Content area
Full Text
With the resurgence of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in the United Kingdom, Sex Positive is a timely documentary about Richard Berkowitz, one of those who pioneered the safe sex message to the gay community in the United States in the mid-1980s. Studies in the past two years show that HIV transmission is on the rise again and that, among men who have sex with men, those who know they are HIV positive are more likely to indulge in risky sexual behaviour than those who are not infected or those who don't know their HIV status (Sexually Transmitted Infections 2007;83:392-6; AIDS 2008;22:1063-70).
Berkowitz, a former hustler who specialised in sadomasochism, is interviewed alongside fellow gay activists from the 1980s, HIV researchers, patients, and porn stars. They talk about the turbulent times at the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the US, when misinformation was rife about...