THE LGBT Foundation is holding workshops on LGBT sexual health and free HIV screenings across Manchester ahead of National HIV Testing week.
The workshops promote safe sex between LGBT adults, and shed light on the dangers of sexually transmitted infections – HIV in particular.
Patrick Baxter, D.A., sexual health officer with the LGBT Foundation in Manchester, lead the workshop in University of Salford, where students could get free HIV screenings after the sex health discussion.
Dr Baxter said it is important for HIV testing to be social as well as clinical.
“The only difference for that person half an hour after they’ve got a reactive result to then half an hour before they went and got the test, is now they have the knowledge and access to a toolkit,” he said.
With National HIV Awareness Week 2017 coming up this Saturday (Nov 18th), the LGBT foundation encourages people to get tested for HIV in their facility or any GUM clinic.
Statistics show that over half of the newly diagnosed HIV cases are men who have sex with men (MSM).
Dr Baxter said this is probably related to the heteronormative nature of traditional sex education, and the stigma attached to MSM.
“We live in a very heteronormative world, everything is set up for straight people, so that impacts on their well-being,” he said.
Unlike most traditional sex ed sessions, the LGBT sexual health workshops also cover different sexual orientations, kink, and unconventional sexual practices like “chemsex”.
“We want to reduce risk; we don’t want to tell people that the sex they’re having is wrong,” Dr Baxter said.
A twitter poll suggests that most people agree that sex ed classes should cover such taboo topics.
Do you think sex ed sessions should cover different sexual orientations, kink, types of sexual activities that could be considered “untraditional”?
RT after vote
— vicky (@THEBLACKWlDOW) November 15, 2017
I think common ones like bdsm are worth discussing cuz people have given it a really bad rap and uninformed people engage in dangerous activity when everything in bdsm revolves around consent and boundaries
— ☀️kylo hen☀️ (@superthotty) November 15, 2017
yes to sexual orientations, yes to definitions intro to kinks & rules like safe sane and consensual with BSDM and such bc otherwise teens may get into situations where they don't know whats happening/ok in sexual activities
— krusca (@artingkrusca) November 15, 2017
“Sex is a human right, to me, and we should be having it as much as possible, but also enjoying it as much as possible,” Dr Baxter said.
The workshop notes that not talking about certain practices does not mean people do not engage in them; teaching about them, however, would make them safer.
LGBT Foundation and HIV Prevention England offer more information about National HIV Testing Week 2017 on their websites.
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