We gather at Winter Party Festival to enjoy great music, the beauty of Miami Beach and each other. Winter Party Festival is freedom, community and meeting old friends and making new ones. In our mixing and mingling, meeting and greeting will be, probably, some great, hot sex. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force wants to make sure the memories you leave Winter Party Festival with are wonderful and warm - with no regrets or worries.

We need to take care of each other. When you're getting ready to go out, while you're on the dance floor, while you're on your way back home or to your hotel, make sure that you and all your friends are making smart choices.

Decisions should be made with a clear head. It's up to each of us to make sure we're thinking clearly about what we're doing - and who we're doing it with and why we're doing it. Alcohol and other substances will impair your ability to think clearly and make good choices. Don't put yourself in a situation where you'll make bad choices. Bad choices won't make good memories.

We all have choices to make about what we do sexually. For some, sex is central to the Winter Party Festival, and that's fine by us. Unsafe sex is not central to your experience at Winter Party Festival and it shouldn't be fine with anyone. Safer sex can be - and is - hot, authentic and intimate.

Using condoms and talking about HIV status does not get in the way of intimacy or keep you from having the hottest sex possible. In fact, staying safe will only make Winter Party Festival and your time with your friends - old and new - better.

We want to see you back here, year after year. And we want to make sure that your friends, whether you see them every day back home or only here each March - will be enjoying each other's company at Winter Party Festival for many years to come. So please, be smart, stay safe and take care of each other.

The Task Force is proud to partner with the South Beach AIDS Project (SoBAP) to insure that our guests have the information and resources they need to keep themselves safe and take care of themselves. With a deep belief in community involvement and empowerment, SoBAP offers services ranging from anonymous and confidential HIV testing to support groups for long-term AIDS survivors and the newly diagnosed to online listings of HIV/AIDS service providers. A past recipient of grants from Winter Party Festival, SoBAP is an integral member of the South Florida community.

As they have for many years, SoBAP will be at the Beach Party and all Winter Party Festival dance events handing out condoms and safer sex kits. Say hello to these great and committed folks.