27 Arrested at ACT UP 20th Birthday Demo

500 March, Demand Single-Payer Health Care


Check out Rex Wockner's especially visual coverage of ACT Up's 20th birthday. Looked like a demo from the good ole days....

It's all about single payer, universal healthcare kiddies!

Jim

a world without plantations

by Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano

Earlier this week a person sent an e-mail through the Gay Men’s Health Summit listserve about a posting on Chicago’s Craigslist Rants & Raves section. The posting was about racism in the gay community and called for organizations to take action in addressing the issue. The e-mail implied that racism was more prevalent in the gay community, which was later addressed in an e-mail response by another member of the list serve. Finally, another member sent an e-mail inviting the group to look at homophobia in “… white, black, brown, yellow, green, blue and red cultures.” Below is a response:

Call me ignorant, but I thought yellow and red were inappropriate terms in referring to Asian and Native communities. I do not know what green and blue cultures are, but I will assume the terms are not used to dismiss the importance of identity. As a Chicano, I take the term brown rather seriously and would hope it would be respected as such among my colleagues.

In any event, I’d like to take a step back and not assume that a conversation on racism in our communities can be resolved in one or two e-mails. I agree on the previous posting that racism is not unique to Same Gender Loving, Queer, Two Spirit, Transgender, Intersex, Bi, Lesbian, Gay, otherwise-identified and non-identifying communities.

Similarly, I do not think that people of color are more homophobic than white people. Interestingly, I have not seen this notion challenged as much outside of communities of color. Perhaps an opportunity to look at the deep seeded racism that allows this thought to thrive.

I would invite us to challenge our internalized needs to defend our privilege by jumping so quickly into ways ‘others’ oppress us. I do not mean to dismiss the fact that there is homophobia in communities of color. I have certainly had my share of homophobia within my own community and do not intend to point fingers at the homophobia of other communities while my own is running rampant.

There is no accident in the way people of color have been strategically, institutionally and historically marginalized from participating in the civic process of this country. Sadly, mainstream (and I use this term loosely) LGBT organizations also have much room to grow in their efforts to include all of us as well. I do not think this exclusion is necessarily strategic, but certainly institutional and historic. A diversity committee on the board of a national organization does not constitute inclusivity. Hiring a person of color to deal with all people of color ‘matters’ is not inclusivity. Until we see a shift in a rigid white-middle class-gay male-dominant paradigm, people of color will continue to be left on the side of the road. Having a movement large enough to fit us all means that the agenda must be shared. I do not believe the agenda must be agreed on entirely, but there must be enough room for all of us to be engaged on our own terms.

People of color are expected to assimilate or at least acculturate into a white society. We are expected to learn the language, rid ourselves of our accents, learn when to be quiet, and swallow inappropriate behavior toward us. Whereas non-people of color are expected to be “culturally sensitive” and “tolerant.”

I am not interested in a world where these expectations and roles are inverted. I am, however, interested in a world where neither are expected and we grow the courage to deal with what is really going on, instead of dancing on the outskirts of the problem. I see us benefiting more from figuring out ways to coalesce. We have tried pointing fingers at each other with minimal results. After decades of experience, this movement remains in the dark ages. The time to become culturally sensitive is over. It is time for us to deal with the core that continues to emanate illnesses, such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, sexism, lesbophobia, aidsphobia, xenophobia and so many other phobias and isms that permeate the air we breathe and share.

Only together can we overcome the barriers that have been placed before us. Marriage discrimination (to provide an example) will be difficultly overcome if we keep reinforcing conservative’s messaging that this is a white middle class gay male issue, by following white middle class gay male-exclusive agendas. I do not ask that we disregard this part of our community, but ask that this part of our community work with the rest of us to create a movement large enough to fit us all, whole.

I do not dream of a world where people of color own the plantations. I dream of a world where plantations do not exist.

