New York advocacy
group protests condom ban at sex party

An invitational flier to a private sex party for gay black men in New York City has enraged the Harlem-based AIDS advocacy group Gay Men of African Descent and prompted the group to hold a public protest last weekend. The invitation to the party, whose organizer and promoter was not identified, read, "Anyone caught using jimmies [slang for condoms] will be asked to leave with no refund given!" reports the Associated Press. The invitation also mentioned that two similar sex parties have been held in the past and noted that 54 men attended the last such event.

Gay Men of African Descent executive director Tokes Osubu, who coordinated the protest, says encouraging African-American men to have sex without condoms serves only to fuel the already disproportionate HIV rate in black communities. "It's got to stop," he told the Associated Press. "We want to send a strong message to [the party's promoter] and promoters like him that it's unacceptable, and to the larger community that we're not all complicit in this behavior. We're not just idle bystanders."

Gay activist Keith Boykin wrote in his blog that he was alarmed that black gay men were encouraging each other to have unprotected sex. "It's the year 2006, and some men are still carrying on like it's 1976," he wrote, reports the wire service. "It's time to put an end to these condomless sex parties." (The Advocate)