Is the Government Sponsoring a Gay Porn Site?

AIDS-prevention site draws fire from conservative group

Is the federal government spending millions on a "gay porn" website? That's the claim being made by the conservative Traditional Values Coalition. The offending website, "Sexpulse," is an AIDS-prevention website funded by the government and aimed at gay men.

The site is part of a research project sponsored by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Their goal was to persuade gay men who engage in high-risk sexual behavior to read health warnings on how to avoid HIV. They discovered that their target audience, gay men who look for sex online, are more likely to read health info if it's presented next to sexy images of men. Researchers reported a 20% drop in unprotected anal sex among gay men 3 months after they'd used the SexPulse site. (Note: the site isn't live on the web - yet.)

The Traditional Values Coalition have started up a petition to stop government spending on the project, which will top $7 million by 2015. The petition describes the site as "wasteful, offensive...bizarre and ridiculous," not to mention "truly horrific."

But its possible that researchers are right, and the site is actually a cost-effective way to reduce the spread of AIDS. As Conor Friedersdorf writes for the Atlantic, "I see no reason to reflexively dismiss the notion that reaching [gay men] is most effectively done with naked men, any more than I have a hard time believing Cindy Crawford in cut-off jean shorts was once the most efficient way to sell Pepsi."

Is the website wasteful, or could it be a cost-effective way to reduce the spread of AIDS?

[ir0nw0lfe]

I think its rather insulting to think that only porn would get the point across to practice safe sex. Gay men can't possibly be intelligent enough to take the time to safe sexual practices unless we sneak the messages into porn? We don't see that for heterosexual men or women. Again , just seems rather insulting and smacks of prejudicial stereotyping.

[dances-weebles]

yeah, you're probably right. do you think, however, that it might work on straights? the new reports show that the highest number of newly reported instances of hiv/aids cases in the u.s. are among monogamous, married, black women. pretty much the same sort of reports are coming out of beiging, as well where they say that aids is at an epidemic level among monogamous married women.

my opinion is that maybe it's time for society in general to quit looking at aids as a 'gay disease' and look at it as an equal opportunity virus.

[Truthinesss]

What's rather insulting is the amount of money spent on this. Why?

[classychazy]

If it actually works it is more cost effective then treating a A.I.D.S patient. I don't care how the message gets out as long as it does.

[Knightdoug]

The government has no bussiness spending tax payers money on porn no matter what the reason is. This is wrong.