For those of you who didn’t know, Sunday, May 15th was the 26th Annual AIDS Walk New York in Central Park to raise funds for GMHC and other organizations that do HIV prevention and provide services for people affected by HIV/AIDS.

The AIDS walk is open to everyone, but the vast majority of walkers came in groups representing companies, schools and organizations from Target to the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. It was amazing to see all the different groups and their respective t-shirts; there couldn’t have been a more vibrant or positive group of people.

Although I am not an active member, I walked with Keep a Child Alive (KCA), which raises money to provide care for children who are affected by HIV in Africa. I was stunned to learn that KCA alone raised $66,500 for AIDS Walk New York, and a total of $6.2 million was raised by the 45,000 walkers who turned out for the walk. Even though the weather was cloudy and rainy, clearly no one was afraid of getting a little wet during the 10-kilometer walk.

It was great to talk to all the great people on the walk while volunteers, who lined the road, handed out food, water and even the occasional free condom (these came from a very colorful group dressed up in drag).

You can always raise money and donate to AIDS Walk New York online to support HIV prevention and those affected by HIV/AIDS. But if you and your friends live close to New York City, I highly suggest that you think about fundraising and participating in AIDS Walk New York next year. It was an unforgettable and enlightening experience.

—Sam Dercon, 17, Staff Writer

Condoms, when used correctly, help prevent unplanned pregnancies, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Condoms can be an important part of practicing safer sex, and here at Sex, Etc. we encourage you to make condoms fun. Sex, Etc. is not the only place promoting condom use; in fact, a whole city is promoting it! New York City’s Health Department gives away more than 40 million free condoms a year. Those free condoms have a package specifically designed for New York City, a black wrapper based on the city’s subway motif.

World AIDS Day is held once a year, every year, on December 1. While HIV/AIDS is a daily reality that needs to be discussed and addressed, this is one particular day when people take extra time to get educated, get tested and remember the over 33 million people worldwide, living with HIV/AIDS.

AIDS-related deaths have been decreasing over the past couple of decades for two very good reasons: knowledge and treatment. Yet, HIV/AIDS still has no cure.

This World AIDS Day, we encourage you to remember that there’s a long way to go in developing a cure for HIV and overcoming the social stigma faced by those living with HIV/AIDS all over the world. And while you’re remembering, you can actually do something by participating in a World AIDS Day event near you. And there are two other things you can do, not just today, but any day:

1) Educate yourself about HIV/AIDS and
2) Get tested.

-Anita Modi, 17, Contributor

Did you know that one out of five people with HIV in the U.S. does not even know they are infected? If you think, “Oh, it could never happen to me,” ask yourself, “How can I be sure?”

Think about it! Anyone—young or old, male or female, black or white, gay or straight—can get HIV. So how can you really be sure whether or not you have HIV? There’s only one way to know for certain—get tested.

No matter how safe you think you are are when having sex, get tested.
No matter how much you trust your partner to be STD and HIV-free, get tested.
No matter how scared you are of getting tested, get tested.

Saturday, June 27th is National HIV Testing Day. Grab the widget below and spread the word about getting tested on MySpace or your personal Web site or blog. Check out Blog.AIDS.gov for real stories and videos. And, most importantly, get yourself tested!

To find easy, confidential testing sites in your area, you can simply text your ZIP code to “KNOWIT” (566948), or visit HIVTest.org.

This week MTV premiered Pedro, a film about the life of AIDS activist Pedro Zamora. He was the first openly gay, HIV-positive person on TV. Pedro’s story is just as relevant today as it was in 1994, when he grabbed the nation’s attention on The Real World: San Francisco.

Pedro was diagnosed as HIV positive when he was 17 years old. While MTV’s cameras were rolling, Pedro used the spotlight to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and openly talked about how he got HIV through unprotected sex. Although he died when he was only 22 years old, his story lives on as a reminder for young people to take control of their sex lives and to speak openly and honestly about safer sex and getting tested.

MTV’s Get Yourself Tested (GYT) is a new campaign, aiming to remove the taboos surrounding STD testing. One in two young people will get a sexually transmitted disease (STD) by age 25-and most won’t know it! So before foreplay, GYT!