Queer as F**k

BY NOREEN FAGAN – Who
knew there was an Australian soap opera on YouTube starring four gay guys from Melbourne?

I certainly didn’t, and I don’t think I would ever have found
out about it if I had not been perusing the Australian website Same Same.

Queer as F**k caught my eye for one reason: multi-award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush stars in the show’s latest episode.

So what’s the lowdown on Queer as F**k?

The series follows the lives of four gay housemates, through the
dramas they encounter as they meet guys, hook up and negotiate relationships.

The show is not all about sex. Well it is, but it
serves a purpose, which is to deliver information to gay men about their
sexual health.

That’s pretty sexy.

The show is a collaboration between the Burnet Institute,
the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Aids Council Gay Men’s Health Council
(VAC/GMHC) and X:Machine Productions.

Colin
Batrouney, manager of health promotion at VAC/GMHC, says the series is a huge
success and proves that common methods of health promotion are not always the most effective way to convey messages to the gay community.

“We’ve found
that social media tools and a funny, well-written soap opera is the best way of
generating this vital conversation about safe sex and respect in the gay
community,” Batrouney says.

It really is a great awareness campaign.

A new episode of Queer as F**k is uploaded to YouTube
every two weeks. If you are lazy and don’t want to scroll through the website, you can go to their Facebook page — each episode is there.

The latest episode on the Facebook page is the one that stars Rush as a
horny doctor. My dilemma: do I watch it and then go back to the beginning of
the show, or do I start from the very beginning?