film by bill biss
Richard Berkowitz in the 1970s
Sex Positive
RichaRd BeRkowitz Receives his due
It’s unfathomable that 26 years ago, when AIDS ravaged and killed thousands of people, that safe sex and how to practice it was unheard
of. Richard Berkowitz, Michael Callen and Dr. Joe Sonnaband banded together to spread the word to largely deaf ears that the lifestyle
choices for many gay men were leading to the disease of AIDS. Wear a condom? Gay men wouldn’t hear of it, yet anal sex was the leading
cause of spreading the HIV virus. In the brilliant documentary film called Sex Positive, director/producer/editor Daryl Wein explores the
history of the epidemic with a realistic look back on the life of Richard Berkowitz. Yes, Berkowitz was an S&M sex worker. Yes, Berkowitz
contracted HIV and yes…Berkowitz is a journalist who authored the very first safe-sex manual called How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One
Approach. The backlash against this pamphlet was extraordinary. He was vilified by those same gay men who were living the very lifestyle
that was killing them. The film is a historical and moving portrait of these three men and it was a true honor to be able to speak to Richard
Berkowitz on his place in gay history and his stance in the face of AIDS.
Rage: In having Daryl Wein document this on film, Rage: You were just trying to help.
what did you hope to gain after doing this? RB: I understand now and I’m totally forgiving of history from 26 years ago. I
Richard Berkowitz: I really feel that gay people or people in general, don’t know wanted a new generation to know that safe sex didn’t come from the govern-
the history of how safe sex began. I think it’s sad. I think it’s the result of gay censor- ment, it didn’t come from science, it didn’t come from the C.D.C. (Center for
ship. Protective gay censorship… people felt that what we were saying was too Disease Control)… it came from us. It came from grass roots activists. I think that’s
dangerous at the time. I think that Michael Callen and I, under Dr. Sonnaband’s something to be proud of and celebrate.
tutelage, were among the first to say that there was something unhealthy about
the lifestyle that we had embraced and celebrated. We were kind of never for- Rage: This was before they had discovered the HIV virus?
given for that. RB: Safe sex as we know it today was invented before the discovery of HIV
We wanted to say a few things. We wanted to say what we thought was causing because we were saying that certain other sexually transmitted viruses and infec-
AIDS. We wanted to then talk about how to adapt to the age of AIDS. Because the tions are important to avoid to protect your long-term immunological health.
response to the first article was so virulent, by the time we were ready with part
two, we had been demonized in the community and no one really wanted to hear Rage: You are very well-spoken. Just don’t say promiscuity. (laughter)
what we had to say. RB: If you’re going to say something positive about promiscuity, no one has a
12 RAGE monthly | June 2009
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