Paz,


Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano

Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano is a Queer Xicano Poet, Dreamer and Activist, born in San José, California, raised in Estación Adela, Chihuahua, and now living in Austin, Tejas. Lorenzo’s work has been called “uncompromising and hopeful, cínico y cariñoso,” “inspiring… provocative,” “landing so deep/you bleed without feeling the cut.” He is the author of the Lambda Literary Award-Nominated Santo de la Pata Alzada: Poems from the Queer/Xicano/Positive Pen. Further information is available on jotopower.com and godisbrown.blogspot.com

ANAL SEX - lubricant survey hits 2000 +

WOO HOO! Okay kids ---- we have now reached over 2000 participants in our "little anal sexy survey that could" with 73 countries represented so far. Have you taken a few moments to fill it out yet? It's completely anonymous, and who doesn't want to spill on their lubricant preferences for the ANAL SEXY?

WHY? Right now, lubricants do not need to be tested for safety before being sold. Research coming out in the next year --- pay attention to LifeLube.org for info --- will show that some lubes commonly used for anal sex are not as safe as others. By filling out the short survey, you will help scientists prioritize the next round of lubes that should be tested. You will also be helping rectal microbicide researchers understand lubricant preferences that will be critical when creating a product that will not only protect against HIV but will be DESIRABLE. After all, we want a rectal microbicide that is safe, effective and FUN TO USE.

HOW? On the homepage of LifeLube there are links to the survey in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Turkish with other languages possibly added soon, including Hindi and Tamil: check back regularly and forward to cute boys across our borders and beyond both ponds!

WHO IS DOING THIS SURVEY? The International Rectal Microbicides Working Group is a group of community advocates and researchers (nearly 400) from 35 countries who are working to increase options for the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections for the men and women around the world who have anal sex.

Please complete the survey today! Post a link on your web site! Forward this message to listservs!

Is Larry Kramer relevant?

The April issue of POZ has a long interview with ACT-Up founder Larry Kramer by Tim Murphy. Kramer recently spoke in New York on the 20th anniversary of ACT-Up. Click here for his speech.

I am on a gay men's listserv that is currently in the midst a rather rancorous debate about him.

What do you think? Does Larry Kramer speak to you? Do you find what he has to say relevant to you today?

Please share.

Jim

Tell Congress to Make NCHS Funding a Priority! IMPORTANT for LGBT Health!

Please take a moment to check out this alert from the National Coalition for LGBT Health. And if applicable to one of your Members of Congress, please respond today! Thanks.

Jim

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Data on the LGBT community's health is critical to identifying and decreasing the health disparities that impact our community everyday. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is the nation's principal health statistics agency, providing critical data on all aspects of health and the health care system. Yet, current funding levels threaten the collection of this vital information.

In order to further efforts to ensure the collection of data about the health of the LGBT community, the National Coalition for LGBT Health recognizes that NCHS must be fully funded.

Please take a minute to contact your Senators and Representative to urge them to fully fund the National Center for Health Statistics.

To take action, please visit: http://capwiz.com/chsr/issues/alert/?alertid=9532261

Please note: We are asking Coalition members whose Congresspeople are on the House and Senate Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations subcommittees (please see below) to contact your representatives today. This alert is focused on these Members, we will send out further alerts when all Members of Congress are voting.

Please forward this email widely!

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks,
Rebecca

Rebecca E. Fox
Director
National Coalition for LGBT Health
Phone: 202-558-6828
www.lgbthealth.net

House Committee
Democrats
Chair: Dave Obey (WI)
Nita M. Lowey (NY)
Rosa L. DeLauro (CT)
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (IL)
Patrick J. Kennedy (RI)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Tom Udall (NM)
Michael Honda (CA)
Betty McCollum (MN)
Tim Ryan (OH)

Republicans
Ranking Member: James T. Walsh (NY)
Ralph Regula (OH)
John E. Peterson (PA)
Dave Weldon (FL)
Michael K. Simpson (ID)
Dennis R. Rehberg (MT)
Jerry Lewis (CA), Ex Officio

