ELIMINATING THE BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION - SAFER SEX-EDUCATION FOR LESBIANS AND BISEXUAL WOMEN

This article describes the inability of the traditional ''take one mor e step towards safety'' and ''use a condom every time'' safer sex mess ages to provide accurate, useful, and realistic information for women who have sex with women. A new model of safer sex education for lesbia ns and bisexual women is proposed which promotes a healthy sexuality b y reducing fear of HIV and STDs, and comparing the possibility of dise ase transmission with other everyday risks. The eight studies to date showing the extremely low risk of woman-to-woman HIV transmission are explained by reviewing current scientific knowledge about how HIV beha ves, and discussing which woman-to-woman sex acts might carry some ris k, Techniques to bridge the pro-latex/anti-latex communication gap are described, This paper was originally presented at the national confer ence of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality in San Franc isco in November, 1995 under the title ''Safer Sex Education for Lesbi ans and Bisexual Women: A New Model.''