Condom Store Getting Support From Health Experts : Retail: Dean Charter's Costa Mesa business offers variety of sex aids. He says he wants to provide a fun and creative way for people to protect themselves.

By WILLSON CUMMER

Dec. 2, 1993 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

COSTA MESA —

Walk into the Condom Revolution and you’ll likely be greeted by owner Dean Charter, a frank, enthusiastic man who is more than happy to describe the various qualities of the condoms he sells.

Ribbed or unribbed. Lubricated. Extra snug. Thick or thin.

“There’s something for every walk of life,” Charter said.

But his mission is more than about making money--it’s about selling safe sex.

“I provide a fun and creative way for people to protect themselves,” Charter said.

Local AIDS educators and health care workers say the Condom Revolution on Newport Boulevard is helping them to promote safer sex.

“It helps spread the acceptability,” said Leigh Richards, community educator for AIDS Response Program, the oldest AIDS service agency in the county. She said people are more likely to use condoms if they find ones they like.

The store offers a wide variety of condoms, lotions, sex toys and safe-sex T-shirts. And Charter has been giving away AIDS-awareness literature and free condoms since he opened for business six weeks ago.

“People don’t realize there are different types of condoms,” said Tim Blake, a volunteer for the AIDS Response Program who was at the Condom Revolution recently to drop off AIDS-awareness literature and pick up 100 condoms Charter donated to the organization.

“One of the big obstacles now to AIDS prevention is that people are awkward about using condoms,” Blake said.

More than 3,000 people in the county now have acquired immune deficiency syndrome, according to county figures. About 40 people are found to have AIDS each month, said Ron Taylor, the county Health Care Agency’s HIV program manager.

“Condoms are extremely effective if used properly and consistently,” Taylor said. He noted that people need to use latex condoms and avoid lubricants that might damage the latex.

Condoms act as a barrier to reduce the transmission of body fluids between sex partners. They lower the risk of contracting AIDS and venereal diseases, health officials say.

About 8,800 people in the county have been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, the primary identified cause of AIDS. County health officials estimate that 10,000 to 11,000 people will be infected with HIV by the end of 1993.

Charter, 27, started producing custom-wrapped condoms about 18 months ago. He uses a computer to print humorous messages and color photographs on a piece of plastic and then glues the plastic to the condom’s factory wrapper.

“No Protection, No Affection,” reads the wrapper on one condom.

Charter said he uses high-quality condoms and customizes the packages at his Santa Ana warehouse. He has printed business cards, band logos and cartoons on the wrappers.

The Condom Revolution is the first condom store in the county that focuses on selling condoms rather than adult entertainment items, said Richards, the AIDS Response Program educator.

Charter said he recently shipped 1,000 condoms in multicolored wrappers with peace signs on them to sororities at Duke University in North Carolina for a party. “Why can’t condoms be cool?” he asked.

Charter has his own line--Condom Fanatics--which now includes 175 condom designs. Charter is working to distribute the condoms worldwide, and he said he has already received an order for 1 million condoms from a British distributor.

Charter also encourages people to create their own designs for condom wrappers, which he can produce for them. A minimum order is $12 for a dozen condoms, he said.

“I thought maybe if someone creates a custom condom (package), they would really start to create a safe-sex lifestyle,” Charter said. “It’s a form of personal expression.”

AIDS prevention educators say Charter’s store can help increase condom use.

“Sometimes it’s easier for people to walk into a place like that than a health clinic, but people can get information while they’re there,” said Robyn Class, a Planned Parenthood director.

Charter has a bookshelf with brochures about AIDS and safe sex from Planned Parenthood, the AIDS Response Program and other organizations. Some brochures are in Spanish. He said he wants to offer safe-sex classes at the store.

No-Cost Condoms

Some places in the county that dispense free condoms (all telephone numbers are in the 714 area):

* AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County: 17982 Sky Park Circle, Suite J, Irvine; 253-1500

* Condom Revolution: 1799 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa; 646-1967

* Planned Parenthood: 1801 N. Broadway, Santa Ana; 973-1727

440 Fair Drive, Suite T, Costa Mesa; 751-6717

7915 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove; 891-0955

1480 S. Harbor Blvd., Suite 8, La Habra; 738-4433

26302 La Paz Road, Suite 103, Mission Viejo; 768-3643

* Huntington Beach Community Clinic: 17692 Beach Blvd., Suite 200, Huntington Beach; 847-4222

* Laguna Beach Community Clinic: 460 Ocean Ave., Laguna Beach; 494-0761

* Orange County Center for Health: 503 N. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim; 956-1900