Senate
Democrats
Chair: Senator Tom Harkin (IA)
Senator Daniel Inouye (HI)
Senator Herb Kohl (WI)
Senator Patty Murray (WA)
Senator Mary Landrieu (LA)
Senator Richard Durbin (IL)
Senator Jack Reed (RI)
Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ)

Republicans
Ranking Member: Senator Arlen Specter (PA)
Senator Thad Cochran (MS)
Senator Judd Gregg (NH)
Senator Larry Craig (ID)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX)
Senator Ted Stevens (AK)
Senator Richard Shelby (AL)

----------------------
Jim Pickett
via 'Berry

Black Beyond Boundaries in Philly last Friday

Last Friday at the LGBTI Health Summit in Philadelphia, the morning plenary was titled "Black Beyond Boundaries" and was really exceptional --- every speaker, including the Mayor of Philadelphia was powerful and moving. There was also an incredible performance piece by Zane Booker's Smoke, Lilllies and Jade Arts Initiative. The cream on top of the frosting on top of the cake came via a fabulous speech delivered by Mark McLaurin, the ED of the New York State Black Gay Network. As he has done before, Mark TOTALLY ROCKED the house. Thanks to to him for sharing his speech with LifeLube, printed in its entirety below and worth every second it takes.

Jim

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By Mark McLaurin

Good Morning !!!! First I want to take this opportunity to thank the organizers of the LGBTI Health Summit for making it possible for me to be here- and more importantly- for making the critical decision that a conversation about the health and about the lives of black lgbtq folkz was a topic worthy of a plenary. I was in Cambridge and let me just say………….We are CERTAINLY moving in the right direction. Let me also say that as the Executive Director of the New York State Black Gay Network, the ONLY statewide membership based advocacy organization devoted to a for and the betterment of the lives of black gay men in the entire United States, my talk will unapologetically focus on the needs of black gay men, Others can, should and will talk about the L B T Q members of the black community- I say this because its important, in my view, to always delineate and demarcate on whose behalf and by whose authority you are selected to speak. As a black gay man I find that as I mature as an activist, my moments of outrage are so much less about my explicit exclusion and so much more about my implicit inclusion and so I endeavor, when I speak, NEVER to piss my ownself off- if that makes sense !

That being said………the organizers have asked me to speak about the general state of health among black gay men, touch on the topic of health disparities, outline the need for additional resources and for really substantive collaboration- and end with a charge to the audience, all in the space of 15 minutes.........PAUSSSSSSE………..We shall see !

I must confess that it is a bittersweet moment to be a black gay advocate. On the one hand, there are many promising signs and harbingers and then there is the fact that just a couple of weeks ago- a community gathered to bury a 25 year old black gay man who died from complications of HIV/AIDS- At the end He had CMV and PCP and virtually every other opportunistic infection known to man. Its important to me that you know that this community did not gather in Burundi or Botswana but in Brooklyn, New York. This was not a young man without information of support, He had been a peer educator and worked for one of the larger AIDS Service organizations in the City. This was not a young man who had been exposed perinatally or did not have access to the latest pharmacological interventions to help him in his battle to stay alive- He died ON The ADAP program and literally in the shadow of one of the largest HIV/AIDS research institutions in the world. It is at times like those, as a shell shocked community gathered to comfort and support each other that I began to wonder where had WE failed him ? While on others, we were calling how, exactly, was it- that we passed him by ? If he TAUGHT the information and had access to the services- why couldn’t we save him and since we couldn’t, WHAT, in Gods name did that mean for all the other much less connected kids and what REAL chance did they have ? I struggled with those questions until Friday night here in Philadelphia when I ran into a young man that is here at this conference. I wont point him out and embarrass him but this very conference gave him the opportunity to be reunited with someone who provided services to him as a young person and as we sat and COCKTAILED at WOODYS………….Yeah- I had a few but I KNOW what I heard- He turned to this colleague of mine and plaintively declared that ‘HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR YOU- I WOULD BE DEAD SOMEWHERE IN THE HUDSON RIVER”- I was looking in his eyes when he said it and I didn’t find it to be hyperbole- THAT is how serious it is out here and so I had to check MYSELF. Who the HELL was I to get tired or to question the efforts- After all- Im 33, college educated, come from a loving, accepting family who were able to give me just about any material comfort I could want growing up (and still do). I have never accessed a single youth or HIV related service, I have never performed a single HIV intervention, never had to tell a person they were HIV positive, never counseled ANYONE about ANYTHING- with the possible exception of my good judys about their latest adventure in serial monogamy- In the end- Im a policy wonk and an advocate and I resolved then and there to shut up and wonk and get the hell over myself and advocate- and so here I am !

