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Sex Positive Details History
In 1985, “safe sex” was all the rage among sexually active men and women, homosexuals and heterosexuals alike, as the primary form of protection against HIV/AIDS. I was too young and uninformed then to know that it had taken the controversial efforts of several people to bring safe sex to the forefront of my and others’ consciousness.
An enlightening documentary titled Sex Positive (Regent/here! Films) is scheduled for theatrical release on March 20 in select U.S. cities, including Los Angeles. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at 2008’s Outfest, it uncovers the little-known story and real-life figures behind the philosophical development and subsequent practice of safe sex.
Richard Berkowitz was a young, newly out gay man involved in the underground bondage scene when the mysterious, deadly epidemic that would become known as AIDS hit New York City in the early 1980s. After watching dozens of friends die in a matter of months, Berkowitz became determined to protect himself and others.
His initial attempts at self-defense, while remaining sexually active, came too late to prevent him from becoming infected. However, his research and growing activism led him to virologist Dr. Joseph Sonnabend and popular musician-activist Michael Callen. The three would become an outspoken team in gay circles during the mid ’80s’, inspiring equal parts appreciation and condemnation.
Sonnabend discovered that gay men with AIDS had sexual histories overwhelmingly characterized by multiple partners and prior diagnoses with other sexually transmitted diseases. Initially, Sonnabend thought his subjects’ promiscuity directly weakened their immune systems to the point that AIDS was the natural result. Berkowitz and Callen became convinced by the doctor’s arguments and began to speak out at gay pride events and in the media against promiscuous sexual activity. They also co-published a 1983 booklet called How to Have Sex in an Epidemic, which is regarded as the first safe-sex treatise.
As Sex Positive reveals, through vintage news footage and new interviews, the virologist and his two disciples were quickly labeled “the Jerry Falwells of the gay community” for challenging their contemporaries on their risky sexual behavior. The trio’s speaking out against homosexual promiscuity and advocating the use of condoms were regarded by many gay leaders as a betrayal of much of what the community had fought for up to that point. Gay activist-playwright Larry Kramer became one of their most vociferous opponents.
The film’s director, Daryl Wein, spoke of what motivated him to make Sex Positive. “Both in government and the gay population, the widespread silence during the early years of the AIDS crisis is absolutely shocking,” Wein said. “People my age were not born of the era in which the crisis of AIDS forced behavioral change. I feel it is my duty to challenge the complacency of my generation by instilling the values of those forgotten heroes.”
The “behavioral change” of safe sex remains controversial in some LGBT circles. The proliferation of adult videos depicting unprotected (“bareback”) sex can be regarded as a direct repudiation of safe-sex practices. As a result, it isn’t surprising that HIV-infection rates among gay teens and young adults in the United States nearly doubled between 2001 and 2006. Yet, many sexually active adults remain committed to safe sex 25 years after the term was coined.
Sex Positive focuses on Berkowitz, who, along with Sonnabend, is still living (Callen died of AIDS-related complications in 1993). Berkowitz is a compelling, well-spoken subject, but Sex Positive grows increasingly one-sided in allowing him to take center stage. Callen and his significant contributions — educational, political and musical — occasionally end up getting pushed to the side.
Still, Sex Positive is definitely worth seeing, if for no other reason than the filmmakers’ willingness to shine a spotlight on the achievement of Berkowitz, Callen and Sonnabend. After all, many of us literally owe our lives to them.