For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Justin Burke -
213.201.1525

AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES CONFRONTS HIGH HIV RATES IN BLACK GAY MEN
WITH NEW CAMPAIGN

“Let’s Flip the Script” Marks Start of African American Gay Men’s Health Initiative

January 8, 2007 Los Angeles, Calif. – AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) today announced the launch of a social marketing campaign to raise awareness about high HIV rates among Black men who have sex with men (MSM) in Los Angeles and to issue a call to action to reverse this public health crisis.

The campaign, called “Let's Flip the Script,” will appear on seven billboards throughout January -- along the Crenshaw Boulevard corridor in South Los Angeles and in two locations on Wilshire Boulevard, one in Hollywood and one in West Hollywood. In addition to the campaign’s title, the billboards display the text, “Bruthas with Bruthas. 1 in 3 Test HIV+.” “Let’s Flip the Script” is part of APLA’s comprehensive efforts to support Black gay men through the African American Gay Men’s Health Initiative.

“One in three Black men who have sex with men in Los Angeles is estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS,” said Craig E. Thompson, APLA executive director. “Black gay men suffer among the highest HIV rates of any risk group in the world. We all need to wake up to the reality of HIV in Black gay communities and begin honest conversations about homophobia, racism and disparities in resources, the dangerous signposts for HIV risk in these communities.”

More than 5,000 bookmarks with art from the campaign were printed for distribution around Los Angeles, and a Web site (www.LetsFliptheScript.org.) provides links to testing and treatment, and ways for visitors to “Flip the Script” in their own lives.

The campaign depicts groups of men in several environments central to black communities, in an effort to normalize conversations about HIV within them. The men appear in a barbershop, around a table with a mother figure, and in a community park. “Let’s Flip the Script” takes its title from a slang expression that means to do the unexpected or reverse direction.

“This campaign features highly visible, contextualized representations of Black men who have sex with men,” said Terry Smith, APLA’s associate director of education who leads the African American Gay Men’s Health Initiative. “Through it, we are talking to Black men and also to their mothers, their family members, their loved ones. We want to encourage dialogue through a campaign that affirms the lives of Black gay men and urges all who see it to do their part to reverse high HIV rates in these communities.”

In early 2007, AAGMHI will hold a series of community forums and other activities, including the launch of a Web site with an interactive message board, a calendar of events and links to resources, publications and blogs by and for Black gay men.

For more information, visit www.LetsFliptheScript.org.

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