health news
from November 2006

Last month the GMFA - formerly Gay Men Fighting Aids, but now a sexual health charity - visited Leeds to present a day course, known colloquially as the The Arse Class, to offer gay men in Yorkshire the kind of sex education we never got at school.

As a gay man I didn’t think I could learn much more about my posterior but I was in for a few surprises! Held at the MESMAC Leeds office, the class attracted 25 men, all of whom I suspect thought, like myself, we knew pretty much all we needed. The day began with a warm up exercise - not physical I hasten to add - concentrating on various sexual acts. I have to admit I’d never heard of some of them, let alone seen pictures! We were then given opportunity to learn the inner workings and secrets of the arse: what a surprise, I never knew there was so much up there.

As well as looking at the real issues relating to safer sex, the course afforded the opportunity to discover new sexual techniques, improve sex and generally learn more about our bodies, not only how they work but how to keep ourselves sexually healthy.

The course leaders were excellent in presenting facts in a refreshing no-nonsense way, without being tacky, without pressure and with the requisite amount of humor to diffuse any potential embarrassment.

It has to be said the less serious highlight of the day was the half hour we had ‘examining’ some rather interesting gay sex toys for men. That said, the trainer who wound his way up from London the night before had a really interesting experience on the Intercity 125, involving some leaking baby oil and his bag of ‘toys’! For more about The Arse Class and GMFA see the website.

Paul Hunt