LifeLube will be taking a break from all the hard work of blogging, blogging, blogging until Tuesday, September 4. Talk amongst yourselves.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Strategizing for Gay and MSM in NYC
Creating a Community Strategy to Address the Health Concerns of Gay Men & MSM in NYC
When: October 22 & 23, 2007
Time: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Where: The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street
This two day event is an opportunity for the community to collaborate with the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. Together we will set the agenda and find solutions to the health concerns of Gay Men & MSM in NYC.
For more information contact:
Rafael Ponce 212 788-7544 or rponce@health.nyc.gov
Breakfast & Lunch will be served.
Please RSVP by October 19, 2007
Office of LGBT Health
Bureau of HIV Prevention & Control
NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene
40 Worth St., Room 1519
NYC, NY 1013
Debunking Myths: A focus on African men who have sex with men
Image above is from a safe sex campaign targeting African men who have sex with men in the UK. Click it to read the excellent report from the African HIV Policy Network - "Debunking Myths: A focus on African men who have sex with men."
'YOU'RE FIRED!' IN SOUTH AFRICA HAS WORLD AGHAST
South African activists protest unjust dismissal of deputy minister of health Protesters support Madlala-Routledge on Wednesday.
More than 1,500 South African AIDS activists gathered Wednesday at a Cape
Town cathedral to protest President Thabo Mbeki's unjust firing of Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, the now former Deputy Minister of Health and to demand that the government still implement National Strategic Plan (2007-2011). There is deep concern that the loss of a sane voice in the South African government on AIDS policy will undue the steps forward in recent months .Legendary Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) leader Zackie Achmat, marched the group to Parliament to hand over a letter demanding Madlala-Routledge's reinstatement. The letter was denied.
"This is a deep, deep tragedy for the country, for democracy and above all for HIV-AIDS," Achmat said of Madlala-Routledge's dismissal.
Read the rest in the Housing Works AIDS Issues Update.
Read more LifeLube posts on this topic here
Why Barbara Gittings mattered
by Chris Bartlett
Barbara Gittings, the incredible world-changing gay civil rights activist and visionary, died on February 18th of this year. For those of you who don't know of her, she was one of the key international leaders of the gay liberation movement, and started her work in 1958, as one of a few hundred such leaders internationally.
Her death leaves a few deep questions for each of us to answer: What have we lost in her death, and what parts of her spirit, vision, and action can continue to live on in our communities and among us individually?
The pace of LGBT liberation has been so quick in the past few decades that we sometimes forget just how different things were even a few decades ago. In the 1960s and 70s, bar goers sometimes waited in the shadows across the street from a bar or nightclub until no foot or car traffic was visible, and then would dash into the bar so as not to be seen. Psychiatrists terrorized lesbian and gay people with electroshock or pressure towards heterosexual marriage. Outside of our own few gay bookstores, it was difficult in the early 1970s to find the very few published gay and lesbian-friendly books. Movies like "Cruising" portrayed us as diseased, murderous, or generally crazy. LGBT people of all stripes were open targets for queerbashers, who included "upright citizens" and often the police. Finally, sodomy laws lent legal weight to the entire project of systematic heterosexism.
Barbara Gittings, through wisdom, collaboration with others, and sheer force of will, took that world, confronted it in its meanness and discrimination, and shook it up with the force of a Gandhi or a Roosevelt (Eleanor, of course). She is a true testament to the ability of one person (helped by a host of allies) to bring about such change. I want to suggest some of her lessons for us in continuing her powerful work:
i. Have vision: From a young age, she knew there was something wrong with a world that made gay people invisible. Our ongoing work should build on her
foundation: Who remains invisible? How can we confront that? Examples abound: more work in the schools, health insurance access for transgender people, efforts to build and celebrate the visibility of LGBT elders.ii. Be kind and decent: A number of recent eulogies stated sentiments like, "I often disagreed with Barbara, but I always respected her and enjoyed her company". Barbara knew how to work collaboratively with people even if she did not agree with them 100%, or even 25%, and you could tell that she enjoyed activism because she enjoyed the people who were part of it. Her example calls each of us to do our work with decency and kindness, especially when we disagree.
iii. Embrace your opponents and hidden allies: She could speak in front of any audience and speak in a way so that she could be heard. She understood that much of the success of gay liberation would come from finding a vocabulary that could be understood by those who were confused, misled, or even hostile.
iv. Think for the long-term: She had the courage to think decades ahead. When she imagined a world with gay-affirming psychologists, or libraries filled with lesbian novels, or a world of visible LGBT people, she had the optimism to believe those things would happen, slowly, inexorably, in her lifetime. And they largely did. She had the strength of will to imagine what seemed, at the time, unimaginable.
