Matti Hyvonen
Finland

Bon voyage, my loves! I’m shipping off from awe-inspiring Stockholm on an overnight cruise aboard the multi-level luxurious Silja Line and seafaring across the Baltic Sea to Helsinki, the capital of Finland. As I lean against the railing on the top deck, though the forceful wind blows my red do sideways, the glorious pinkish sun paints streaks of lavender across the horizon. It is a gorgeous sight—not only my hair, but the scenery too.

The man next to me comments on the view, we chat and become friendly. His name is Matti Hyvonen and he lives in Helsinki. I discover that he has worked with the Finnish AIDS Council (www.aidstukikeskus.fi) since its founding in 1986. For many years, he was an HIV counselor, but for the past four years, he’s been in charge of prevention targeting men who have sex with men. The project is called Man to Man–Safely (www.miestenkesken.fi). Matti has also applied his skills to working in psychiatric hospitals. He’s presently working on his master’s thesis. On the personal side, Matti is forty-five, single, has no pets, and is nuts for musicals.

We arrive at the Port of Helsinki early in the morning. Once checked into my hotel, the comfy classy Radisson SAS Royal, I meet Matti at the colorful Market Square harbor and we take a stroll around the city. We walk through Esplanadinpuisto (Esplanade Park), a tree-lined avenue, and bump into street performers, a sextet of female violinists. Then it’s over to Senate Square where, in 1981, director Warren Beatty filmed parts of his historical film, Reds. The Square is dominated by the Neoclassical Cathedral (Lutheran) built by architect, Carl Ludvig Engel, that towers over Helsinki. The site is often used in travel brochures. A couple of blocks away, on our way to Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, we pass The Three Smiths, a sculptural nude by Felix Nylund which has become a popular meeting place. C’mon, girl, we can’t linger on these hunky men’s asses. We’ve got more art waiting for us. At the museum, we plotz on portable chairs that they have available throughout and sit in front of—and become mesmerized by—a wall-length painting, Last Riot, by a Russian artist group, AES+F.

Ruby Comer: Striking, disturbing piece. Know what? You’re my first Finn, Matti! I mean…it’s so nice to be with you, and your English is superb. What comes to mind when I say “AIDS”?
Matti Hyvonen: Hope. I’ve seen the change from people dying of AIDS to people living with HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, this hope is not equally spread globally. However, in my work it is important to keep up the perspective of hope.

No hope, no cope. Indeed, an optimistic attitude is always helpful in any line of work. Say, tell me about your organization, Finnish AIDS Council.
We provide both psychosocial support and preventive outreach. Some of our services include counseling, anonymous HIV testing, a help line, and special groups and courses. We do both general preventive work and targeted prevention for such groups as men who have sex with men and for immigrants. It includes producing health promotional materials and HIV/AIDS training and education, especially to students and professionals in the fields of health and social work. Presently, there are sixteen employees.

[We move and gravitate toward an installation called Swan Lake by Steiner and Lenzlinger.] What a fascinating take on the environment, huh? Say, you mentioned aboard the Silja that you had several prevention campaigns. Tell me about one.
We did a “Use Rubber” campaign recently, using a drawing by Tom of Finland. The Tom of Finland Foundation allowed us to use it free of charge.

How wonderful. Oh, I love his highly-charged, overly-lustful embellished drawings! What a talent. And I’m sure you know that the Tom of Finland Foundation consistently donates to AIDS charities. They are a huge supporter. What’s it like being gay in Finland?
Well, it’s legal and widely accepted [he remarks humbly]. Since 2002, couples can legally register their partnership, and the age of consent is sixteen. Helsinki has a vivid nightlife. There are plenty of clubs, cabarets, and coffee shops. With over a million inhabitants in the area, Helsinki is beautiful, modern, clean, and safe. And, I guess I’m a typical Finn, who loves nature and silence, and allow my actions to speak for themselves.

Helsinki is like a theme park, loaded with alluring attractions from nature to sea to culture. Something for all tastes. The next morning, we board a fifteen-minute ferry to one of the many coastal islands, Suomenlinna, an eighteenth-century sea fortress. Simply put, the isle is a feast for the senses. We settle at the tiny, canary-colored Café Piper snuggled between bright flowers, rich foliage, and tall trees. We have a spectacular view of the sunlit sea from our table on the outside terrace. [Stuffing my face with a Caesar salad, I am captured by the sophisticated broad sitting across from us.] Mercy me! She’s a spittin’ image of my favorite aunt [I exclaim softly]. Aunt Della died in the early nineties. Matti, have you lost anyone to AIDS?
Thankfully, no, I haven’t. But in the twenty years that I’ve been working in the AIDS community, many of my clients have died. It was sad to watch them get sicker and sicker and finally lose their life. [He pauses, puts his fist against his heart, and looks out at a boat skimming the sea.] Fortunately, the situation is now quite different, thanks to medication.

AIDS has been swept under the carpet in America. Is it prevalent in the Finnish media?
HIV/AIDS is not covered very much at all in the media nowadays. People are not aware of it enough, and the rising infection rates are proof of this. Still, too many people think that HIV/AIDS has nothing to do with their lives.

How irresponsible. How suicidal.
AIDS is everyone’s problem. We need to unite in this global battle.

Uhhhh, you touched a nerve. Yes, you are so right. [Having left the restaurant, we are now footing it through a fort.] In Finland, what groups have the highest infection rates?
Men who have sex with men. Last year was an all-time record high for this group. But it was also a record year for new infections due to heterosexual contacts, especially among middle-aged men who travel abroad, and immigrants moving to Finland from countries where the HIV prevalence is high.

Fascinating, Matti. [Resting atop a war-ravaged cannon, I gaze at the city of Helsinki in the near distance.] I surely do love it here in your Nordic country. Have you ever been to America?
Yes! I’ve been to New York three times. I love New York and I love Broadway musicals! [Matti lights up as he bares one of those strong Nordic smiles.]

Special gratitude extended to two sweethearts: Anne Dannbäck of Silja Line and Tuulikki Becker of the Helsinki Tourist and Convention Bureau.

Ruby Comer is an independent journalist from the Midwest who is happy to call Hollywood
her home away from home. Reach her by e-mail at MsRubyComer@aol.com.

April 2007