Since the AIDS epidemic first hit, the leather community transitioned to the role of activist. Fundraisers for fallen brothers and sisters and, eventually, awareness campaigns promoting safe sex were often born out of the leather community.
But it wasn’t until 2008 that the leather community seemed to fully embrace a symbol of the HIV movement. That’s because up until then, there wasn’t any organized effort to recognize HIV without some stigma. That’s what gave Mr. Michigan Leather 2009 Dave Watt the idea for Mr. Friendly.
“I had been working for years passing out free condoms at various events and clubs with a safe sex message,” Watt writes on the Mr. Friendly web page, adding that at the time he hadn’t won his title yet. “It seemed like my message only hit home with a small percentage of people.”
Since awareness on how HIV was spread was at an all-time high, Watt changed his message to show that he was Poz-friendly—or open to associating with HIV-positive men. However, he didn’t want to specifically target HIV-positive people either.
“Mr. Friendly was carefully designed with equal weight for both a positive and a negative symbol,” Watt writes. “It is important to me that the symbol is for everyone without indicating the person’s status. Poz or Neg, we are all in this together.”
After winning his title in 2008, Watt traveled to events and passed out free Mr. Friendly buttons and discussing the stigma of HIV. At the time he had just started working with the Community AIDS Resource and Education Services (CARES). That organization adopted the Mr. Friendly program and offered it a 501c3 non-profit status in September of 2009.
Today, Mr. Friendly makes appearances at leather events across the country, including events in Florida.
For more on the Mr. Friendly project, visit MrFriendly.info.
