Country may have been debating homosexuality, but the Muslim majority state of Jammu and Kashmir has already been promoting the safe sex among the homosexuals. Even before the Delhi high court pronounced its judgement decriminalising

homosexuality, the Jammu and Kashmir State Aids Prevention and Control Society (SAPCS) has been quietly counselling the homosexuals that they should use contraceptives before going for the sex and has been distributing condoms free of cost among them.

Project Director SAPCS, MA Wani, said, “We counsel the homosexuals and

even eunuchs through their peer groups, by identifying the people among them who can counsel them against unsafe sex. Our main thrust is to promote the use of condoms among the homosexuals and our second priority in the AIDS programme is to safeguard them against the sexually transmitted diseases”.

“Those cases in which the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are controlled minimise their AIDS risk by 90 per cent. So we make the homosexuals to go for the testing of STDs and to take measures to prevent them,'' added Wani.

He said that homosexuality was prevalent in both Jammu as well as Srinagar and they have identified nearly 300 homosexuals who are being offered the safe sex education. “The homosexuals are from different family backgrounds, but most of them are from the urban areas,'' Wani said.

“But we don't see it with a criminal angle, we see it medically. Although homosexuality is a crime [sic], our aim is to prevent the spread of AIDS in the state,'' added Wani.

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