BGMLC calls for removal of harmful HIV testing campaign

PHILADELPHIA, PA, JULY 27th, 2006:

The Black Gay Men's Leadership Council (BGMLC) calls on the City of Philadelphia, Department of Public Health (DPH) to discontinue its on-going, violence-laden HIV testing campaign, which features Black men in crosshairs. The campaign, which has a tagline of "Have You Been Hit?", has been implemented by the City of Philadelphia's AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) to increase HIV testing primarily among African American and Latino gay and bisexual men.

"There have been over 215 homicides with 87 percent of the murders committed by handguns, with a majority of the victims being young African American males. Any campaign that features the images of young Black men in the crosshairs of what appears to be the scope of a gun and the tagline `have you been hit', are totally inappropriate, irresponsible and out of step with the City's on-going `Blueprint to a Safer Philadelphia' campaign to reduce youth homicide", said Lee Carson, chair of the BGMLC.

In the past, the Council has met with AACO and other city officials to address their concerns with the implementation and proposed design of the HIV testing campaign. They have recently sent a letter to Carmen Paris, Interim Health Commissioner of the City of Philadelphia's DPH, outlining these concerns.

"There are serious implications for the continuation of this campaign, and we would like to see it pulled and shelved immediately", said Robert K. Burns, local HIV/AIDS prevention expert and treasurer of the BGMLC.

"Research continues to show that fear-based media messages lack effectiveness over an extended period of time. Given that HIV infections and violence are public health issues and that fear-tactics have not worked in the past, it is difficult to understand why the City is taking this route at a time when HIV disease and homicides are at their highest among this population", said Kevin Trimell Jones, a local HIV/AIDS Researcher and member of the BGMLC.

The mission of the BGMLC is to use advocacy, education and community collaborations to empower Philadelphia's diverse communities of black gay men by focusing on their social and political advancement and health and wellness needs, while developing local, regional and national leaders.