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Ambiente: Amazing Racer Chip Arndt

By Herb Sosa

Martin Luther King, Jr. said "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" Willis "Chip" Arndt is one of this people that inspire all of us to do more - to serve others.

Just when you think he has done it all, he has once again raised the bar and moved on to the next project. From The Amazing Race to Miami’s White Party® and now a national Gay American Heroes Memorial Project –Chip Arndt keeps us all aware and on the move. Hop on!

Read the rest.

Treat transgendered with dignity, Union Finance Minister P.Chidambar (India)

Launches health insurance scheme for marginalised women


CHENNAI: Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday appealed to the people to treat the marginalised sections, including the transgendered, with dignity, as they were also citizens of the country.

Launching a health insurance scheme for marginalised women and transgendered here, he stressed the need for understanding their aspirations and creating awareness among these sections of their rights. Steering clear of all attempts to isolate them, the marginalised sections should become part of the mainstream. They should shed their inferiority complex and lead a dignified life.

Read the rest.

Vibin' for Obama

Should we vote for him?

Empowering men who have sex with men to fight AIDS

By Kevin Frost and Dr. Chris Beyrer

In 85 countries of the world, it is illegal for men to have sex with other men. Male-male sexual relationships are stigmatized, driving men to hide their activities from friends, family members and health workers, according to a recent report by the International Lesbian and Gay Association. Because these men are forced to live part of their lives underground, they often lack access to basic services, and, as a result, are at increased risk of HIV/AIDS.

Men who have sex with men, or “MSM,” is a term that applies to those who identify as “gay,” but it also includes many MSM throughout the world whose gender and sexual identities defy Western categorization. For instance, in India there are at least three designations: “Kothis” are effeminate MSM who may nonetheless be married to women and have families; “panthis” are masculine men who have sex with kothis; and “hijras,” who are often castrated, are considered to be a third gender altogether.

While these groups often do not identify as a cohesive community, they share a vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Men who have sex with men are among the most vulnerable populations to HIV transmission worldwide, and yet they continue to be one of the most underserved. Today, fewer than one in 20 MSM has access to basic HIV education, prevention services or care. Many will die of AIDS simply because appropriate programs to support them do not exist.

Read the rest in Bay Windows.

Love us some QUEERSTOCK

Queerstock is the world's most complete source for stock photography and illustration of the gay and lesbian community.

One of our LifeLuber's is working on a social marketing project with them and reports that they not only feature a fabulous selection of images, but they are delightful to work with and very community-friendly. Highly recommended!

The Utah AIDS Foundation announces the Village Summit in Salt Lake

August 24 - 26, 2007

Gay men's health will be the focus of The Village Summit, a weekend retreat to be held at the Jewish Community Center August 24th-26th. Formerly known as "Invenio" and now in its 6th year, the revamped event is back with a new name, location, and format.

Organizers plan to "enGAYge" your mind, body, and soul with compelling workshops addressing a full range of topics. Discussions on love and relationships, sexuality, political activism, spirituality, and nutrition will accompany good food and social events, all designed to enhance participant's knowledge and ability to make healthy life choices.

For more than 25 years, gay men have measured their health with an HIV-centric frame of mind. HIV is no longer necessarily considered a terminal illness. While HIV remains a primary concern for many gay men, the Village Summit will broaden the notion of health beyond HIV status with a holistic approach to gay men's health.

Our aim is to move forward the gay men's health movement here locally, with a spirit of passion, energy, and fun. For more information and to register click here. The Village Summit is a program of the Utah AIDS Foundation.

Presidential Forum on GLBT Issues

Got a question? Put the candidates on the spot!

Presidential Forum on GLBT Issues

On Aug. 9, presidential candidates will gather in Los Angeles to debate issues affecting the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the United States. Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese, Melissa Etheridge and esteemed journalist Jonathan Capehart will appear as panelists at the event.

The historic two-hour forum, moderated by Margaret Carlson, will be televised live on the Logo network and the Logo website on Thursday, Aug. 9 starting at 6 p.m. Pacific time and 9 p.m. Eastern.

They''re inviting the public to submit questions you would like to hear the candidates answer. So if there's something you've always wanted to ask a potential future president about GLBT equality, just fill out the form here.

Confirmed:

Hillary Clinton

Christopher Dodd

John Edwards

Mike Gravel

Dennis Kucinich

Barack Obama

Bill Richardson

ANAL SEX and LUBES

The survey on lubes used for anal sex, sponsored by the International Rectal Microbicide Working Group, is closing on July 31.