So one lesson for us is to work on the visions that seem unimaginable to us:
A world without right-wing hatred.
A world of complete inclusiveness for trans people.
An end to the AIDS epidemic.
The election of a lesbian president or gay mayor.
Add your unimaginable dream to the list. We can't let our tremendous political successes lull us into believing that there are no more unimaginable dreams. When we have identified them, we need to work with the same unstoppable energy that Barbara Gittings showed throughout her lifetime to make the dreams reality. And we need to create those realities with the same skill, kindness and wisdom that she embodied.
Chris Bartlett is a gay men's health community organizer in Philadelphia. He directed the SafeGuards Gay Men's Health Project for ten years, and is currently the lead consultant for the LGBT Community Assessment in Philadelphia, a project that gathers data about LGBT communities in order to make recommendations regarding community organizing, health, housing, and economic development.He was featured as a friendly rectal microbicide advocate on LifeLube here.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Sen. Larry Craig: Sexual Behavior, Sexual Identity and Sexual Orientation Understood
The National Black Justice Coalition's
H. Alexander Robinson (left) responds to the Senator Craig restroom incident
Read the rest.
H. Alexander Robinson (left) responds to the Senator Craig restroom incident
Sen. Larry Craig’s recent sexual restroom exploits have given the American community an unexpected but valuable teachable moment that should be embraced and further understood.
Instead of running from the tabloid fodder, late night talk show jokes, and Sunday morning sermons that will undoubtedly come from this incident; the LGBT community should instead embrace Sen. Craig’s gay sex solicitation incident as an opportunity to talk candidly and knowledgeably about the fluidity of sexuality and its effects upon gay identity and gay sexual orientation.
There are four vital lessons that can be learned from Sen. Craig’s situation, each of which flies in the face of conventional wisdom and understanding of sexuality.
Read the rest.
Don't let the FEDS mess with our privacy or rights --- say no to 2257!
[This alert courtesy of the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force]
The federal government is proposing regulations that would effectively kill adult social-networking sites. This is being done under the guise of fighting child pornography. You have until September 10 to object to these regulations. It’s easy to do and essential. A sample e-mail comment is at the bottom of this page. Please forward this information to your friends!
What’s the Deal?
The Department of Justice is proposing regulations to implement a federal law
designed to combat child pornography, known as Section 2257. The law was first enacted in 1998 and was amended in 2006 and significantly expanded to include regulation of the Internet.
While many of the regulations pertain to companies that produce adult entertainment magazines and videos (and are extremely burdensome), they would also affect anyone who uses an adult social-networking site. Here’s how:
- The regulations would require the people running a site to get and maintain personal information from every user (that means you) who posts a “sexually explicit” photo, including your photo ID (driver’s license, passport, or military ID).
- The regulations would allow the Attorney General to conduct warrantless searches at will on the sites’ records, including your personal information.
- There are few safeguards over what the FBI can do with the information it obtains.
- If a site operator fails to comply with the regulations, he or she would face a prison sentence of up to 5 years.
- For more detailed information on Sec. 2257, go to http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/misc/2257_fact_sheet.pdf.
Obviously, none of this has anything to do with child pornography. Instead, it is a blatant attempt to end the ability of consenting adults to use adult social-networking sites to meet other people for sex. Obviously, if these regulations go into effect, they will kill this industry.
These regulations are part of our government’s hypocritical and punitive views about sex, sexuality, and reproductive rights. All of this – from abstinence-only sex education programs to the elimination of funding for accurate and explicit HIV prevention programs – fall hardest on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Lube survey closes Friday
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Share your opinions, and help shape
the future of anal sex.
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What lubes do you use?
What do you like about them?
What do you hate?
Share your opinions, and help shape
the future of anal sex.
So take the survey already!
Click the pic to take you there.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Meth Ad Criticized; Company Responds
A member of the Chicago Crystal Meth Task Force ( CCMTF ) and a local addiction expert have sounded off against a meth addiction advertisement that has appeared in various gay publications.