One wouldn’t know it from perusing the pages of Ebony, or the New York Times or…..THE ADVOCATE. One could remain completely unaware in the midst of a gander at the websites of the NAACP, or People for the American Way or even……….the Human Rights Campaign…….but Black Gay Men are in real trouble, on a variety of fronts. Young black gay men continue to experience higher rates of incarceration, report a greater number of and longer periods of being homeless and report higher rates of depression than similarly situated adolescents and young adults among any other population. It’s a miracle that we know this given the appalling dearth of research being done among this population but I assure you, ‘Tis true. Service providers in my coalition from Bed-Stuy to Buffalo from Red Hook to Rochester continue to report an ever increasing need on the part of young people for an ever increasing number of services to address an ever more complex set of presenting issues in their lives. All of this need is occurring in a static governmental funding environment that rarely increases in dollars and NEVER expands the kinds of services it will support- All of which spell disaster for young people.

You may not have known it from watching last week’s star studded Centers for Disease Control roll out of the new “AFRICAN AMERICAN HIV INITIATIVE” in Atlanta, GA. You would not have heard it from the Nancy Wilson or Usher or any of the other super stars that were invited to “summit” on the state of HIV/AIDS in the black community last week- but the black community passed an alarmingly foreboding milestone the day before. For the first time, since surveillance has begun on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, black MSM have now overtaken all other risk categories as the lead risk category for black men, overall. While this has LONG been true of men in virtually every other racial/ethnic group since the beginning of the epidemic, the fact that it is now true for black men CAN, MUST and WILL represent a real sea change in the way the larger black community talks about HIV/AIDS in its midst- some good and some bad- and we must be ready for both.

The old adage is that when America catches a cold, black folkz get pneumonia. Given the disparate impact of a whole host of health conditions on black men, there can be little question that that is true. Black gay men, however, as a result of the homophobia of the black community and the racism in the mainstream gay community, unlike straight men, often do not have a figurative “home” in which to climb under a blanket and drink some chicken noodle soup and ride out the storm. Witness- if an ostensibly straight black little boy in rural Alabama gets called a “nigger” at school- still an all too frequent occurrence (and certainly not just in Alabama) he can go home where his community will embrace and support him. His parents will tell him that its just ignorance and its no reflection on his own inherent worth and he very likely will attend church on Sunday where his Pastor will tell him that he was fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of his God and that will give him sustenance and comfort for the next time………but what if hes gay and gets called a faggot ? (an all too often occurrence). Its VERY unlikely that he can go home and share this with his mother, lest he raise her suspicions or even if he does and she is understanding, its even more unlikely she will feel comfortable sharing it with his father- who is even less likely to understand and even if they do deal with it as a family unit- They STILL probably belong to a church where the Pastor sees him as some alien abomination wholly outside the vision of God and hence the protection of the community and so………..he sits silent. But maybe as he grows older he wants to get the hell out of Alabama and live his life and be who he is- but WHERE- Is he genuinely welcomed and treated as an equal in the Castro or Chelsea or even Montrose in Houston- or does the community there either ogle or objectify or completely ignore or marginalize- depending on his physicality ???