Please click LifeLube.org and join the over 6,500 men and women from 99 countries who have already participated!

Your answers will help guide development of new HIV prevention tools such as rectal microbicides, and will help scientists who are looking into the safety of lubes we use during booty sex.

Bush Administration Subpoenas Michael Moore

For the filming of his documentary SiCKO, Michael Moore took sick 9/11 workers to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to help them obtain free medical care. “The (rescue workers) just want medical attention!” Moore shouts into a loudspeaker in the movie, in a futile attempt to win over the security guards. “The same kind Al Qaeda is getting!” In May, Moore announced that the Treasury Department launched an investigation into his trip, examining “whether he had violated restrictions on travel to Cuba.”

Last night on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Moore announced that “the Bush administration has now issued a subpoena for me, going after me for helping these 9/11 rescue workers.” Moore said that the subpoena was unwarranted, since journalists are allowed to travel to Cuba, and “this was a work of journalism.”

Read the rest on Think Progressive here.

Baring the Truth

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Male circumcision for prevention of HIV transmission:

...what the new data mean for HIV prevention in the United States


Author(s): Sullivan PS, Kilmarx PH, Peterman TA, et al.

Reference: PLoS Med. 2007 Jul 24;4(7):e223.

Published Abstract:

Three randomized, controlled clinical trials in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda were recently unblinded early because interim analyses concluded that circumcision of HIV-negative adult males reduced their risk for acquiring HIV infection through penile-vaginal sex [1-3]. In each trial, men who had been randomly assigned to an intervention group receiving circumcision had a lower incidence of HIV infection in up to two years of follow up, compared to men who were assigned to a control group not receiving circumcision. The estimated reduction in the risk of HIV infection ranged from 51% to 60%; per-protocol estimates of risk reduction ranged from 55% to 76%. It is now clear that male circumcision can be efficacious for men in reducing their risk of HIV acquisition through sex with women [4]. Some experts predict that the impact of male circumcision as a biomedical intervention for HIV prevention in Africa could be large [5,6], and preparatory work has been done to establish male circumcision programs in Africa. The implications of African trials on circumcision for HIV prevention programs in the United States are less clear-despite the interest of the popular press in the idea [7]. Here, we consider the differences between the HIV epidemics in Africa and the US, the current status of male circumcision in the US, and the knowledge gaps that will need to be addressed as we consider whether male circumcision should be evaluated or implemented as a biomedical intervention to reduce sexually acquired HIV infections domestically.

The full paper is available here.

"HIV rates skyrocketing among men who have sex with men"

[the original AP story from the Herald Tribune, July 24, is here.]

Discrimination and a lack of access to health services have sparked an alarming rise in the rate of new HIV infections among men who have sex with men in developing countries, a leading American AIDS research group said Tuesday. Studies have found that infection rates are growing among men who have sex with men in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and less than five percent of those men have access to HIV-related health care, according to a statistics released by the American Foundation for AIDS Research, or amfAR.

"It is estimated that one in 20 men who have sex with men have access to appropriate HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services," Kevin Frost, amFAR's chief executive officer, told reporters. "This is a massive failure of the HIV/AIDS response globally and I think one that needs to be addressed."

Statistics show the rate of infection with HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - among men who have sex with men growing exponentially in parts of the developing world. In Kenya, around 40 percent are estimated to be HIV positive, compared to a 6 percent prevalence in the overall population, according to amFAR. In Senegal nearly 22 percent are thought to be infected, compared to 0.9 percent of the general population. In Uruguay and Mexico, 21 percent and 15 percent are estimated to have the disease.

"The frightening truth is that, in many parts of the world, we simply do not know how bad the epidemics (are) among" men who have sex with men, Dr. Chris Breyer, director of the Johns Hopkins Fogarty AIDS program, said in a statement. "Transmission ... is still not tracked in most countries."

Under a new initiative launched Tuesday at the Fourth International AIDS Society Conference, amFAR will seek to raise US$300 million (€217 million) over the next three years to provide grants for AIDS education and research among men who have sex with men in developing countries. The initiative will also aim to raise awareness about the group, who have typically been left out of AIDS prevention strategies because many men are married and do not identify themselves as gay or bisexual. Male-to-male sex is illegal in 85 countries, meaning that the men who have sex with men often do not receive global AIDS funding because they are effectively marginalized by their own governments, Frost said.

