Team Friendly Atlanta wants to start a community-wide conversation about HIV stigma in a way that's interesting — and fashionable.
The new organization that aims to dispel HIV bias is sponsoring a t-shirt design contest open to the public. Submissions for the contest begin are now through July 4. The board will select finalists and then open voting begins July 11 with the winner announded on Aug. 15.
“We wanted to bring up the topic of stigma and what causes it, why people are not disclosing their status, are not confiding in their friends, are not seeking services. This stigma has been going on as long as there has been HIV but we've not dealt with it like when it was first discovered,” said Randy Prophater, a founding member of Team Friendly Atlanta.
Team Friendly Atlanta, a group dedicated to reducing HIV stigma, held its launch party and a fundraiser at Jungle on Saturday, March 16. Participants bid to get people "dirty" and then bid to clean them off. And it was a sexy night for many of the guys, and two women, who were willing to auctioned off for charity. Those who were auctioned off included HIV activist and former Mr. Atlanta Eagle Chandler Bearden, Mark Gordon aka DJ Diablo Rojo, porn star Charlie Harding, aerialist Melissa Coffey, SirBen and Joeboy, leatherboy Dana Prosser and Lizzy Fountain, organizer for the "Dirty Boys" calendar.
Pamm Burdett of the Lloyd E. Russell Foundation donated $1,000 to have Bearden glitterbombed — and this Atlanta Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence chipped in $50 each to also have the pleasure of pouring glitter on him. It's probably safe to say he will be picking off glitter for years to come.
Team Friendly t-shirts were on sale and donations of male hygiene products were also being collected to donate to Lost-n-Found Youth, an organization that has served some 150 homeless LGBT youth in metro Atlanta. Eight of those young people have tested positive for HIV, according to Rick Westbrook, founder of Lost-n-Found.