User:Hails.ak/San Francisco AIDS Foundation

By October 1982 the foundation officially began working with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Through this collaboration, the SFAF was able to provide public services meant to educate people about AIDS. By November the foundation was working with the California Department of Health Services to provide the same services to other areas of California. By 1983 the foundation had reached the point where they could establish a social services department that could offer emergency services to those affected by AIDS and related issues. Additionally, a major part of the SFAF mission was getting condoms in the hands of gay men. Due to the heavily heterosexual advertising and a lack of scientific support, many gay men did not view condoms as useful for their sexual health. In 1987, one of the advertising designers for SFAF, Les Pappas, urged condom companies and public health officials to include gay men in their target audience. Pappas believed that eroticizing condoms and their role in preventing sexually transmitted diseases would change attitudes towards their use. As a result, the SFAF conducted a large advertising campaign, placing messages on public transportation, popular newspapers, and strategically placed advertisements in venues and media popular with the gay community, like gay bars and bathhouses. Additionally, SFAF regularly spoke at public conventions and campaigned to the healthcare fields and government. The foundation also worked with journalists to increase awareness and understanding of the epidemic. The media produced by the SFAF focused on risk reduction and safe sex, emphasizing that sex did not have to end for AIDS to be reduced. In particular the Foundation emphasized the use of condoms during anal intercourse for gay men, and cautioned against activities that shared bodily fluid. While this advertising saw access, SFAF consistently struggled to reach non-white communities.