"Empowering (men who have sex with men) and other marginalized groups to protect themselves from HIV is one of the world's most urgent health priorities," said Peter Piot, the executive director of the United Nations' program on AIDS, which is supporting the initiative.

Don't Look Gay: Why American Men Are Afraid of Intimacy with Each Other

Why do adolescent boys often leave empty seats between each other when they go to the movies? It's a product of the culture of male homophobia in America which pushes men to avoid intimacy and gay stereotypes.

This article by John Ibsen is reprinted from American Sexuality Magazine.

On Saturday afternoon at the Cineplex you can see them: adolescent boys, there to watch one of the action films that Hollywood makes with an audience of young males in mind. What’s distinctive is where the boys sit in the theater. Though they might’ve come to the movie together and might even be close friends, they’ll leave an empty seat between them.

Just where the empty physical, as well as emotional, space between men comes from has been the essential subject of my research as a scholar of American culture. My work has culminated in a recent book, Picturing Men: A Century Male Relationships in Everyday American Photography.

What accounts for that space? A short answer, something academics like me are notoriously reticent to provide, is that countless American boys and the men that they become are afraid of intimacy with each other, fearful of how intimacy might be construed -- of what others and maybe even they themselves might decide that the closeness suggests. What I’m alluding to, of course, is homophobia.

Read the rest on AlterNet.

Friday is for Faeries

Each and every Friday we celebrate the Faeries among us with fabulous faerie fotos... Got a foto that fits? E-mail it here and we'll feature it. Fer shurr.

Expanding the Availability and Acceptance of Voluntary HIV Testing

Fifteen Fundamental Principles

An ad hoc HIV testing working group comprised of national and regional HIV advocacy organizations released a set of guiding principles to expand voluntary HIV testing in healthcare settings. Released the week of National HIV Testing Day (June 27), the fifteen principles are intended to serve as a roadmap for efforts to expand the availability and acceptance of HIV screening while maintaining informed consent, counseling on the meaning and implications of test results, linkage to care, and respect for patient’s rights.

The guiding principles and list of endorsing organizations will be used to educate decision-makers at the local, state, and federal levels of government. The document is also meant to guide HIV advocacy around HIV testing expansion.

Click here to read the principles, see a list of current endorsers, and to find out how your organization can endorse.

Endorsements are being taken until August 20, 2007.

US given sexual orientation information on travellers

The European Commission quietly approved an agreement this Monday which gives the US Department of Homeland Security unprecedented access to the personal information of anyone on a transatlantic flight, including details of their sexual orientation.

The DHS insists on the right to use the information for disease control, and there are fears that gay passengers may be singled out as possible HIV risks.

The plans involve upgrading information which is already sent by airlines to the DHS on the 4-million-plus Britons who visit the US every year, including payment details, home address and the passengers in-flight meal choice.

Read the rest.

Meet a Rectal Microbicide Advocate

rectal microbicides*

GORDON YOUNGMAN, BCom, MBA, MPH

Gordon Youngman recognizes that discussions about and development of rectal microbicides have been impeded because of social stigmatization of anal sex, whether between same-sex or different-sex couples. He believes that all support for microbicide development should emphasize the importance of both vaginal and rectal microbicides, and stresses the vast impact that microbicides could have in reducing infection rates throughout the world.

In his professional work in British Columbia, Gordon seeks to develop a holistic approach to LGBT health, which encompasses “the spiritual, environmental, and economic well-being of gay men and helps them to take control of their health and make healthy choices and not be mislead by ‘the disease syndrome approach.’”

He loves the arts—ballet, opera, symphony, museums, and theater—and enjoys writing both professionally and as a personal respite. Gordon is also an activist within the Anglican Church, focusing on definitions of human sexuality, same sex blessings, and the role of gay clergy within the Church.

[*are products being researched that could provide protection against HIV and other STDs in the absence of condoms. they may be formulated as lubes or gels, or maybe even in an enema. rectal microbicides do not exist, yet, but the international rectal microbicide working group - www.IRMWG.org - is a group of advocates, scientists and policy makers who are pressing for their development. many men and women around the world would benefit from safe and effective rectal microbicides.]

Harry Potter and the Brokeback Goblet

Click the logo and see magic.