Is there a gay community center where he is comfortable in his southern,black skin- Is there a “QUEER” youth group where he can be who he is (AND MEMO TO YOU- ITS PROBABLY NOT “QUEEEEEEER”)- Im thinking not. It is THIS boy for whom we must find a way.

In the midst of all of this- even in the HIV/AIDS and LGBT arenas- black gay men continue to be marginalized. Black Gay Men, when considered at all in the context of HIV/AIDS are only considered in the context of the extent to which they represent a “bridge” to HIV transmission in black women. This only contributes to the feeling of being silenced. Who wants to be the one that gave the mythical “DL” brother the “bug” that he passed onto the church going woman- Me, personally, ID RATHER BEEEE THE DL BROTHER- Do you see how this works ???

But the LGBT movement is, quite frankly little better- When the LGBT Health movement expresses a desire to MOVE ON from HIV/AIDS-that’s fine- but you better know who you are moving on from- When the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association holds conferences in Miami resort hotels and has two or three work shops on PODIATRY (its apparently terrrrribly taxing on feet to party all night and walk on hot sand all summer) and NEAR silence on HIV/AIDS- you better know what that means for my comfort level in being part of a coalition.

My fear, however, is that I have painted an overly grim picture of the lives of black gay men. It is not so- When the final history is written- the record will reflect incredible innovation and awe inspiring determination and a whole lotta joy- allll in the face of unspeakable tragedy. We have not, by and large, been defined by or even had much time to notice what we did not have- we have been too busy building an alternative structure. We didn’t have, often times, culturally competent shelters for black gay youth- so we invented the House and ballroom community. We did not have- for the most part- ASOs that understood the unique HIV prevention needs of black gay men so we built agencies like COLOURS and MOCHA and POCC out of our living rooms. We didn’t have- in most instances- bars and clubs that were particularly inviting to us or played music that we liked so we had house parties. We did not have- in far too many instances, people to take care of us as we grew sick and died and we created our own network of helping hands. These are things that you must know about us if we are to work in coalition together.

Don’t get me wrong, I sense, on the part of many activists in this movement, an earnest desire to build a formidable and just movement among LGBTQ people, I would not be here if I did not- but we cant get there from here without a really good understanding of some of the ground rules. I have to say that your inclusion of the PBGMLC as a part of this conference and as lead organizer of this plenary speaks loudly and clearly about the bright prospects for the future. We really do have so much more in common than separates us- and, in my view, we genuinely cant be successful without each other. There are actually far more rules for engagement than I have time to speak about today- but herez just a couple.


A- Let us take the lead on confronting the latest anti gay absurdity from the latest jack leg African American preacher the media decides to focus on. It makes many of us viscerally uncomfortable when activists who don’t look like us aggressively attack someone many in our community of origin, would consider a leader. There is a role for you to play, Help our nascent organizations get the word out, Help pitch friendly media onto doing a story on those of us on the ground, As a concession Ill even let you call this posture of ours internalized homophobia under your breath but let us take the lead.

B- Work WITH us on prioritizing the agenda- Understand that as important as all of the issues are- black gay men are not going to come to the table with an agenda that emphasizes Gay Marriage of DP benefits over HIV/AIDS- Understand the fact that, by and large, black gay men are not as “OVER THE TOP OUTRAGED” by instances of discrimination in the workplace or the public square because, quite frankly, we have grown a bit used to it- Don’t interpret that as us caring less, it just gets expressed differently.

C- Don’t demand that we fit into the larger community’s closeted versus “out” either or set up. “Coming Out” is not always something that black gay men can relate to- Many of us go IN and OUT of the closet depending on the mood, our surroundings, the context or even the weather- It doesn’t mean that our instances of not being OUT necessarily equal instances of being CLOSETED- or that my instances of not being vocal stem from a deep seated internalized oppression paradigm the community always seems to have at the ready- sometimes its just not wanting to wear that particular hat that particular day. The burgeoning growth of the black gay pride movements puts the lie to the notion that we are any less comfortable in our own skin- it is imperative that it be understood that we can, must, should and WILL be allowed to DO IT OUR WAY !

