2008 Jan - Jul - "Drama downunder sexy playoffs"

Between January and July 2008 the {also} Foundation ran a community engagement project regarding HIV and sexual health, targeting GLBTIQ sporting groups in Victoria. The project began with incorporating sexual health messages and distributing materials at the 1^st Asia Pacific Outgames in January 2008. Following on from the games {also} continued pursuing sexual health promotion with sporting groups and attempted to engage community members more actively in sexual health awareness dialogue. This culminated in a sexual health championships event

The night consisted of trivia style (mostly comedic) quiz questions of which the topics were regarding sexually transmitted infections, blood born viruses, and accessories for safe sex. There was also an opportunity for teams to win up to ten points for their demonstration- these included singing, role plays, no glove no love tango, miss STI beauty pageant, burn of the century game show, and more.

 96 participants entered the "Drama Down Under Sexy Play Offs" and groups correctly answered an average of 81% of the quiz questions most of which were set at a very challenging level. Teams reported having learnt a lot about sexual health in the process increased their awareness of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), notably in the area of asymptomatic infections.

This project was always intended as a partnership project between {also} and HIV sector organisations, as {also}, despite having a long history of supporting prevention of HIV and support for those living with HIV, is not an expert in this area in the way that the VAC or People Living With HIV/AIDS Victoria (PLWHA) are. So the concept of {also}'s involvement was based on facilitating broad GLBTIQ community engagement whilst promoting and disseminating campaigns designed by the experts in the field.

To do this, {also} and an expert project reference group consisting of representatives from the Department of Human Services(DHS), The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (Vic Health), People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) Victoria, The Victorian AIDS Council (VAC) and Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria developed the project in close consultation.

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