IAS: Circumcision may be acceptable to some gay men, but study says no value for HIV prevention

by Michael Carter & David McLay for aidsmap

With male circumcision showing effectiveness in reducing female-to-male HIV transmission among African heterosexual men, some are questioning whether the tool might also be effective in other populations affected by HIV, including gay men and other groups of men who have sex with men (MSM).

Two contrasting studies examining this issue were presented on July 25^th to the 4^th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Sydney. The first conducted amongst MSM in South America found that circumcision would be acceptable as a method of HIV prevention. The second, however, found that circumcised and uncircumcised gay men in Sydney, Australia, had the same risk of becoming infected with HIV.

Read the rest on aidsmap.

Gay Sex, Cash and Webcams

by Keith R. Green
via the July/August 07 edition of
Positively Aware

No one suspected what was going on in the upper level units of a residential building on Chicago’s North side. But for years, with just a credit card and a computer connected to the World Wide Web, anyone from anywhere could log in and watch.

The place was known as the CocoDorm. At any given time, there were between six and eight young Black and Latino men (age 18-24 on average) who lived there. Each young man signed a contract that was valid for 30 days and that could be extended upon a mutual agreement between himself and the proprietor—an older Caucasian man. Under this contract, the young men were required to perform sexual acts with each other and alone, at least three times a day, every day. There were video cameras strategically placed in just about every room of the house that captured the action, transmitting it to paid subscribers via the Internet.

The “Dorm,” as it was called, was a product of Flavaworks Productions. Flavaworks also produced a host of other pornographic websites, films, and print publications that mostly featured young Black and Latino men. I first encountered the company in the spring of 2004, when I was tasked with selling ads to be placed in the program book of the “Aware Affair,” TPAN’s annual gala. It was by accident. Really!

I had assembled a team of unorthodox social workers who also possessed capitalist mentalities—meaning we understood that effective social work requires adequate finances. With $10,000 in ad sales as our collective aim, we didn’t discriminate in any way when soliciting businesses for sponsorship. Ironically, Flavaworks was one of the targets on my list to call. Imagine that!


Read the rest.

Woof ,Woof Wednesday

You Tube Debate on Gay Marriage Between Dem Presidential Hopefuls

[Transcript snip via CNN. Debate was last night.]

COOPER: Our next question is on a topic that got a lot of response
from YouTube viewers. Let's watch.

QUESTION: Hi. My name is Mary.

QUESTION: And my name is Jen.

QUESTION: And we're from Brooklyn, New York.

If you were elected president of the United States, would you allow us
to be married to each other?

COOPER: Congressman Kucinich?

KUCINICH: Mary and Jen, the answer to your question is yes. And let me
tell you why.

Because if our Constitution really means what it says, that all are
created equal, if it really means what it says, that there should be
equality of opportunity before the law, then our brothers and sisters
who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender should have the
same rights accorded to them as anyone else, and that includes the
ability to have a civil marriage ceremony.

Yes, I support you. And welcome to a better and a new America under a
President Kucinich administration.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: Senator Dodd, you supported the Defense of Marriage Act.
What's your position?

DODD: I've made the case, Anderson, that -- my wife and I have two
young daughters, age 5 and 2.

I'd simply ask the audience to ask themselves the question that Jackie
and I have asked: How would I want my two daughters treated if they
grew up and had a different sexual orientation than their parents?

Good jobs, equal opportunity, to be able to retire, to visit each
other, to be with each other, as other people do.

So I feel very strongly, if you ask yourself the question, "How would
you like your children treated if they had a different sexual
orientation than their parents?," the answer is yes. They ought to
have that ability in civil unions.

I don't go so far as to call for marriage. I believe marriage is
between a man and a woman.

But my state of Connecticut, the state of New Hampshire, have endorsed
civil unions. I strongly support that. But I don't go so far as
marriage.

COOPER: Governor Richardson?

RICHARDSON: Well, I would say to the two young women, I would level
with you -- I would do what is achievable.

What I think is achievable is full civil unions with full marriage
rights. I would also press for you a hate crimes act in the Congress.
I would eliminate "don't ask/don't tell" in the military.

(APPLAUSE)

If we're going to have in our military men and women that die for this
country, we shouldn't give them a lecture on their sexual orientation

I would push for domestic partnership laws, nondiscrimination in
insurance and housing.

I would also send a very strong message that, in my administration, I
will not tolerate any discrimination on the basis of race, gender, or
sexual orientation.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: This next question is for Senator Edwards.

