In December of 2005, a national group of sexually active gay men, decided to take things into their own hands and develop an internet response to "Is where you just stuck your dick worth a shot in the ass?" via a new sexual health website with a spin.

Instead of the pleading, inaccurate and often judgmental sites that flourish nationwide from programs with restricted federal funds or faith based focuses. They pooled their money, accepted some initial contributions from local gay businesses and developed www.Shotworthy.com.

According to site designer, Steve Duarte, "As a team, they decided that ownership of the site was less important than getting the message out that if you fuck around, get sucked or have multiple sex partners, it's your personal responsibility to get a routine STD test, inform your partners when you have an STD and seek treatment".

This think-tank's membership is unknown, but all of the men involved self define as being sexually active gay men who are frustrated with the limits placed on health and educational material developed from local and national programs. The team recognizes that this site will not be useful to all gay & bi men. But for the men out on the internet, meeting sex partners on-line or through the sex clubs, Shotworthy.com creates one more access point for health information and the reminder that routine STD testing is an important part of sexual health.

"When gay men take an active role in their sexual health, they are able to design messages that are specific, explicit and informative to reach other men in a way that validates their personal experiences, not as bad choices, but instead as opportunities to learn" says Jacque McCright of the San Francisco Department of Public Health's STD Prevention & Control Services which developed such innovative sites as www.healthypenis2006.org, www.SexTextSF.org and www.STDtest.org.

Even the adult film industry has signed on in support of culturally appropriate messages that reach gay men in a language they speak. Titan Media was the first to contribute and remains steadfast in their commitment to be a partner in improving gay men's health and safety. So much so, they recently made a generous $5000 contribution to help support this project and others like it. Keith Webb, Vice President of Titan Media "hopes that more sites like this will begin to develop and encourages other gay owned business to support sex positive programs like Shotworthy.com and to help fill the huge gaps in funding that fiscal limitations have placed on gay men's sexual health". Titan contributions were also instrumental in helping to develop the next project out of this team, a gay male specific website on Hepatitis A, B & C infections with a focus on the gaps of information on Hepatitis C and sexual transmission.

Shotworthy.com is free and incorporates banners from some of the nation's more innovative sexual health technological strategies, such at www.InSpot.org, the sexual health risk grid from www.safesexcity.com and other programs that were asked to provide banners for the site free of charge. Shadow Morton, Director of Scarlet Letter Services in San Francisco was more than eager to lend the program code for the sexual health grid on its www.safesexcity.com website. "We designed the grid to be useful; the fact that another team of men are willing to incorporate our work is an honor. Especially since the messages they are creating closely mirrors our own commitment to sexual health and access for gay men."