An online HIV prevention series aimed at gay and bisexual men is raising questions in the sexual health community about appropriate sex education. The NZ Aids Foundation's (NZAF) campaign on the Love Your Condom website shows 'how-to' demonstrations of condom use to encourage safe-sex practice. WARNING: this story contains scenes not suitable for younger audiences.
This resource is raising eyebrows about appropriate safe sex education for homosexual and bisexual men.
Sex Therapist Jenny Manuera-Jones says "I know that things like this can be used in an educative way but the training that I've done, we didn’t have anything so graphic like that.”
NZAF created the videos back in 2011 in an effort to educate gay and bisexual men 18-years and over about how to have safe sex.
NZAF Executive Director Jason Myers says "Gay and bi men generally were getting lots of information about how to have sex through their intake of porn and that there was a growing trend in that porn of not being safe, so condoms not being used. So producing those videos was really a response to that and getting a message out there that safe sex is great sex."
2015 was the fourth consecutive year New Zealand saw an increase in the rate of HIV infections for gay and bisexual men. Youth sex education team Te Ahurei Rangatahi says the videos are confronting and could have used a different approach.
Myers says "They're certainly in your face.
"The Love Your Condom campaign is a really sex positive campaign and we try and meet the community where they are with the language and the imagery that we use."
Meanwhile, Te Kāea asked youth at the Big Gay Out for their thoughts about sex education in schools.
Britney Johnston, who identifies as homosexual says "We basically learn about male and female sex education like there is nothing to do with LGBT stuff.
While Kayla Wilson, who identifies as pan-sexual says "They [schools] don't go through deeper meanings for other people like pan-sexuals and demi-sexuals and all these other ones that people might think they are."
NZAF is currently campaigning to end HIV transmissions by 2025.