QUESTION: I'm Reverend Reggie Longcrier. I'm the pastor of Exodus
Mission and Outreach Church in Hickory, North Carolina.

Senator Edwards said his opposition to gay marriage is influenced by
his Southern Baptist background. Most Americans agree it was wrong and
unconstitutional to use religion to justify slavery, segregation, and
denying women the right to vote.

So why is it still acceptable to use religion to deny gay American
their full and equal rights?

(APPLAUSE)

EDWARDS: I think Reverend Longcrier asks a very important question,
which is whether fundamentally -- whether it's right for any of our
faith beliefs to be imposed on the American people when we're
president of the United States. I do not believe that's right.

I feel enormous personal conflict about this issue. I want to end
discrimination. I want to do some of the things that I just heard Bill
Richardson talking about -- standing up for equal rights, substantive
rights, civil unions, the thing that Chris Dodd just talked about. But
I think that's something everybody on this stage will commit
themselves to as president of the United States.

But I personally have been on a journey on this issue. I feel enormous
conflict about it. As I think a lot of people know, Elizabeth spoke --
my wife Elizabeth spoke out a few weeks ago, and she actually supports
gay marriage. I do not. But this is a very, very difficult issue for
me. And I recognize and have enormous respect for people who have a
different view of it.

COOPER: I should also point out that the reverend is actually in the
audience tonight. Where is he? Right over here.

Reverend, do you feel he answered your question?

(APPLAUSE)

QUESTION: This question was just a catalyst that promoted some other
things that wrapped around that particular question, especially when
it comes to fair housing practices. Also...

COOPER: Do you think he answered the question, though?

QUESTION: Not like I would like to have heard it...

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: What did you not hear?

QUESTION: I didn't quite get -- some people were moving around, and I
didn't quite get all of his answer. I just heard...

COOPER: All right, there's 30 seconds more. Why is it OK to quite
religious beliefs when talking about why you don't support something?
That's essentially what's his question.

EDWARDS: It's not. I mean, I've been asked a personal question which
is, I think, what Reverend Longcrier is raising, and that personal
question is, do I believe and do I personally support gay marriage?

The honest answer to that is I don't. But I think it is absolutely
wrong, as president of the United States, for me to have used that
faith basis as a basis for denying anybody their rights, and I will
not do that when I'm president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: Senator Obama, the laws banning interracial marriage in the
United States were ruled unconstitutional in 1967. What is the
difference between a ban on interracial marriage and a ban on gay
marriage?

OBAMA: Well, I think that it is important to pick up on something that
was said earlier by both Dennis and by Bill, and that is that we've
got to make sure that everybody is equal under the law. And the civil
unions that I proposed would be equivalent in terms of making sure
that all the rights that are conferred by the state are equal for
same-sex couples as well as for heterosexual couples.

Now, with respect to marriage, it's my belief that it's up to the
individual denominations to make a decision as to whether they want to
recognize marriage or not. But in terms of, you know, the rights of
people to transfer property, to have hospital visitation, all those
critical civil rights that are conferred by our government, those
should be equal.

Woof Wednesday

MALE CIRCUMCISION, GENE THERAPY, AND POWERFUL NEW HIV TREATMENTS HEADLINE DAY THREE OF IAS CONFERENCE IN SYDNEY

Sydney, 24 July 2007

Research on novel prevention and treatment strategies, and the cutting-edge use of gene therapy to treat HIV disease was presented at today's plenary session at the 4th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Sydney, Australia. Other session topics included female-initiated prevention technologies, provider-initiated HIV testing and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. A special session explored the future of global financing of HIV prevention, care and treatment.

"While resources for AIDS programming have grown substantially over the past five years, far greater commitments are required," said IAS President Dr. Pedro Cahn, International Conference Co-Chair and Director of Fundación Huesped in Argentina. "To achieve and sustain universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care, all donors and governments in resource-limited countries must rise to the challenge of strengthening health systems throughout the world."

Regarding the availability of new treatment strategies, Prof. David Cooper, IAS 2007 Local Co-chair and Director of the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at University of New South Wales said: "It's an extremely exciting time in terms of drug development. We have better drugs in existing classes, as well as whole new classes of drugs. Patients and their clinicians now have a much wider choice of drug combinations than ever before."

