dandaman6007
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Sex. It is a topic that is discussed on TV, in music, in Washington by our politicians, at dining room tables, and now....at the Winter Olympic games in Vancouver.
Luckily, the discussion in Vancouver isn't about morals or shame around sex, but about safe sex. 100,000 condoms were shipped to the Olympic Villages where the athletes live in Whistler and Vancouver. The Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research provided them. 100,000 condoms are a lot; this means there were at least 14 condoms for every athlete.
Apparently, many athletes have ditched their earlier theory of no sex before a game or competition. There was a shortage of condoms, and another 8,500 were airlifted to Vancouver! The executive director of he Canadian Foundation for AIDS research, who authorized the shipment, said:
"When we heard about the condom shortage in Vancouver, we felt it important to respond immediately. Safer sex is key to preventing the spread of the HIV virus."
Amen! It is awesome that in Canada a shortage of condoms is cause for alarm. Imagine if condoms were distributed at high school football games in the US...parents and conservative action groups would panic, the person distributing the condoms would probably get in trouble, and it would most likely not end well. Sure, distributing condoms to adults at the Olympics is different that distributing them to high school students. Even the Great American Condom Campaign, a project that distributes millions of condoms every year on college campuses, does not distribute condoms among high school students. How many teens became pregnant or caught an STD shortly after a high school football game? Probably a lot. Since we are not very open about condoms and safe sex in the United States, to many teens just don’t bother using them.
In Canada, however, it seems that they are more open about condom use. Condoms have even turned into a free and sexy souvenir item -many people are collecting them. This helps raise awareness around condoms use.
(credit: Condom Mania: From the Olympics to the World Cup, are condoms the new collector's craze?
Kudos to Canada, the Olympic organizing committee (who also had a role in distributing condoms), and the Canadian Foundation for AIDS research for helping raise condom awareness. I hope this trend will continue at large scale public events. Condoms should be distributed at concerts, sporting events, political rallies, festivals, schools, etc, because unprotected sex is not ok.
I'm really interested to see how South Africa picks up on this trend for the 2010 World Cup this summer.