what's been happening
at safersex.org?

I first encountered safersex.org back in 1995 when I was surfing part time for Beverly Hills Internet (GeoCities). As the resident surfer on sexual topics I soon discovered the site which would become safersex.org. It was obviously the preeminent safer sex resource on the interent. But that was 21 years ago in internet time.

Lately safersex.org has fallen on bad times.

Safersex.org was started by John Troyer. John amassed this site's materials while he was pursuing his education at the University of California at San Francisco. Please drop John a note and thank him for all the hard work. I hope that over time I can devote as much effort to this publication as he was able. And even come close to doing it as well as he.

So this is version 3.0 of the site. To explain who I am and why I'm undertaking this task let me tell you a story or two. As the webmaster for Condomania I often work out of the Condomania offices. Sometimes late in the afternoon I'll answer the phone.

A few weeks ago I picked up a call to find a young girl on the other end. She was very upset, crying, and seeking help with a dilemma. Seems she was 14, poor, uneducated, pregnant, & scared. How she found Condomania I don't know but after it became apparent she didn't feel she could trust her parents, a family member, a member of the clergy, or even the father of her child I was able to hook her up with her local Planned Parenthood. Within minutes of her initial contact I was on the net matching her zip code (in the outer banks of the Carolinas') against a Planned Parenthood database to find a local phone number of someone who could help her out.

Such is the power of the internet. Across several thousand miles, a veritable gulf in education, and through the auspices of a database this young lady and I were able to connect, if only for a few moments. Hopefully, somehow, this episode was some small piece of a chain of events which will bring healing to this girl and her soon-to-be child.

Another story: a few days ago I spoke to another woman. She's about 45 years old, has three kids, has recently discovered she is allergic to spermicide and has bad medical problems with birth control pills. After many years and several doctors she came across this information and was left with birth control options involving either condoms or surgery.

Now her husband has a problem. Unfortunately, no matter hard he tries or what they do, he is unable to sustain an erection when wearing a condom. This is a big problem if that is the only birth control option available to you.

This woman needed information and a good dose of empowerment. After she and I talked for a while and were able to layout several strategies to deal with this situation she was audiably relieved that through patience, information, and the proper perspective her conjugal problems were not insurmountable.

These are but two examples of the kinds of issues I deal with on a daily basis. And these are but two examples of the reasons behind my taking on the task of rebuilding and regrowing the safersex.org web site.

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