Gay-focused ads removed from bus shelters

SUMMARY: One of a series of public service ads promoting a free health line for GLBT residents of New York City's Bronx borough was pulled in less than 24 hours after complaints that the ad referred to homosexual sex.

One of a series of public service ads promoting a free health line for GLBT residents of New York City's Bronx borough was pulled in less than 24 hours after complaints that the ad referred to homosexual sex.

The ad, part of a new three-part campaign by the Bronx Lesbian and Gay Health Resource Consortium (BLGHRC), showed in image of two men touching on top of a caption that read, "I'm not gay, but I sometimes have sex with other guys."

The BLGHRC campaign targets lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and non-gay identified "men who have sex with men" at risk for infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The lesbian targeted ad shows an image of a single professional woman, while another of the public service messages has an image of a man over a caption about how to help a gay friend get health care.

All three of the ads offer a contact number in both English and Spanish for the Health Link Line, a service that offers health care information for GLBT and straight-identified people alike.

The ads with the two men were removed from bus shelters by Infinity Outdoor, the company that manages bus shelter ads for the city. Lisa Winters, BLGHRC's founder, told the New York Times that the company initially approved all three ads, but after putting them up Monday morning a representative from Infinity Outdoor called BLGHRC and said that the ads with the two men had prompted complaints for their "reference to sex." The ads in question were replaced with copies of the other two ads late Monday night and Tuesday morning.

A spokesman for Infinity Outdoor told the New York Times that he did not know how many complaints were received and declined to explain the nature of the complaints.

John Paul Sanchez, a BLGHRC board member, said that the organization's goal is to ensure access to quality and sensitive health care for the Bronx community -- a part of New York that is 75 percent non-white. When individuals reach the phone number on the ads they are given the option of a referral to a gay-sensitive clinic or doctor.

"People shouldn't walk into a doctor's office and feel that they can't reveal information about themselves," said John Paul Sanchez, a BLGHRC board member.

Indeed, recent Centers for Disease Control studies pointing to high rates of infection with HIV and other STDs among young gay and bisexual men -- especially among African Americans and Latinos -- have been a cause for alarm among health care advocates and GLBT activists. Many HIV/AIDS experts have blamed -- in part -- the high rates of HIV infection among African-American and Latino men on a general silence about homosexuality in the black and Latino communities and a reluctance on the part of gay black and Latino men, and non-gay identified "men who have sex with men," to disclose their sexual practices to doctors and other health care providers.