El resultado de la colaboración internacional con líderes de 8 organizaciones comunitarias es este documento que ofrece estrategias para reducir la incidencia del VIH entre hombres gay y otros hombres que tienen sexo con hombres en Centro América.
AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA, one of the founding members of the Sexual Health Xchange and papa to LifeLube) in collaboration with Kukulcán Association of Honduras and CONGA [A Coalition of Organizations of gay men in Central America] have collaborated to produce "No Más en el Tintero, Hombres Gay: Nuestras Vidas y el VIH en Centro América y el Caribe [Unfolding Forgotten Truths: Gay men, our lives and HIV in Central America and the Caribbean.]"
"El Tintero" presents the experiences and visions of Central American gay male activists who participated in a 2-day regional consultation held in Honduras in May of 2006.
This event was a courageous and unprecedented collaboration. Gay men from eight different community based organizations that represent the front line of organizing and services in the region finally had an open space for conversations. They reflected critically and voiced visions seldom allowed in a context where stigma and enforced silence prevails, infringement upon human rights is the standard, and HIV incidence continues to rise.
Approximately 200,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in Central America, according to the most recent report by the World Bank (2006). Prevalence rates reach an approximate 17% in some countries and the main mode of HIV transmission is among men who have sex with men (MSM), yet prevention efforts are disproportionately unavailable for gay men and MSM in Latin America.
It is in this stigmatized context that participants expressed their hopes and frustrations, as individuals, organizations and as voices of a region. The participants identified three major areas that require special attention:
1. Inclusion of gay men and MSM in HIV prevention, planning, and policy processes;
2. Enhancement of areas of research: masculinity and risk, violence, substance use among MSM, socio-cultural issues related to HIV, the lives of gay men and MSM; and
3. Access to quality in health services targeting gay men and MSM in Central America and the Caribbean.
"El Tintero" was developed for community members, service providers, academicians, community-based researchers and policy makers who seek a better understanding of gay men in Central America and the Caribbean.
It is being distributed for free in Latin America and the U.S.
"El Tintero" can also be found on APLA's publications page.
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