Im going to close here - I promised fifteen minutes and I want to hold to our promise but I want to thank all of you again for being such a patient audience and the organizers of this conference for having us here- I want you to know that Im leaving this place with a much greater sense of optimism about the future of the movement and a much greater determination to stick in there and do the hard work that needs to be done to create a progressive movement to sweep across this Country and make us ALL better. I believe it was Ben Franklin who said that “We must all hang together or we will most assuredly hang separately” and so it is !

Thank you and God Bless !

Why are gay men in mid-life getting HIV?

I want to share this piece. It's a must read for all of us in any way concerned or interested in gay men's health.
Jim

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From GAY CITY NEWS:


Why Are So Many Mid-Life Gay Men Getting HIV?

By: SPENCER COX AND BRUCE KELLERHOUSE, PH.D.
03/15/2007

New data released by the city's department of health show that the highest rates of new HIV infections are among gay men 35 to 49 years old. These findings are alarming and, to some, perplexing.

Why are so many mid-life gay men who were able to avoid HIV infection for so long now taking risks that are exposing them to the disease?

We believe that one common thread runs through most of these men's life histories - they came out and/or lived during the death-saturated culture of the 1980s and early to mid-1990s.

Mid-life gay men have lived most of their adult lives during the worst of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, experiencing the loss of partners, friends, and people in their community. As witnesses to so much illness, death, and loss, their voices have seldom been heard and their needs largely overlooked. Having once been the activists, caregivers, and volunteers for our community, many mid-life gay men now feel invisible and isolated. Not only lives were lost, during this period, but entire social networks and ways of living disappeared too.

The traumatic effects of AIDS-related losses were closely studied between 1988 and 1996. By 1988, gay men had already on average lost six lovers, friends, and/or family members. Researchers have shown that people who had more experiences of AIDS-related loss also had higher levels of traumatic stress response symptoms and recreational drug and sedative use.

However, almost no effort has been made to study the long-term impact of the AIDS epidemic on mid-life gay men, or to determine whether current elevated levels of risk-taking behaviors in gay men are related to the trauma of surviving one of the worst epidemics in our history. That lack of attention may now have come home to roost - in rising rates of risky behavior that are secondary to the effects of unprocessed traumatic responses to decades-old losses that haunt our daily conscious and unconscious lives as mid-life gay men.

Friendships have been shown to play an important role in health maintenance and in provision of care during poor health. The relationship between friendships and health is particularly important for gay men, for whom social networks often take the place of missing biological families. Conversely, many health problems that are now common among gay men are made worse by loneliness and lack of social opportunities.

Having survived the HIV pandemic, urban gay men in mid-life may be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of decimated social networks. Difficulty in making and sustaining relationships is a characteristic effect of traumatized people. The normal stresses associated with mid-life, together with the lingering effects of loss associated with survival through the epidemic, may make it difficult for these men to create and maintain new groups of close friends.

Furthermore, gay men have high levels of depression and anxiety disorders, another characteristic of people who have survived trauma. Studies estimate that gay men have about twice the levels of depression than are found in Americans generally. Depression is strongly linked to high-risk behavior, including drug use, alcoholism, and risky sex.

The methamphetamine epidemic that has swept through urban gay communities also contributes to high levels of new HIV infections. A recent study from the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, which offers HIV testing, found that one in three new HIV-positive tests was associated with meth use. About one in 10 gay men in New York City report recent meth use.

In some ways, gay men in mid-life are at the center of a "perfect storm," in which multiple problems converge to create a very high-risk environment. Dr. Ron Stall, one of the leaders in studying gay men's health, has shown that different kinds of psychosocial problems, such as depression, drug use, and partner violence, interact to create higher levels of risk for HIV - in other words, the more psychosocial problems that a person experiences, the higher their risk of getting infected.

We can't just address these problems independently, but need to understand the dangerous ways they work together.

