA presents “Give a Fuck”
Saturday Dec 4th, 2005 starting at 10:00pm
The Twisted Element
1006 – 11th Avenue SW
(403) 802-0230

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