When is a condom more than a condom?
When it becomes the catalyst for controversy, intimidation and even criminal prosecution, as it has in many places around the world today, a panel of experts said Sunday.
“There is no reason, in my opinion, why an inert piece of rubber should cause so much conflict and controversy…but it does,” said Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice and head of its Condoms for Life campaign.
He spoke at a session called “The politics of condoms: Cock-ups, controversies and cucumbers,” at the 19th International AIDS Conference which began a six-day run on July 22.
To illustrate the ongoing controversies surrounding the condom, O’Brien, who is Irish, began by recalling the time in 1992 when his group was prosecuted in Dublin for selling condoms at the Virgin Megastore.
“For some people love happens when you’re across the dance floor and you think, ‘Oh yes, now,’” he said, with a laugh.
