Historically, men of color involved in leatherplay were hugely ignored by traditional health and human services organizations. Although many entities were funded to develop targeted services for bisexual, gay and other same gender loving men of color, many organizations did not have the knowledge and/or interest to design interventions that could effectively address our lifestyles and sexual practices.

Safer, Saner, Always Consensual!

Instead of continuing to wait for someone to provide for our community, in spring 2004 New York Panthers Leather Club took the lead in addressing the impact of HIV on men of color in the leather scene and accessed resources to create materials that would bring the message home to our community. Our “Safer, Saner, Always Consensual!” made history as the first ever safer sex campaign aimed at men of color into leather, BDSM and fetish activity, and was immediately embraced by our community.

Party N' Play?

This momentous effort re-energized the dialogues about HIV and other health concerns for Brothers, and also identified NYPLC as a leading community based organization around sex and safety issues. Due to the exciting response to the materials, in November 2004 NYPLC collaborated with Harlem United Community AIDS Center and LGBT Center to launch “PNP?” a citywide harm reduction initiative targeting crystal meth use by black gay men.

Play Safe!

These initiatives have led to the development of a larger project that includes social marketing campaigns, outreach, community forums and safer sex workshops. The most recent arm of this project is “Play Safe!” “Play Safe!” is our online resource for health and safety tips important to men of color in the leather community. Not only is this a space to get info on HIV, prostate cancer and other wellness issues, but you will also be able to get the 411 on flogging, fisting, and whatever else you fancy! New topics will be posted monthly, so make sure to check back often for the latest news you can use!

Reading this page and want to hook up with a community-based organization to get help with HIV/AIDS concerns, talk about crystal, get referrals for cheap or free health care and lots of different things? Check out:

Gay Men of African Descent - www.gmad.org
Harlem United Community Aids Center - www.harlemunited.org
LGBT Community Center - www.gaycenter.org/Surveys
People of Color in Crisis - www.pocc.org

We want to make this page work for you, so if there is a topic you would like discussed here at “Play Safe!” please email info at newyorkpanthers dot org