LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMPsafe Guards Save the Best for Last Dance |
by Bill Sievert |
With the clock rapidly ticking its way toward Labor Day, many of us are racing to cram as many exciting adventures as possible into the remaining days of summer. Your CAMPsafe lifeguards and their "damsel in dis-dress" Gladys Kravitz may have saved the best for last as they prepare for the third and final SAFE-Tea Dance of the season this Sunday (Aug. 15) at Cloud 9 from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. For the affair, the curvaceous CAMPsafe spokesmodel Gladys will be personally serving up her wienies, and special guest deejay Brian Norwood will be mixing his distinctive blend of musical magic. Members of your team of lifeguards will be on hand with one more opportunity for you to pick up their most popular postcards. (The first press run of 6,000 cards went so fast that we're reprinting your favorite designs.) The hundreds of you who came to the first two SAFE-Teas know how much fun they can be. If you haven't attended one of these dances yet, don't miss your chance. Everyone is invited. There is no cover charge, the wienie roast is free andto the surprise of some of you who attended the first two dancesCAMPsafe is not going to hit you up for donations. As an HIV education and outreach project of CAMP Rehoboth, supported by the Delaware Division of Health and Human Services, CAMPsafe has a simple motive in sponsoring the teas. Besides offering you a good time, we want to encourage you not to let your guard down in the hot pursuit of summer pleasure. Like the tea dances, a new romance or sexual adventure at the beach can be quite memorable. But, if you get lost in a moment of passion, a wonderful summer memory can become a winter nightmare. So, while you're enjoying Sunday's SAFE Tea Dance, don't forget to stop by our CAMPsafe table. Grab a handful of our complimentary latex condoms (check out the wrappers for safe-sex tips) and tubes of water-based lube. While you're at it, you can enter the free drawings for our limited edition collectible CAMPsafe Life Guard tank tops. If you haven't already done so, we would appreciate your taking the time to complete our annual Men's Survey of Safe Sex Practices. Then, please help yourself to all the other goodies, including our postcards, CAMPsafe refrigerator magnets and temporary tattoos. We'll even be giving away LifeSavers mint candiesto help keep your breath as fresh and healthy as your sex life. While many gay and bisexual men are doing a great job of taking responsibility for their own well being and that of their partners, some of you are making the rationalization that you don't need to be so cautious or to use condoms anymore. You claim that advances in treatment for the HIV virus mean infection doesn't pose the threat it once did. Before falling for that line, think again. Though Project CAMPsafe usually takes a light-hearted approach to encouraging safer sex, you might consider the following important information, as reported in this month's issue of SCAC News, published by the Sussex County AIDS Committee. "People acquiring HIV infection in 1999 have a special new problem," writes Dr. Scott Olewiler, infectious disease specialist at Beebe Medical Center in Lewes. "Since large numbers of people are now taking HIV drugs, any small amount of virus still present in their bodies is likely to have some resistance to those drugs. When that treated or partially treated person then infects a new person, he is transmitting virus that is already resistant to most or all of the available HIV drugs. So it is very possible to be newly infected with virus that is resistant to all available treatments." Dr. Olewiler also cites clinical data indicating that HIV infection can be compartmentalized in individuals who have received treatment. Even with "undetectable" levels of the virus showing in a blood test, large amounts of HIV are often still present in the semen, he says. Assuming that "all sex is safe again...is a deadly error," he concludes. The doctor's words are worth keeping in mind for those of us seeking some thrills during these final weeks of the summer of 1999. Let's try to make sure that we're all still hale and hearty for another season of excitement at the beach in the summer of 2000. Meanwhile, we hope to see you playing hard but safe on Sunday. Thanks for making all three SAFE-Tea Dances so successful. Thanks also to everyone at Cloud 9 for providing their wonderful facilitiesas well as all the foodfor this year's dances. Special thanks to Russell Stucki and the staff of the Mallard Guest House for taking such fine care of our CAMPsafe lifeguards during tea dance weekends. And thanks again to the ever-supportive Gladys and our good-looking gang of guards. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 9, No. 11, Aug. 13, 1999 |