Gay Pacific Island

Developments

Gay Pacific Island men too shy for their own good

By Florence Syme-Buchanan

SHYNESS may condemn some Pacific Island men to an early death in New Zealand because they are failing to get tested for HIV and AIDS.

Talking openly about sex is a no-no in Pacific Island communities.

And no one knows better about the problems of getting people to address the subject than NZ Aids Foundation Pacific Islands education officer,

Edward Cowley.

Get a group of Pacific island men in a room, ask who’s gay, and no one is going to raise their hand, says

Auckland-based Cowley.

Nor will many Pacific island men take part in surveys, questionnaires or workshops on HIV/AIDs education.

“A lot of Pacific island men will not identify as being gay,” says Edward Cowley.

According to official statistics.

Pacific islanders make up 5% of peo ple who have tested positive for HIV or have contracted full-blown aids in New Zealand.

Not a lot, says Cowley who believes that figure may not be an accurate reflection of the New Zealand situation because Pacific island gay men avoid surveys.

What also makes official figures suspect is that few Pacific islanders get themselves tested for HIV and

Aids.

Cowley’s job is to get Pacific island communities motivated to get tested and educated about the sexually

transmitted disease. It’s not easy because “sexual issues are really sacred and taboo for our people”.

Cowley has the softly, softly approach going through the gate keepers of Pacific island communities, the churches.

He approaches church leaders by saying “we have a problem, can you help overcome it”.

Cowley shows church lead ers the New Zealand HIV/AIDS figures, but does ?■ not point out that only 5 per \ 'I cent of those people are I V \

Pacific islanders., \ V

He says that would get the VW reaction that it’s a pakeha problem and island doors would be hard to open. A I 1 “I’m not sure about the , I ethics of that, but it helps to 1 get the message across,” says V 1

Edward Cowley, of Samoan \ 1

descent. lyy •

Just how sensitive sex issues X are for Pacific island communities, especially amongst church leaders, was evident in a keynote address given at the recent ISPCAN

Congress in Auckland by Reverend J

Tavake Tupou.

Reverend Tupou spoke at length about how many island par- fr'

ents discipline their fe %

children to the point Jp? of abuse. He did not I mention sexual abuse of Pacific island chil- JB ./ : dren. MB:

Cowley targets people like Reverend Tupou by "trying to get them to recognise there is a problem and ask them to help get the message across”.

His tactic is to “let them think it’s their idea and they are more likely to run with it - I get good results from that.’’Although Cowley’s brief is to target gay Pacific island men, he prefers to reach the wider island com munities'.

“A lot of men have (women) part ners, they may have a drink and sleep with another man, that doesn’t make them homosexual, but that puts their partner at risk.

Everyone needs to be educated it’s not just a gay man’s disease anymore”. ■