By Bronwen Beechey

MELBOURNE - Shoppers in Bourke St Mall are being treated to some alternative entertainment in the form of street theatre during the Voices of Dissent Festival, which runs to May 3.

On April 18, an alternative version of the notorious TV show Studs, performed by members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), played to an appreciative crowd. According to ACT UP spokesperson Dale Constable, (who played the role of compere with appropriately loud tie and crude witticisms), the purpose of Safe Sex Studs was to highlight the misrepresentation of HIV/AIDS by the media.

``We believe the media should be much more accountable in its coverage of AIDS-related issues'', Constable told Green Left Weekly. ``Instead of publicising the bigoted views of people like Fred Hollows - who has no expertise in the area - they should be talking to the real experts: HIV-positive people and people with AIDS.''

The performance, which, unlike the TV Studs, featured safe sex demonstrations and finished with the competing ``studs'' going off together, was well received by the crowd.

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