As Illinois Sexual Health and Guidance, or I-SHAG, Week comes to a close, leaders of Sexual Health Peers are working to promote remaining events, including the annual Dance Against AIDS.
This will be the eighth instance of the annual dance, an event that raises money for the Greater Community AIDS Project, or GCAP.
Dance Against AIDS coordinator Sara Salmon, sophomore in LAS, said last year’s Dance Against Aids raised $700 for GCAP. This year, the goal is $1,000.
GCAP is a local organization that expresses the concerns of the gay community related to HIV/AIDS. GCAP provides support to those with AIDS with monetary contributions, information and resource availability.
“GCAP is a phenomenal group that helps so many people,” Salmon said. “(Sexual Health Peers is) really excited to be a part of this.”
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Chester Street Bar in Champaign will host Dance Against AIDS for the third year in a row Saturday. The event begins at 9 p.m. and will feature drag performances at 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. by local entertainers.
Cover is $5 and half the proceeds go to Sexual Health Peers, a Registered Student Organization that aims to spread awareness about issues relating to sexuality. Sexual Health Peers will donate 75 percent of the money raised to GCAP.
Mike Benner, executive director of GCAP, said the donation helps the organization to help many in the community.
“Proceeds go to direct services for our clients,” Benner said. “It enables us to provide emergency assistance programs such as paying for rent and utilities.”
I-SHAG Week continues Thursday and Friday with a look at Asian American Sexuality at 6 p.m. as the Asian American Cultural Center. Sexual Health Peers will also host a showing of the documentary “Daddy I Do,” at 7 p.m. in Altgeld 314. The film takes a look at sex education in America, from the push for abstinence-only sex education programs and purity balls where young daughters pledge their virginity to their fathers until marriage, to teen pregnancy and abortion.
Sexual Health Peers invited Cassie Jaye, the director of the film, to have a question-and-answer discussion after the film.
On Friday, the Sex Out Loud Resource Fair will be held in Illini Union rooms A, B and C. Sexual Health Peers is a participating organization in Sex Out Loud, which is organized by the Gender Action Network. The Resource Fair will be host to many booths exploring different aspects of sexual health and sexuality.
