Last February’s announcement of the discovery of a new highly dangerous HIV super-strain injected fear throughout the HIV and gay communities.

More than just fear it also brought back some archaic views of the gay community that have not been seen since the beginning of the AIDS crisis. Now taking a look back at the situation more carefully we may be able to see the details surrounding this unneeded and unhelpful reaction. As, unfortunately, moral and economical reasons once again have stood in the way of good scientific and prevention approach.

One of the most heated debates of the 80’s, which was brought about by the HIV/AIDS crisis, revolved around saunas and public baths used by gay men in the USA. Let’s take a look back: it was the first years of the epidemic, in the middle of the conservative Reaganist revolution, we were not sure what HIV would come to be but it was already frightening, and without any hopes of a treatment in the near future.

People took sides on the matter. On one, the health authorities and a number of gay activists of the time called for the closing of the saunas because they were places where unprotected sexual acts were taking place. On the other, also gay activists and Human Rights groups opposed the restriction to the rights of privacy and liberty and understood that it would be a counterproductive measure. The latter lost, and many baths were closed in New York, San Francisco and in other cities.

Obviously gay men still desired to have casual sex and so they began to look for alternatives to the closing of the saunas. Which gave to the spreading of "sex parties" in people’s homes, with invitations coming by word of mouth, and more or less hidden sex clubs, and finally in the 90’s, with the Internet boom, the sexual rendezvous through the web. Whoever wanted to have sex, of one type or another, looked for it and found it.

HIV/AIDS prevention activists were disheartened: the prohibition of these areas not only did not stop the epidemic among men who have sex with men but at the same time made these practices go underground, which made it much more difficult for the prevention programs and messages to reach those who were taking part in these activities. The saunas, at least, allowed to know where the sex was happening, and therefore helped them in promoting and increasing safe sex. In the end, it doesn’t matter where or with whom, but how you have sex.