Male Circumcision: From Research to Practice

Over 45 observational studies, three clinical trials and several biological studies all provide compelling evidence that male circumcision reduces HIV transmission from women to men by about 60 percent, according to the lead speaker on Tuesday's plenary panel, Professor Robert Bailey. Bailey is Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Research Associate at the Field Museum in Chicago. Since 1995, he has devoted most of his research activities to the issue of male circumcision as a possible HIV prevention strategy. He has conducted circumcision-related studies in varying communities in Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, as well as in the US.

According to Bailey, male circumcision may be the oldest surgical procedure, dating back to at least 2300 BC in Egypt. Today, about 30% of men in the world are circumcised, and about 67% of men in Africa are circumcised. In his remarks, Bailey described modelling estimates that show that millions of new HIV infections could be averted in sub-Saharan Africa if substantial proportions of men were circumcised. In the highest prevalence areas, the impact of circumcision would be greatest, and the intervention would be highly cost-effective.

More on IAS later today.

'mo debuts in Seattle

’mo is a free, monthly, full-color, printed magazine distributed throughout the Seattle metropolitan area.

Readers will enjoy coverage of a wide range of topics: community, nightlife, shopping, love, sex, travel, service, faith, money, health, opinion, flavor, and more.

-by
-for
-about
Seattle’s gay community, and its allies

Lots of familiar faces and places in every issue of ’mo alongside editorial content written by, for, and about the men and women who live in Seattle.

HPV therapeutic vaccine stimulates immune response in people with HIV

by Liz Highleyman for aidsmap

A new therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus that can cause anal and genital cancer, appears safe and stimulates an immune response in HIV-positive people, according to a poster presented Monday at the Fourth International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Treatment, Pathogenesis and Prevention in Sydney.

Although two HPV preventive vaccines have now been approved in Europe, it is unclear if those vaccines will have any impact on the incidence of anal or cervical cancer in HIV-positive people already infected with HPV.

An analysis of the FUTURE 1 study of the approved Gardasil HPV vaccine found a 73% efficacy rate against the development of anogenital warts or pre-cancerous or cancerous cell changes in the anus in women during four years of follow-up. However the investigators stressed that the study did not include HIV-positive people, and the protective effect of the vaccine in people with HIV remains unclear.

A therapeutic vaccine against cancer-causing HPV type 16 is being developed by the Australian company CSL. It is designed to prevent the development of neoplasia (pre-cancerous cell changes) by stimulating cellular immune responses to this type of HPV.

The manufacturer chose to test the vaccine in HIV-positive people in order to determine whether it would induce immune responses to HPV in people with moderate immune suppression.

Read the rest.

Transtastic Men Calendar of 2008 NOW AVAILABLE

Campaigning for respect and equality for ALL trans people

What started as an idea jotted onto the back of a bingo ticket in a bar has transformed into a calendar of Transtastic Men.

From March 2006, when this idea was germinated, trans men from across the country have been meeting in Northern England to take part in a photographic project to create a calendar for 2008. They have willingly stepped out of their clothes to celebrate their bodies, to raise awareness and to raise money.


Click for more Transtastic calendar info on Press for Change here.

Managing Personal Relationships When You Have Bipolar Disorder

[via MSN Health & Fitness]



by Dr. Rob for MSN Health & Fitness


Q: I was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder. My mood swings have been going on for a number of years and have damaged many of my relationships. I’m on medication now and feel 100 percent better, but I cannot change what’s already happened. Do you have any suggestions on how to best explain my illness to relatives, friends and others?

A: Explaining bipolar disorder can be difficult. There are no specific blood tests or brain imaging scans to reveal the problem. The reason: Bipolar disorder is a malfunction of the brain that causes a varying pattern of behavior. It is only with careful study of a patient's actions and mood changes over many months—even years—are we able to make the diagnosis. Once this conclusion is made, people will need to accept that your problem isn't "all in your head." They should consider mental illness a very real medical condition, like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Just as those conditions affect a person’s quality of life, so does bipolar disorder.


Read the rest of the answer.

5th annual National LGBTI Anti-Tobacco Summit - SAVE THE DATE

[info via The LGBT Tobacco Control Network, The Fenway Institute]


SAVE THE DATE

The 5th annual National LGBTI Anti-Tobacco Summit, "Expanding our Movement: Lessons from the Field", will be taking place on October 23, 2007 in Minneapolis, MN. This summit will directly precede the National Conference on Tobacco or Health. This will be the best opportunity to network with others in the field of LGBT tobacco control. This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Francisco O. Buchting, who is the vice president of Clash (the Coalition of Lavender Americans on Smoking and Health ). His recent work includes chairing a synthesis meeting to discuss sampling issues among LGBT of color and subsequently co-editing a report about the findings from the meeting.

