06.17.08 - Tweaker.org launches This Little Sex Piggy

The Sex Piggy campaign borrows from a Mother Goose rhyme, but adds some pointed twists: “This little piggy watched porn,” will read a caption on a poster at Castro and Market. “This little piggy went to SOMA…and this little piggy knew when to go home.”

Some gay men refer to themselves as “sex pigs” because of their interest in and pursuit of “extreme” sex. While this may include SM, group sex, or water sports, it also can refer to the quantity and quality of more routine sexual encounters. While “pig sex” can be and most often is a healthy expression of gay male sexuality, like all sexual interactions it can include activities that may place people at increased risk for HIV infection. This risk may be particularly heightened when a person is high on crystal meth. According to the HIV Prevention Section of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, almost 90% of the city’s nearly 1,000 new HIV infections every year are among gay men, and a third of these new infections among gay men is attributable to crystal meth.

Stonewall, an outpatient substance use treatment program of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, provides nonjudgmental information, education and peer support as well as professional counseling to gay men who do crystal meth or who have questions about it. The Stonewall Project launched tweaker.org in 2002 with HIV prevention funds.

Tweaker.org will distribute Sex Piggy palm cards throughout the city during Gay Pride, with harm-reduction messages on the back such as, “If crystal’s part of your game, set your limits before you’re on the scene or in one. And think about how you’re gonna keep to your limits before your run into them.”

In addition, Tweaker.org will place Sex Piggy advertisement in the Pride issue of Gloss Magazine and highlight the campaign on its popular website, tweaker.org, which receives as many as 2,300 visitors a day.

Michael Siever, Stonewall’s Director, explained that Sex Piggy grew out of conversations with many of the agency’s clients and peer educators who were concerned about sexual behaviors guys engage in when high that they might not otherwise do. “The campaign’s apparently humorous, tongue-in-cheek tone will grab attention and start people talking,” Siever said. “And it’ll provide important HIV prevention messages to some of the people most at risk of HIV.”

Previous Tweaker.org social marketing campaigns have included similar harm-reduction messages such as, “Remember when enough (crystal) was enough?” and “Hot Sex without crystal? Hell yes!”

Tweaker.org will kick-off the Sex Piggy campaign, funded by San Francisco’s Department of Public Health’s HIV Prevention Section, with a celebration this Friday, June 20^th, at Magnet, the Foundation’s health and wellness center for gay men in the heart of the Castro. Hosted by Sister Roma from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the party will feature the models appearing on the campaign’s advertisements and palm cards, and a guest of honor—a large pink piggy, who will distribute pig snouts to everyone. The celebration will begin at 9 pm at Magnet, 4122 18^th Street, near Castro. All are welcome.

“The point of This Little Sex Piggy,” Siever said, “is to enable people to make more thoughtful decisions regarding their lives and health, to keep themselves safe.”