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Story: Gay men’s lives

Safer sex

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Safer sex

In the 1980s AIDS infection and mortality rates were highest among gay men. The gay community responded by encouraging safer sex practices to prevent transmission of the HIV virus. This 1988 advertisement by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation promotes the use of condoms during sex.

Courtesy of New Zealand AIDS Foundation

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Eph-D-AIDS-1988-01

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Chris Brickell, Gay men’s lives – Gay activism and law reform, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/27643/safer-sex (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Chris Brickell, published 21 February 2011.