Blue Ribbon Boys Brings Up-to-Date HIV Understanding to App Dating

A lot has changed in both our understanding of HIV and the disease itself. One week before World AIDS Day, the dating app Hornet has teamed with the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) to launch a new campaign to address what that means for MSM who are dating and hooking up in 2015.

The campaign, called Blue Ribbon Boys, which launches November 24, prompts users to answer a series of yes-or-no questions about their sexual health relating to issues such as HIV and STI testing, anti-retroviral treatment, PrEP, viral load, disclosure, stigma, and condom and lubricant use. Based on their answers, and regardless of HIV status, users will either qualify for a blue ribbon on their profile or be offered ways to improve their sexual health to then become a Blue Ribbon Boy.

The ribbon is a nod to the iconic red ribbon of AIDS awareness, but colored blue to quote the now-iconic blue Truvada pill of PrEP treatment.

“Blue Ribbon Boys modernizes sexual health messaging by asking Hornet users to be more mindful about their sex play given the effective prevention options at their disposal. It also invites men to take action in response to the unavailability of prevention and treatment tools they want and need,” said MSMGF Executive Director, Dr. George Ayala.

A second part of the campaign makes it easier for users who live in areas with limited access to these tools to sign global petitions to gain them, whether that tool be ARVs or PrEP. Hornet founder Sean Howell amplifies this: “As a large social media platform, we can be a megaphone to the good work that MSMGF is doing.”

Blue Ribbon Boys launches November 24. To boost enrollment, Hornet is offering new users free premium membership by signing up at this link hrnt.it/blueribbonboys now through December 2015. Hornet is available on iOS and Android.