(gg)
By SERGIO DE LEON, Associated Press Writer

BOGOTA, Colombia - A western Colombian city councilman
wants to require everyone in town 14 or older to carry
a condom to prevent pregnancy and disease, outraging
local priests.

William Pena, a councilman in Tulua, said Wednesday he
will present a formal proposal to force all men and
women _ even those just visiting _ to always carry at
least one condom. Those caught empty-pocketed could
pay a fine of $180 or take a safe sex course, he said.

"Sexual relations are going on constantly," Pena told
The Associated Press by telephone. "If you carry a
condom, chances are you'll use it during the day. It's
not going to be there forever."

Tulua has one of the highest rates of AIDS in
Colombia, he said. The proposal will be debated by
other town leaders and could go into effect by March,
he said.

Roman Catholic priests in the Cauca Valley town, 150
miles southwest of Bogota, were fuming over the plan.

The Rev. Jesus Velasquez said it would only encourage
sexual relations and ridiculed it as absurd. The local
newspaper El Tiempo on Wednesday quoted him as saying,
"I would have to have a condom even though I'm
clergy."

Another town priest, Roberto Sarmiento, said he that
improved sex education would be a better solution.

"Nobody can force someone to carry a condom in their
pocket," he said. "They should instead carry the
responsibility of what sexual relations mean."

Ramiro Cano, a 19-year-old laborer in Tulua, said
Wednesday that the proposal was the talk of the town,
and said most young people he has talked to support
it.

"I try to always carry a condom on me, especially if I
go to a discotheque, in case I can pick up someone,"
Cano said.

The proposal is perhaps the most radical in a series
of pro-condom efforts across a country where 190,000
people live with AIDS, a figure only surpassed in
Latin America by Brazil, according to the World Health
Organization.

The capital city of Bogota handed out more than two
million free condoms last year as part of a campaign
titled "Use it instinctively _ make yourself sexy."

In the city of Tunja, where 17 percent of all
pregnancies last year were from women under 18 years
of age, condom dispensers will be installed in bars
and movie theaters starting in February.

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
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Now everybody's gonna have that tell-tale imprint in their wallet...

__________________
Plug me into somethin'

If the theory does not conform to the facts, then the facts must be discarded.

No good deed ever goes unpunished

Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level, & beat you with experience.

That's a load of crap!


I carried the same one for years! lmfao

__________________
Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.

It doesn't mean they'll use them though.

Imagine a man, on the edge of sobriety, fighting to keep his erection, opting to wear a franger and kill any

chance of completing the sex act?

__________________
Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating