A badass safer sex advocate is spray painting condoms on graffiti penises
Graffiti penises are "outdoor decor" you probably think you'd rather not encounter. But a safer sex advocate from the UK might just change your mind on that.
An anonymous 28-year-old Londoner is raising awareness of sexually transmitted infections and the importance of protection by spray painting condoms on graffiti penises. Yes, you heard that right. And it's damn genius.
Sure, it's technically illegal. But it's also a pretty genius way of starting a conversation about safer sex.
"One night I did some research on STI rates, and then the idea just came to me to make stencils of a condom and a link where people can get free condoms — then I just went out and did it," the man, who is an art director by day, told BuzzFeed.
The condom artist has been at it since April, with each fluorescent condom accompanied by the URL for Shine, a reproductive health organization in London providing free STI screenings and free condoms through six National Health Service clinics.
So far, he's added about 20 dicks to his portfolio.
The creative process is basically a graffiti dick scavenger hunt. Wherever the condom vigilante sees a spray painted penis already in place, he adds a condom. Simple as that.
"If there's going to be cocks scattered everywhere that nobody wants to see, we might as well have people learn something from the cocks," he told Buzzfeed.
In 2015, there were approximately 435,000 diagnoses of STIs made in England, mostly impacting straight youth under 25 and men who have sex with men.
The mystery artist has been particularly focused on spreading his message to youth because he noticed many of the graffiti dicks were at school bus stops. Shocking.
"It just shouldn't be the norm to just have your wang out, especially unprotected," he told Buzzfeed. "I just thought it sent the wrong message."
The anonymous man-on-a-mission recently started an Instagram to document his safer sex project called @protectcitycocks. And while the creative effort is pretty goofy and giggle-worthy, the artist hopes it spreads a serious message.
"I just hope that this has some positive impact and that it could get more people to use condoms and eventually help lower the STI rates," he said.
Insert cheeky "no glove, no love" joke here.
Topics Social Good
Katie Dupere was a Social Good reporter at Mashable from May 2015 to July 2017, covering activism, identities and social impact. Prior to her work with Mashable, Katie penned pieces about queerness, body positivity, sex and relationships for Gurl. She also previously contributed LGBTQ news coverage to PinkNews.
