I Will Survive! (If I use this sexay condom....teeehee)

A disco-ball-shaped condom I picked up at the Planned Parenthood table at the Transgender Lives Conference on Saturday, 4/17.

NOW I see what "Lady GayGay" means when she says she "wants to take a ride on your disco stick!"

You can always get free condoms (including cute ones like this) at Planned Parenthood in CT, and with 18 health centers across the state, there's definitely one in your area. We loves 'em coz they're really LGBTQIA friendly, open and affirming.

You can always get free condoms at Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective (HGLHC), too. Stop in and grab some in all the cool varieties we have to offer, no questions asked!

-jamie

TXT 4 UR TEST!

DID YOU KNOW....

1 in 2 people who have sex will get a sexually transmitted disease (STD) by the age of 25, and most won’t know it. If you’re sexually active, the only way to know is to GYT (Get Yourself Talking and Tested).

OMG. GYT!

http://www.hivtest.org/

Find your nearest HIV and STD testing site. Or call 860-278-4163 to set up your testing appointment.

You can even confidentially TEXT MESSAGE the Safety Net team leader, Jamie B, to set up an HIV and/or STD test. Just text "HIV TEST" to  860-268-3777.



Be Well. Be Yourself.

--jamie b., Safety Net team leader

News from HGLHC!

Queer Prom 2010 * April is STD Awareness Month * Gay Bingo April 24 * Komen Foundation Grant at Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective * New Board Member Marci Simmons * Volunteer Spotlight on Douglas Zywiczynski

& MORE!

Safety Net: Condom Demonstration!

SAFETY NET team members Troy and Jamie show you how to use a male condom correctly!

Sex and the UniverCity: Sun, shades and STDs

Sex and the UniverCity: Sun, shades and STDs
From the University of Connecticut's DAILY CAMPUS Newspaper
By Alyssa Carroll
Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, March 3, 2010


Bikinis, beaches and bodies; spring break is a guaranteed recipe for some seriously sexy times. But with a week of students looking to party, there’s something else that can really make things start burning up: an STD.

Meeting people is bound to happen, but for every sexy accent comes a whole slew of foreign diseases ready to pounce on your freshly-tanned body.

International travelers are at particularly high risk of contracting STDs, including HIV and syphilis, when having sex with locals.

Foreign locations may have legalized prostitution, and just because you would never be involved with one, doesn’t mean the cute guy on the beach never has.

Similarly, when having a one-night stand, take a minute to think about the person you’re with (beyond their cute butt). Think to yourself about how easy a decision it was for that person to sleep with you. If it doesn’t seem like this is a new thing for this person, you may want to wonder how many times he or she has done this before.

According to 1999 World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, “340 million new cases of curable STIs (syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis) occur annually throughout the world in adults aged 15-49 years,” and the number is only growing.

WHO also reports 30 different kinds of sexually transmissible bacteria, viruses and parasites.

So, let’s do some quick math.

If there were 340 million curable STI cases in ’99, 30 kinds of STDs and 200 people in the bar you’re partying at, what are the chances of contracting something totally vacation-ruining?

Probably higher than your chances of winning a wet T-shirt contest.

These numbers are not listed to encourage celibacy, but being smart and safe is obviously the most important part of being on vacation.

Now, in an attempt to avoid preachy “safer sex” information about the importance of condoms (and about how they are 99.9 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and how they prevent STDs and general grossness), I’ll skip that whole spiel. [Safety Net editor's note: you can find all that info on this page anyway!]

But remember, crabs are only cute on the beach.

Safety Net St. Patrick's Day Party @ Tommy's!

Wednesday, March 17th
7-10PM (or whenever)

Tommy's Restaurant - Gay/Bear Night
825 Saybrook Road
Middletown, CT

Directions, menu, etc here: http://www.tommysrestaurant.com/

Join us for a fun night at Tommy's Restaurant in Middletown. It's gay & bear night, so join the guys and the Safety Net crew for a fun night of food, drinks, and FREE STUFF to celebrate St Patrick's Day!

Bring your cell phones and wireless devices and send out this month's Safety Net message on site for your chance to win prizes, gift cards, and more!

It's gonna be fun night. We'll see you there! Rock out with your shamrock out!

-jamie

Show YOUR True Colors... wink wink

Hey er'rybodddy!

It's time for the weekend, woohoo! Hopefully you're on your way out to enjoy the True Colors conference, the world's largest LGBTQIA youth conference being held at UConn in Storrs today and tomorrow, and you're psyched for the great workshops, free giveaways, amazing information, really cool brilliant people, fun gay stuff to buy, and FUN FUN FUN events and basically the biggest gayest day for LGBTQIA youth I can think of. Always a good time.

But maybe you've got even gayer activities planned for the weekend, like... um... well, I guess the only thing more queer than the True Colors conference is gay sex itself! (Although I saw this Facebook post about the conference today: "Damn. That's gay. But not as gay as eating a unicorn sandwich at a Liza Minnelli conference while wearing a Mariah Carey t-shirt and twirling a baton dipped in glitter." And yeah, that's possibly gayer than gay sex).

