April 14th 2010

It’s April: Get Yourself Talking; Get Yourself Tested!

Nearly half of all young people having sex will contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI) by age 25—and most won’t even know it. But here’s the good news: all STIs (also known as STDs, or sexually transmitted diseases) are treatable, and many can be cured completely. There’s really no better time to be good to your sexual self—now and for the future—by taking this simple step. GYT: Get Yourself Talking; Get Yourself Tested.

April is STD Awareness month and MTV—in partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation, Planned Parenthood and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)—is renewing efforts to encourage young people on college campuses and elsewhere to get tested. The GYT campaign is underway, and participants can enter to win a trip to the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles. Deadline for entry is April 30.

“One in two young people by the age of 25 will get an STD. It’s an incredibly common health issue,” said Tina Hoff, vice president of entertainment media partnerships at the Kaiser Family Foundation. And most of those people don’t realize they have an infection, or that they specifically have to be tested to find out for sure.

“We really want to make the act of getting test something that’s empowering, not something to be embarrassed or ashamed of,” Hoff added.

Last year’s GYT campaign was so enthusiastically embraced on some college campuses that MTV is challenging students to go even further in 2010, said Jason Rzepka, vice president of public affairs division at MTV.

“It became a badge of pride, something to be proud of: knowing your status and getting tested. We saw that people were naturally becoming evangelizers,” Rzepka said. This year, students, clinics and other community groups can download and customize flyers, online banner ads, logos and t-shirts, and get tips on hosting GYT events. There’s even a campus challenge on GYT’s Facebook page.

“We’re encouraging as many college students as possible to get tested and spread the word,” Rzepka said. The campus that gets the greatest percentage of its student body to participate will be recognized on-air and online, and the top 10 campus advocates will receive an all-expenses-paid trip -- plus backstage passes -- to a concert on Cobra Starship’s “Too Fast for Love” tour this summer.

Listen to part of the interview with Tina Hoff from Sex::Tech 2010.

Listen to part of the interview with Jason Rzepka from Sex::Tech 2010.

Singers Keri Hilson, Iyaz and Debi Nova, actress Emily VanCamp and gossip columnist Perez Hilton have been featured in MTV’s on-air and online promotions. Cool merch –free to you, sexy GYT participant! -- including t-shirts, posters, buttons, and stickers have been distributed to more than 4,000 health centers nationwide, including Planned Parenthood’s network of 840 clinics and college health centers. The CDC is also working with state and local health departments to get the word out.

But know this: you need to speak up and ask to get tested. Don’t assume that you have been tested for STDs if you have blood taken, give a urine sample, or (for women) have a pelvic exam or pap smear. You have to specifically ask to be tested.

So text your zip code to GYT NOW (498669) to find a clinic near you (and enter to win a trip to the 2010 MTV Movie Awards) and go ahead and GYT, OK?

P.S. Ready to get yourself tested? Check out our post "Testing, Testing, 1-2-3..." to find out what's involved in the STD testing process!

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Bonnie Pfister is a writer and former newspaper journalist who has worked for The Associated Press, Hearst Newspapers in Texas and The New York Times. Formerly a resident of Brooklyn and the Texas-Mexico border, she now lives in Pittsburgh, PA.