Explicit pamphlets displayed at school

A community health organization apologized yesterday for bringing a sexually explicit pamphlet for young gay men to a recent conference at Brookline High School on gay and lesbian issues that was attended by high school and middle school students.

Fenway Community Health officials yesterday said they left about 10 copies of the ''Little Black Book" on an informational table they rented at a conference sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network of Boston. The annual event, held on April 30 at Brookline High School, was aimed at high school students, educators, counselors, administrators, and parents.

The ''Little Black Book," produced by the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, is targeted at 18-and-older gay men, according to the committee. The book uses vivid descriptions and colloquial terms to describe the ways HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases can be prevented and spread.

A Fenway Community Health employee brought the pamphlets along with other materials and put them on the table by mistake, said Chris Viveiros, a spokesman for Fenway Community Health.

''Fenway Community Health regrets accidentally making available a small number of copies of the Little Black Book, an HIV-prevention publication for gay and bisexual men over the age of 18, at an event where young people were present," said Dr. Stephen Boswell, Fenway Community Health's president and CEO.

Sean Haley, executive director of the education network, which sponsored the conference, added: ''We have very clear policies that sexually explicit material of any kind will not be made available at the conference. Had I seen the book, I would have asked them to put it away."

At the start of the event, Haley said, network officials scanned each of the 10 tables it had rented, for $35 apiece, to outside groups. He said nobody saw the pamphlet at the time. ''We're just going to have to be more rigorous in our review of materials," he said.

Haley said that about 500 people attended the conference, roughly half of them students. He said only ''a handful" were younger than high-school aged.

Members of the Article 8 Alliance, an organization opposed to gay marriage, handed copies of the ''Little Black Book" to reporters on Tuesday at a news conference marking the first anniversary of gay marriage in Massachusetts.

Brian Camenker, Article 8 Alliance's executive director, said he had encouraged members to attend the conference as observers, and one member brought the pamphlet to his attention.

Sally Turner, 73, of Carlisle, an Article 8 Alliance supporter who attended the conference, said she picked up literature from each of the tables, and didn't examine it until hours later. ''I looked at it at home and I was a little bit astonished by what I had," she said.

William Lupini, Brookline school superintendent, said the school system agreed to host the event on the condition that material would be age-appropriate.

''We're disappointed that we laid out what we thought were pretty clear and easy-to-follow conditions and that they weren't adhered to," Lupini said yesterday.