Abstract

Although previous studies have explored the effectiveness of the sex-positive and sexually explicit HIV prevention education produced by Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) and other AIDS organizations during the early years (1980s-1990s) of the AIDS epidemic, the history of the development of these materials — and the theoretical foundations upon which they were based — remain relatively unexplored. To gain a better understanding of the birth of sex-positive HIV prevention materials and education curricula, the current study analyzes pre-AIDS archival public health material (i.e., Hepatitis B prevention and cigarette-smoking cessation programs of the 1970s), prevention and educational materials from GMHC archived in the New York Public Library, and oral history interviews with former GMHC Prevention and Education Department staff. Analysis of these materials suggest that the radical prevention models which emerged from 1970s gay-friendly health organizations, the gay-affirming sex-positive organizational culture at GMHC, and their relative independence from other public health agencies were sources of inspiration for GMHC’s sexually explicit AIDS education materials. Findings from this study may broaden our understanding of the ways in which health organizations (and affiliated activists) created effective prevention material during the AIDS crisis, and may serve to inform and possibly improve contemporary public sexual health initiatives.