If we are to lower HIV infection rates for this population, we need a renewed focus on HIV prevention for gay men. Many of our AIDS organizations are missing in action when it comes to gay men. They've assumed that, because we know how to have safer sex, their job is done. But these data show that the problem isn't lack of information.

Handing a 45-year-old man another safer sex brochure just isn't going to do the job. We urgently need to create programs that directly address the real reasons that gay men engage in high-risk behavior.

Our AIDS organizations need to be experimenting with new programs and new models to prevent HIV infection, but most of them are nowhere to be found.

The development of effective treatments for HIV disease has given many of us a new lease on life. But if we are to make the most of this opportunity, we will have to understand the legacy of this plague - what it has done to us. We owe that much to those who fought and died, and to those of us who are fighting and have survived.

Spencer Cox is the founder and executive director of the Medius Institute for Gay Men's Health. Bruce Kellerhouse, Ph.D. is the co-founder of HIV Forum and a psychologist in independent practice.

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Jim Pickett
via 'Berry

Live with the LGBTI's from Philly

Hey there,

Coming to you live from Philadelphia and the LGBTI Health Summit that is just getting underway here. Am doing a presentation on one of my favorite topics - rectal microbicides - this morning with my pal Jim Maynard from Fenway in Boston (who will talk about pre-exposure prophylaxis and vaccines.) "Revolutionizing Sex in the New Millennium" is our schtick. My half of the presentation - "Viva La Rectum" - can be found on the International Rectal Microbicide Working Group website under the column "recent presentations." I will con the other Jim into letting me post his slides there as well... I saw them last night and they are very sexy and fun... yeah, and informative too.

What is cool about this summit is the sheer diversity of people and topics. I will try to break away and post here as much as I can, but no promises. I am especially keyed into issues of mental health and depression among gay men. Having just been diagnosed with clinical depression at a recent stint in a gay psych unit - a rather altering experience - and just starting on anti-depressants as of a week ago, I want to learn more for myself and want to share. Because there is a LOT of undiagnosed depression in gay men and if we could just get a handle on this in some way, a lot of our other health issues, including but not limited to HIV and substance use/abuse, would be impacted in fabulous ways. Depression and other mental illness is at the roots of so many of our problems, yet we continue to hack away at the tops of the weeds.

Any cool stuff I find on this issue I will post about. And if you know of cool weblinks, other resources, please let me know here and I will make sure we get it posted on www.LifeLube.org.

Did I mention that the hotel is located right in the "gayborhood?" Very convenient for research purposes...

Chow for now
Jim

March 11 - 17 - National LGBT Health Awareness Week

Your LGBT-ness is an important part of how healthy you are, or aren't. If you can't be honest, or feel comfortable, with any kind of provider of social, medical, substance abuse or mental health services, how well are you going to be? And of course, there are some health issues that are just more of a concern for us compared to the general population.

The theme of this year's National LGBT Health Awareness Week (the fifth annual) is "Know More," and in keeping with that, their site has tons of great resources designed for both LGBT individuals and organizations serving us... There is stuff there for every letter on all kinds of topics, including:

* Mental Health (including depression and anxiety screening)
* Sexual Health (including STD and HIV screening)
* Substance Use (including tobacco and alcohol)
* Heart Health
* Fitness (including diet and exercise)
* Domestic Violence and Safety

Info specifically for gay men includes recommendations regarding prostate and testicular health, colon and anal health.

And more. It's worth a click over there right now.

The week is sponsored by the National Coalition of LGBT Health, by the way.

Jim

Anal lubricant survey now available...

in Turkish!

Woo hoo!

Click on LifeLube.org.

Jim

Multilingual anal lube survey

The languages of love - and those of surveys looking to discover your lubricant preferences for ANAL SEX - are many --- click over to LifeLube.org and take the anal lube survey (right on the home page) in Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, or English!

And send the link to friends and lovers in Lima, Rio, Barcelona, Bogota, and Berlin...

Turkish is coming soon... really.

Jim

ps --- picture is of soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who has yet to fill out the survey...