An ad for PROMETA®, which bills itself as a “comprehensive addiction treatment,” shows one man holding another ( who appears to be an addict ) along with the line “He means the world to you. Meth means the world to him. How will you treat it?” In the lower left part of the ad, PROMETA is described as “a promising new treatment protocol that includes medical, nutritional, and psychological aspects.” However, part of the fine print ( on the right-hand sidee of the ad ) reads, “Clinical studies are underway to evaluate PROMETA and to confirm reports from physicians using PROMETA in their practices.”
For the past two weeks, local gay publications, including Windy City Times, ran a letter from the CCMTF that warned people, in part, that “despite how wonderful something may appear, there is no ‘magic formula’ when it comes to treating addiction. If it sounds too good to be true, maybe it is.”
Read past post on this subject here.
John Waters, The Gay Bear Community, and Richard Simmons
Thought this vid was PURRRFECT for Woof Wednesdays... Don't you?
Larry Craig is Definitely Not Gay
From LifeLube pal Stewart Landers, of the Landers Health Report
A proud gay man lives his adult life with his male partner or husband, not a wife and kids. Gay men do not support a constitutional amendment to prohibit same sex marriage. Gay men do not vote against long-overdue legislation that would protect gay men and lesbians from discrimination in the work place (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act or ENDA).
On the other hand, repressed, hypocritical, right-wing politicians with homosexual tendencies behave exactly as Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has done in the past two months and throughout his political career. How ludicrous to believe that one of the hundred or so most powerful people in the United States was intimidated by a Minnesota beat officer into confessing to a crime he didn’t commit.
Read the rest.
Fort Lauderdale Tourism Board Flushes Mayor Jim Naugle
As signs began to appear that Mayor Jim Naugle's disparaging remarks about gay people were having an effect on the city's tourism, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, with whom Naugle met last week, decided to strip him of his seat on the group's board, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
According to the group, "A gay-oriented convention that was to draw 200 attendees this fall is on hold. A group that plans black family reunions has voiced concern about whether the mayor was sending a message of intolerance. Bookings of college and high-school sporting events is also down compared to last year."
Read the rest on Towleroad.
Check out FlushNaugle.org.
Some of La Naugle's recent pearls:
 | | "I grew up watching The Flintstones, a cartoon we had growing up,'' he said. "... The jingle was 'We'll have a gay old time in Bedrock.' They weren't referring to Betty getting it on with Wilma. It was meant as a happy time. Many homosexuals are not happy. Some are, but many are not.'' "I don't use the word 'gay.' I use the word 'homosexual.' "We're trying to provide a family environment where people can take Stating public restrooms are pickup places for | ||
Body vs Race (at the baths and at the gym)
An installment from Bathhouse Blues
Why is it that the gay community considers bone thin young Gay White Men (GWM) an ´Abercrombie and Fitch´ type. While at the same time young Gay Asian Men (GAM), with the exact body type, undesirable and worthless?
Smart Sexy Porn Blog For Gay Guys In America gay men are EXCLUSIVELY attracted to white European-type men. What is so ironic is that these same
European gay men (that are so desirable in by U.S. gay men) more receptive to different races. That is because in Europe, people are far more open-minded to different cultures and races. It is a different cultural upbringing and mind-set, as you see many interracial couples on the street. But the American culture is solely focused on Caucasians. You see it on TV, print ads, magazines, and movies. Just about everywhere you see any media images. So gay men in the U.S. are brought up with the subliminal message that white is the only desirable race.Add to that, the majority of gay men are obsessed with their body. Being toned and muscular is every gay man ticket to acceptance in the mainstream, barhopping, bathhouse-going, coke-snorting, Cher-loving, gay community. Once
you are ´buff´ you are in. So it should come as no surprise that many gay men are running to the gym in droves in hopes of being more marketable in the gay community. And an increasing number of these men are Asians. These are the GAM who refuses to give up hope. They are convinced that GWM are their saviors. Again, it is that deep insecurity that so many GAM carry with them. GAM hope to feel the acceptance, they crave so desperately from the gay community, by hooking up with a GWM. If we as GAM cannot control the racism in the gay community, the only other option is to be able to control they way we look. That is because GAM continually has to fight the stereotypes of being small, submissive, and gentle. In short a bottom. But does an Asian man redefining his own body really help? Put it this way. How many buff Asian faces do you see at a white party? It is pretty apropos that they call a party like that, since only white guys are allowed there!Read the rest, and more, on Bathhouse Blues.
Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) Press Conference
"I overreacted and made a poor decision... I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away..."
Well done!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Circumcision may cut HIV risk among some groups of US men
Circumcision could cut the risk of heterosexual HIV transmission in the United States- especially in some groups such as black and Hispanic men, according to a
new evidence review.
But any man considering circumcision needs to discuss the possibility - and the risks associated with the procedure - carefully with their doctor.
Researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have analysed three randomised controlled trials of circumcision as a HIV prevention measure in Africa to find out if any recommendations for the US can be made on their basis.
In each trial - carried out in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda - men who had been randomly assigned to be circumcised were significantly less likely to become infected with HIV up to two years after, compared to a group of men who remained uncircumcised. The risk was cut by between 51 and 60%.
But the potential impact of adult male circumcision on HIV transmission rates in the US is hard to predict, say the researchers writing in PLoS Medicine.
Read the rest on aidsmap.
new evidence review.But any man considering circumcision needs to discuss the possibility - and the risks associated with the procedure - carefully with their doctor.
Researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have analysed three randomised controlled trials of circumcision as a HIV prevention measure in Africa to find out if any recommendations for the US can be made on their basis.
In each trial - carried out in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda - men who had been randomly assigned to be circumcised were significantly less likely to become infected with HIV up to two years after, compared to a group of men who remained uncircumcised. The risk was cut by between 51 and 60%.
But the potential impact of adult male circumcision on HIV transmission rates in the US is hard to predict, say the researchers writing in PLoS Medicine.
Read the rest on aidsmap.
Model suggests only 9% of new HIV infections due to those with acute HIV infection
Only a small proportion of new, sexually transmitted HIV infections in the United 
States are due to people with acute, undiagnosed HIV, according to a mathematical model published in the July 31st edition of AIDS.
Dr Steven Pinkerton from the Center for AIDS Intervention Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin calculated that, although the majority of new HIV infections were due to people who were unaware of their HIV infection status, fewer than 9% of new infections originated in people with acute HIV infection.
This finding is in stark contrast to some estimates which attribute as many as a half of all new HIV infections to patients recently infected with the virus.
Read the rest on aidsmap.
States are due to people with acute, undiagnosed HIV, according to a mathematical model published in the July 31st edition of AIDS.Dr Steven Pinkerton from the Center for AIDS Intervention Research at the Medical College of Wisconsin calculated that, although the majority of new HIV infections were due to people who were unaware of their HIV infection status, fewer than 9% of new infections originated in people with acute HIV infection.
This finding is in stark contrast to some estimates which attribute as many as a half of all new HIV infections to patients recently infected with the virus.
Read the rest on aidsmap.
Congressional briefing: Update on Crystal Methamphetamine
The National Coalition for LGBT Health invites you to a Congressional briefing on
Update on Crystal Methamphetamine: Changing Populations At Risk, Trends In Prevention and the Latest Treatments
Update on Crystal Methamphetamine: Changing Populations At Risk, Trends In Prevention and the Latest Treatments
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, September 10th 12:00-1:00 PM
Rayburn House Office Building B-340, Washington, DC
~ Lunch will be served ~
Rayburn House Office Building B-340, Washington, DC
~ Lunch will be served ~
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This briefing will highlight the latest methamphetamine prevention and treatment strategies as well as the recent emergence of meth use among men of color in Southeastern and East Coast urban areas. This will include a discussion of meth use among gay and bisexual men and the intersection of meth use with HIV/AIDS and other STDs. An expert panel will present the latest medical and behavioral interventions in treating crystal meth addiction as well as how the federal government can aid these efforts.
Presenters Include:
Francisco Roques, Gay Men's Health Crisis, New York City
Elizabeth Disney, Ph.D Chase Brexton Health Services, Maryland
Perry N. Halkitis, Ph.D., Center for Health Identity, Behavior & Prevention Studies, The Steinhardt School, New York University
Barbara Warren, Psy. D., LGBT Community Center, New York City
For more information and to RSVP, please contact Rebecca Fox at Rebecca@lgbthealth.net or 202-558-6828.
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