Sending a message

[LifeLube has been highlighting this fabulous campaign - which was launched in NYC and most recently in Boston. What follows is a great reaction piece from Boston's Bay Windows paper.]

On June 8, the morning of the launch of JRI Health’s new ad campaign drawing attention to the lives of gay men in Boston’s black communities, JRI Health executive director Douglas Brooks got the chance to see the impact of the new campaign firsthand. Riding up Columbus Avenue on the 22 bus into Egleston Square, Brooks saw the billboard showing a young black man surrounded by his family. Above the photo, in bold letters, was the message, “I am gay – and this is where I stay.” Underneath the photo was another message, “We have always been a part of this community. We are your sons, fathers, brothers, uncles, nephews and friends. It’s time to treat us with the love we deserve.”

Brooks said he was curious to see how his fellow passengers would respond to the billboard.

”[I was] on a bus full of black people, and wondering what the reactions would be…. I saw people looking at it. I saw people reading it. You can’t help it, it draws your attention because it’s so bold, and just the way the corner is, and the bus is going down Columbus, so it’s there. You can’t help but see it,” Brooks told Bay Windows. “And I think more than anything the fact that there were no comments made me feel good. I thought, ‘Okay, maybe people are just sort of taking it in,’ or at least they’re not making loud homophobic remarks on the bus. But I was very proud of it, too. I hope it makes a difference.”

Read the rest of this Bay Windows article (Boston) here.