Please make sure to save this day October 23, 2007 from 8:30 am until 5 pm and to check the website regularly for news and updates.

In addition, we are currently accepting Abstracts for workshops at the summit. So if you have a great idea and information to share, make sure to submit an Abstract proposal. Forms can be found here The proposal must be received by August 14th and no later than 5pm PST.

The topics to focus on this year include: reaching underserved or hard to reach segments of the LGBTIQ communities; training future advocates; using social justice in LGBTIQ tobacco control efforts; advocacy of LGBTIQ inclusion in mainstream tobacco control efforts; investigating the tobacco industry current LGBT targeting efforts; how to work with gay and mainstream media; and any other topics that would fit under how to expand the movement.

Also, please attend the half-day "Minnesota Queers the Air" event on Monday, October 22, a summit at the Hilton to introduce the Tobacco-free Lavender Communities of MN and celebrate the successes of MN's LGBT anti-tobacco advocates. MN will go smoke-free on October 1st, thanks to the Freedom to Breathe Act, sponsored by Senator Scott Dibble, a member of the LGBT community.

For more information contact Antonio Cardona at email.cardona@gmail.com

Mitt Romney's "Play on Words"

Read the post at Rod 2.0.

Lancet study reports that HIV treatment can "normalize" CD4 counts

AIDS Action Committee's blog analyzes Reuters article reporting that people with HIV can build "normal" immune strength...

Click here to read the post.

Presidential Probing Yields Big Surprise?

IAS Conference Opens in Sydney - Calls for Universal Access to Prevention and Care

SUNDAY, 22 JULY 2007


5,000 SCIENTISTS, HIV CLINICIANS, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS CONVENE IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA TO REVIEW IMPORTANT ADVANCES IN HIV RESEARCH


4th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention Opens with Call for Expanded Research to Strengthen Global Scale Up of HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment

Sydney, 22 July 2007 - With important scientific advances setting the stage, the 4th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2007) convenes in Sydney, Australia today, with organizers calling for even greater vigilance to ensure universal access to HIV prevention and treatment, and expanded research to inform and strengthen the global response to HIV. IAS 2007 is hosted by the International AIDS Society (IAS), in partnership with the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM). The conference incorporates the 19th Annual ASHM Conference.

"With fewer than one-third of people living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries having access to life-saving medications, and still fewer with access to proven prevention services, such as condoms and sterile syringes, the goal of universal access by 2010 must remain a priority," said IAS President Dr. Pedro Cahn, International Conference Co-Chair and Director of Fundación Huesped in Argentina. "Science has given us the tools to prevent and treat HIV effectively. The fact that we have not yet translated this science into practice is a shameful failure."

Emphasizing that "good research drives good policy and programming," the IAS and ASHM recently issued the Sydney Declaration, a global sign-on letter that urges governments and donors to allocate 10 per cent of all resources dedicated to HIV programming for research. In their remarks at the Opening Session, the conference co-chairs stressed that new research investments cannot come at the expense of prevention and treatment programmes, and that such investments must not be seen as an additional burden, but as a critical way of determining what works best and why.

"It is our responsibility as researchers, as the drivers of the research locomotives that carry HIV treatments forward, to ensure that clinical and prevention research, as well as capacity building and basic science, continue to thrive in the most affected countries," said Prof. David Cooper, IAS 2007 Local Co-chair and Director of the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales. "Funders must understand that good programming can only succeed on the back of solid research."

Some of the many important scientific findings to be presented and discussed at the conference include:
* The development of novel treatments that offer new hope to persons in whom HIV has developed resistance to existing medications;
* New biomedical prevention strategies available and others on the horizon, such as female-controlled microbicides, male circumcision and the use of antiretrovirals to prevent infection (referred to as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP);
* New knowledge of HIV pathogenesis and the mechanisms through which HIV causes immune deficiency;
* Operations research detailing what we've learned, to date, about what is working on the ground in communities across the globe; and
* Updates on the clinical implications of an ageing population of people living with HIV, as well as on paediatric treatment issues.

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