CDC to SF AIDS group: Cancel "Booty Call" event

'Booty Call' Recalled

"Booty Call," the federally funded HIV prevention program sponsored by the Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco deemed to have violated federal laws and regulations by the U.S. Inspector General, was set to return last week but was cancelled the day the event was scheduled.

"Booty Call" had been advertised for Thursday, April 25 at the Stop AIDS Project's main office and was described as: "Dildos, plugs, fisting and rimming. After a little basic science, share tales of intercourse and orgasm. Learn how to play safely. Find out why so many of us find ass play such a major turn-on!"

A Congressional Subcommittee asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which provided the funding for 'Booty Call', to "provide the Subcommittee with evidence that Booty Call is now fully complying with its cooperative agreement and other CDC guidance as well as minutes or notes from the local review panel that approved this program." In response, the Subcommittee was told by the CDC that Stop AIDS Project had decided to cancel the event.

The Stop AIDS Project said low turn out was the reason they decided to cancel the event according to press sources. Others were skeptical.

"Stop AIDS Project claims that they can only reach at risk gay men by putting on provocative programs like Booty Call," said AIDS activist Michael Petrelis of San Francisco. "By their own admission, this program has a low turn out as those they are trying to reach have either been turned off or tuned out their provocative workshops. And while Stop AIDS Project is wasting and misusing federal HIV resources, the City's HIV rate is soaring to the highest levels in 20 years, according to the SF health department."

Last year, Janet Rehnquist, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, stated that her office had "determined that materials from the Project's workshops provided information on HIV/AIDS prevention did not fully comply with the cooperative agreement and other CDC guidance.

Some of the information presented in the workshops, in our opinion, could be viewed as "encourag[ing] directly... sexual activity," in violation of CDC's guidance. In addition, the Project did not follow the CDC requirement that curriculum materials be evaluated by a local review panel. In addition, the Project's sexually explicit advertisements, specifically cited in the Chairman's letter, were approved in advance of their use by the local review panel, they likewise, in our opinion, could be construed "encourag[ing], directly,... sexual activity" and as "obscene," and thus not in compliance with CDC guidance." The Inspector General specifically cited "Booty Call" as one of the programs violating federal requirements.

The Stop AIDS Project receives nearly $700,000 annually in federal HIV prevention funds from the CDC.