Colombian Town Plans to Require Males to Carry Condoms

Think of it as a safety helmet:

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- A western Colombian town has angered the influential Catholic Church with a novel scheme to cut AIDS infections, threatening males over age 14 with fines if they fail to carry a condom.

Young men in the community, most of whom start having sex at about age 15, according to a poll, should carry condoms just as they have to carry identification cards, Tulua town councilman William Pena told El Tiempo newspaper.

Father Jesus Velasquez, a local priest, compares the law to "selling guns in the streets" and vows to put up a fight.

Uh, Father, they already carry fully loaded "guns".

Fourteen people have died in the area of sexually transmitted diseases and boys as young as 15 have sex. If Catholic indoctrination hasn't worked before, what makes you think it'll work now?

I'm against this law not for religious reasons but for practical reasons. I think mandatory sex education would work better; requiring boys to carry condoms won't work if they don't know how to use it much less understand why they have to use it. The law also won't work if not everyone can afford them or has access to them.

Besides, why put the responsibility only on the males? Educating the female population is just as important.

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