Anyway, if you might be gettin' lucky this weekend, DO get some fun GREEN condoms from HGLHC to celebrate spring and/or St Patrick's Day. And speaking of colorful condoms, I found this really fun, hot sex game from a Johns Hopkins newsletter. Yes, we nerds have sex, too! Here's a hot sex game idea:

"Condoms don't need to have such a negative stigma. In fact, with
the right attitude and the right choices, condoms can be fun and can provide another reason to play games in bed. For example, a friend of mine assigns each "activity" a color, picks a condom randomly and they do whatever the color is -- while using the condom."

Why didn't I think of that?! We just got a new shipment of all kinds of fun rainbow color condoms so you can have ALL varieties of "activities" depending on what color condom you use... brings a whole new meaning to "collect them all!" In fact, I challenge you to go ahead and stop by to pick up an assortment of rainbow rubbers to try this out. Hey, I'll even have 'em right near the front door for you so you can just get in and out and on with it. I meant the condom pick-up, not the condom useage! Oh, your poor deprived partner.

Then come back here and post your most creative safer sex ideas (positions, activities, places, etc!), one for each color of the rainbow. Sounds hot!

-jamie

Have a really happy St. Patrick's Day!

Don't miss the condom of the month at Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective... pick up your free condoms in four-leaf-clover green in their spring-grass-green wrappers to celebrate spring or St. Patrick's Day in style!

Get lucky with lubricated LifeStyles brand condoms, and...

rock out with your shamrock out!


Grab your free condoms & safer sex kits at HGLHC, 1841 Broad St in Hartford. Stop in and say hi to the safer sex squad, or talk to Jamie to become part of the Safety Net team-- you could win great gift cards, have fun, and hook your friends up with cool, free goodies.




Congratulations to Austin, our most recent Safety Net teammate who won our monthly drawing for a $25 gift card. Austin has been a stellar participant in Safety Net since its humble beginnings and is one of the funniest & nicest guys I know. He's also helped to come up with previous Safety Net messages and is actively involved in social and community-building events in Hartford, CT, and beyond.

At right is one of my my favorite pics of him, giving some serious sexy face! Thanks again for being on the Safety Net team.

January's Second Safety Net Message

Congratulations to ERNESTO, our Safety Net volunteer winner of the month! He received a $25 gift card to Dunkin Donuts for his participation this month in the Safety Net HIV prevention program. I want to encourage our Safety Net volunteers to fill out the online survey after your participation each month. You, too, could win fabulous gift cards and prizes while helping the community!

If you’d like to become a Safety Net volunteer, text or call me, Jamie, at 860-268-3777 (add me into your contacts as Jamie Bassell if you want) to get started.

If you’re already a volunteer, GREAT! Please go ahead and send out the 2nd message of January:

Use a condom with your partner tonight. It’ll look good on you! ;) From your friends @ Safety Net. More info: www.hglhc.org/safetynet

(This can also be abbrvt’d in the following txt form)

use a condom w ur partner 2night. It’ll look gr8 on u! from ur friends @ Safety Net. hglhc.org/safetynet

Condoms can be sexy, and HGLHC has many colors, flavors, textures, brands, and varieties. Some have lube, studs or ribs for extra pleasure, and others even glow in the dark! Be creative, be sexy, be safe.

All kinds of condoms are available for free at Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective. Stop in for a sampler pack or see what we have to offer. Find the perfect condom for you and your partner.


Make a stylish statement with different styles available.
They're the perfect way to accessorize any outfit... especially a birthday suit. ;)

Express yourself AND protect yourself!

From your friends,
-The Safety Net Team

Happy New Year from Safety Net @ HGLHC!

Safety Net wants to help you get a head start on your new year's resolution to have a happy and healthy 2010. From now until January 22nd, get a FREE rapid HIV test at Hartford Gay & Lesbian Health Collective (HGLHC) when you present the text or email you received with this information, or mention the code "SN2010."

Call, email, or IM to make an appointment. Contact details for the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective are below:

Location: 1841 Broad St, Hartford CT. Just a block south of Trinity College.
Phone: (860) 278-4163 (ext 17 for Jamie B, and/or her confidential voicemail)
Email: jamieb@hglhc.org (confidential email address for Jamie B, Safety Net project coordinator and HIV Counselor)
AOL Instant Messenger Screen Name: HGLHC




And new for 2010... make a resolution to find the perfect condom for you and your partner(s).

http://www.condomdepot.com/product/detail.cfm/nid/212/pid/2474

Or pick up your free condoms at HGLHC. We always have tons of fun varieties to try and they are completely, totally, 100% free of charge!


Be Well! Be Yourself.

Jamie
--The Safety Net Team @ HGLHC