Gay men across the country have responded enthusiastically to a call to form a new national grassroots coalition against HIV.
Bringing together gay men from around the nation, Rug Up for Winter is a radical new response to recent rises in HIV infections in our community. Using cutting-edge technologies such as email, SMS and the web, Rug Up aims to create an alliance of 10,000 gay men who are ready to take personal action to stem the tide of HIV.
“There’s been a lot of talk recently about complacency and AIDS fatigue,” said Sean Slavin, one of the group’s founders. “We reject that. We care about HIV. We know that other gay men share that concern. We believe in our community and its capacity to respond.”
HIV has been on the increase in recent years across Australia. In the last five years, there have been dramatic increases in new infections in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. More than 80 percent of the people who have had to deal with a positive diagnosis are gay men. We don’t want this to continue.
Rug Up started as a group of concerned friends who hit upon a plan to put the brakes on HIV, a plan that mobilises gay men to take personal action this winter. While the initiative has garnered widespread support from AIDS Councils and PLWHA organisations across the country, it is a separate, grassroots coalition of gay men. “We’re not trying to duplicate the work that the AIDS organisations have done,” said Rug Up co-founder Paul Kidd. “Instead, we’re trying to enhance and build upon it.”
Rug Up seeks to recruit 10,000 gay men from across the country who will:
- commit to practising safe sex for three months;
- have a sexual health check-up; and
- invite six friends to join Rug Up.
By taking these steps we plan to break the link between HIV and sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and reignite the conversation about HIV among gay men.
According to internationally renowned epidemiologist, Associate Professor Andrew Grulich of the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, “the link between HIV and STIs is a key factor in recent HIV increases. There is good reason to believe that, if enough gay men sign up for Rug Up, there will be a decrease in the number of HIV infections in our community.”
Rug Up is currently recruiting through the website www.rugup.org.au with a plan to rug up for winter from July 1st to September 30th.
“HIV threatens our community,” said Slavin. “There is a clear trend towards increasing HIV infections in our community and, if we don’t take action, outsiders will do it for us. We don’t want our sex turned into an election issue; we don’t want radio shock jocks demanding that saunas and sex clubs be closed down. We’re ready to take action and we’re looking for 10,000 gay men to join us.”