- Sep 6, 2000
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Wonder if he's a Republican?
A gay-porn movie actor stripped and engaged in sexual contact with guests during a "safer sex" event sponsored by a local AIDS agency, which paid for his appearance with federal money, two former agency employees said Monday.
The St. Louis Health Department last week acknowledged that it was investigating the spending of a federal grant by Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS, known as BABAA. A lawyer for the group said it paid $500 to Edgar Gaines to speak to a gathering that was held July 20 in the downtown residence of Erise Williams Jr., its executive director.
Bruce Hopson, the lawyer, called the allegations false, adding that the actor "did not strip for anybody, and nobody touched him."
BABAA paid Gaines, of Memphis, from a $96,000 grant that it received from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fight syphilis. Dr. Hugh Stallworth, city health director, said his department is investigating the matter on behalf of the federal agency.
He called the allegations "quite serious" but said he could not confirm or discuss them. Stallworth said the department could freeze the grant and require BABAA to reimburse inappropriate spending. Kevin Coleman, BABAA's former youth center director, said he complained to Williams, the executive director, on the night of Gaines' presentation.
Gaines' name in gay-porn movies is Bobby Blake.
Coleman, 30, said he was "let go" on Oct. 4, after he complained of sexual harassment to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Coleman said he then filed detailed descriptions of what he saw to the city's Civil Rights Enforcement Agency and to the Health Department. On Monday, he provided copies of his and other letters of complaint to the Post-Dispatch.
"Bobby (Gaines) comes out in a towel and boots, and I said, 'Erise, you know you can't do this,'" Coleman said. "He says, 'Kevin, how many times do I have to tell you that this is how we reach the young people?'
"Time goes by, and Bobby is buck naked," Coleman said. "It was like we were at a strip show except there was no money being passed. Guys would run up and touch him. Erise was cheering them on."
Williams could not be reached for comment Monday. Last week, he referred all questions to Hopson. Another former employee, who said he was fired Friday, backed up Coleman's version. He said he watched a young man sitting next to him fondle Gaines, who was not wearing a condom. The former employee, who is 29, said he didn't want his name used in print but allowed the newspaper to mention his name to BABAA. Hopson said the agency fired a man by that name last week but said he couldn't discuss why.
Coleman and the other former employee said about two dozen young men attended the "safer sex" gathering at Williams' loft on Washington Avenue downtown. They said most of them were members of BABAA's Harambee Empowerment Center for Youth, which serves boys as young as 13. The two also alleged that Williams showed pornographic movies at another event on April 27 at his former home in the Central West End. Hopson said those accusations were false as well.
A gay-porn movie actor stripped and engaged in sexual contact with guests during a "safer sex" event sponsored by a local AIDS agency, which paid for his appearance with federal money, two former agency employees said Monday.
The St. Louis Health Department last week acknowledged that it was investigating the spending of a federal grant by Blacks Assisting Blacks Against AIDS, known as BABAA. A lawyer for the group said it paid $500 to Edgar Gaines to speak to a gathering that was held July 20 in the downtown residence of Erise Williams Jr., its executive director.
Bruce Hopson, the lawyer, called the allegations false, adding that the actor "did not strip for anybody, and nobody touched him."
BABAA paid Gaines, of Memphis, from a $96,000 grant that it received from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fight syphilis. Dr. Hugh Stallworth, city health director, said his department is investigating the matter on behalf of the federal agency.
He called the allegations "quite serious" but said he could not confirm or discuss them. Stallworth said the department could freeze the grant and require BABAA to reimburse inappropriate spending. Kevin Coleman, BABAA's former youth center director, said he complained to Williams, the executive director, on the night of Gaines' presentation.
Gaines' name in gay-porn movies is Bobby Blake.
Coleman, 30, said he was "let go" on Oct. 4, after he complained of sexual harassment to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Coleman said he then filed detailed descriptions of what he saw to the city's Civil Rights Enforcement Agency and to the Health Department. On Monday, he provided copies of his and other letters of complaint to the Post-Dispatch.
"Bobby (Gaines) comes out in a towel and boots, and I said, 'Erise, you know you can't do this,'" Coleman said. "He says, 'Kevin, how many times do I have to tell you that this is how we reach the young people?'
"Time goes by, and Bobby is buck naked," Coleman said. "It was like we were at a strip show except there was no money being passed. Guys would run up and touch him. Erise was cheering them on."
Williams could not be reached for comment Monday. Last week, he referred all questions to Hopson. Another former employee, who said he was fired Friday, backed up Coleman's version. He said he watched a young man sitting next to him fondle Gaines, who was not wearing a condom. The former employee, who is 29, said he didn't want his name used in print but allowed the newspaper to mention his name to BABAA. Hopson said the agency fired a man by that name last week but said he couldn't discuss why.
Coleman and the other former employee said about two dozen young men attended the "safer sex" gathering at Williams' loft on Washington Avenue downtown. They said most of them were members of BABAA's Harambee Empowerment Center for Youth, which serves boys as young as 13. The two also alleged that Williams showed pornographic movies at another event on April 27 at his former home in the Central West End. Hopson said those accusations were false as well.
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