Getting AIDS Message Across

Jose Amaro is known as “Pepe” at the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in Garden Grove, where he works. When he goes out into the Latino community to give talks about AIDS, he dresses like a woman and transforms into “Pepa.”

“It’s hard to bring people into the workshops we provide at the center because they don’t feel comfortable coming in,” said Amaro, an educator for the center’s Latino outreach program Hermosa y Protegida--Spanish for “beautiful and protected.”

As the center celebrates its 25th anniversary, it is making a special effort to reach out to the community and to promote its HIV education and prevention programs.

Part of the campaign was last weekend’s Latino trans-gender beauty contest, which drew more than 400 people to Costa Mesa’s Neighborhood Community Center.

“This annual event is a hook to let Latinos--gay, bisexual or straight--know about the center’s services,” said Amaro, who performed as the late Mexican American pop icon Selena during one of the beauty pageant’s entertainment breaks.

According to Jan. 31 estimates from the Orange County Health Care Agency, there have been 4,613 AIDS cases reported in the county. Of those, nearly 1,000 are Latino.

“Men who have sex with men are the No. 1 target population that we try to reach,” said Lorri Mier, the center’s HIV program manager.

The center provides free HIV testing every other Saturday; support services for people with HIV; counseling for those infected or affected by HIV; and a food bank for clients who have HIV if they are in need.

Among the programs funded with a $46,000 state grant are a youth program and Hermosa y Protegida.

For the past five years, Orange County has become a major hub for the Latino trans-gender community, officials said. At least half a dozen clubs host transvestite nights that feature cross-dressers performing song and dance routines or dressing like their favorite artists.

Amaro, who gives person-to-person counseling at the center, often dresses like a Playboy bunny cigarette girl. But instead of offering cigarettes, cigars and candy, Pepa offers condoms and informational pamphlets.

“There’s a lot of machismo in the Latino community, and many times men don’t want to admit they don’t know a lot about sex,” Amaro said.

In Latin America, religious and family customs repress talk about sex, Amaro said. Sex issues are a taboo, and many times Latino immigrants carry that view to their new country, he said.

“That’s why we have to be creative in the way we get our message out,” Amaro said.

Information: (714) 534-0961.

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AIDS and Ethnicity

Latinos make up about one-fifth of all Orange County AIDS cases. Local cases by ethnicity, through Jan.31:

White: 72%

Latino: 21%

Black: 45%

Asian: 2%

Other unknown: 1%

Source: Orange County Health Care Agency