Sex Is Good (1992)

SF AIDS Foundation set to defy Marines

Controversial ad to kick-off AIDS Awareness Month

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, SEPTEMBER 29, 1992 -- The San Francisco AIDS Foundation today announced new placements of an ad which is raising the ire of the Marine Corps. The ad, entitled "Sex Is Good", will be used to kick-off AIDS Awareness Month on Thursday October 1. Placements have been made for that day in both the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner. The ad encourages responsible behavior of sexually active persons. The Marines are up in arms because one of the male models has a tattoo of the Marine Corps emblem clearly visible. In a strongly worded letter, the Marine Corps demanded that the Foundation stop running and destroy the ad.

"The use of the emblem in your advertisement could create the inference that the Marine Corps is somehow partially responsible for the spread of AIDS in the San Francisco area," wrote Marine Major K. H. Winters, Acting Assistant Staff Judge Advocate for Research and Civil Law. The letter goes on to request that the Foundation "remove the advertisement from future distribution and destroy the advertising layout."

Pat Christen, executive director of the SF AIDS Foundation replies, "We have no intention of complying with the Marines' request. It is patently absurd. We are not selling perfume here. We are attempting to stem the tide of a raging epidemic by educating sexually active persons about the responsibilities that accompany sexual activity. These responsibilities include knowing one's antibody status. The assumptions the Marines make in their letter are pathetic and silly."

"This ad in no way suggests that the Marines are responsible for spreading AIDS. The ad was developed to encourage people who may be at risk for AIDS to get an antibody test. Any sexually active person may be at risk for AIDS. This includes sexually active Marines and former Marines, tattooed or not, whatever their sexual orientation may be," said Les Pappas, campaign development director and the man responsible for creating the ad.

The Marines' letter to the Foundation also states that "your use of our emblem could be viewed as tacit approval of homosexuality by the Marine Corps. As you are no doubt aware, neither the Marine Corps nor the Department of Defense permits homosexuals to serve in their uniformed ranks." Christen refused to comment on this paragraph of the letter stating that "its inanity speaks for itself."

Versions of the ad have run twice in Image Magazine, once on January 19 and again on June 28. It was the June 28 ad which featured the model with the tattoo in question.