re:Vision – bringing young gay/bi men together
Nobody ever said New Orleans lacked in activities for people to do. Between the bars, festivals and historic sites it’s hard to imagine ever feeling alone in the city. While all the glitz and glamour of the city can be appealing, young gay and bi men still sometimes find it hard to make a connection with one another. Certain bars, restaurants and hang out spots certainly offer gay men a feeling a inclusion, but going beyond that, to reach a deeper lever of community interaction, can be a bit more difficult.
ReVision is a project designed as an answer to that community need. We are a group comprised of gay and bisexual men between the ages of 18 to 35 that meet regularly each month for various activities including: game and movie nights, community service projects and safer sex outreach events.
As coordinators, our responsibilities include performing rapid HIV counseling and testing for the community and coordinating groups of young gay men to develop and implement empowering social gatherings. New Orleans gives us a unique opportunity to work with a diverse population, and we encourage the young men to explore the vibrant, often free, local scene in the city that does NOT involve heading out to meet up at a bar.
ReVision is run based off the principle of the national MPowerment Project. We recruit you guys to be part of our Core Group. As members of the Core Group it is up to you to decide what the group would like to do. You can schedule us to go to a play at the Mahalia Jackson or have a kickball game at the Fly. It is our job as facilitators to help the logistics come together but it is up to our members to help decide what events to put on each month.
Based on the idea that young gay and bisexual men are the best forces through which an HIV prevention message can be communicated to men of that age range, re:Vision creates a feedback loop through which young men actively educate their peers about safer sex and healthy lifestyle choices. By encouraging young men to take on an altruistic attitude, the re:Vision project allows gay and bi guys to help mold a healthy, energetic, and politically active community of men.
Many cities all over the United States, especially in New Orleans, continue to be severely affected by the AIDS epidemic and as you gay men we should take great pride in knowing that we are able to have a role in helping those in need. Re:Vision is able to test your ability to find meaning in the duties entrusted to young gay men and it encourages us to draw upon that meaning in order to strive harder for success in our day-to-day lives
Re:Vision meets regularly at “The Space” on 2114 Decatur Street, which is located behind the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. Here, the group hosts’ events such as cook outs, game nights, free wi-fi parties and movie/logo nights to crowds of 15-50 guys of all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
If you are moved to take a hand in creating the gay community in your own image through the re:Vision project, or would like a calendar of this month’s events, please contact the project coordinators, Brandon and Matt .
Phone: 504-945-4000 ext. 204 or ext. 203
Email: revisionnola@gmail.com , BrandonB@noaidstf.org, MatthewV@noaidstf.org
Facebook: Facebook.com/nolarevision
Twitter: @revisionnola
