Call me Bubbles, darling. Everybody does.

Computer Says No

Panty-friendly pasta - You bettah WOK!

The campy new cookbook, Cooking Doesn’t Have to be a Drag takes drag domestic.

Excerpt:

Volume one has plenty of recipes to tide you over, including classics like a simple Szechuan chicken, caprese salad, and breakfast bites. For those watching their carbs, there is a chapter on "panty-friendly pasta." Of course there are plenty of cocktail recipes, as well as sound advice on wine pairing.

It’s the more creative recipes that really stand out, though. For the gal on the go, comedian Jackie Beat invented a simple recipe for taco salad, (Hint: it involves a big bowl and a trip to Taco Bell. If company’s coming, serve with individual salsa packets.) and Misty Eyez has a new take on shepherd’s pie made with ketchup and pork rinds.

If those ideas make your tummy churn instead of rumble, there are also some truly intriguing innovations like a spinach and strawberry salad and "lemonade fried chicken." Bieniek’s drag alter ego, Kris Coe, contributes a low-rent version of trifle that sounds delicious: bits of cake layered with Cool Whip and instant pudding, drizzled with Kahlua, and sprinkled with crushed up Heath Bars.

Read the whole article on Bay Windows.

Intervention - with a melody and jazz hands

See more Kristin Chenoweth videos at Funny or Die.

What do you think? Funny or foul? Is it okay to make jokes about crystal meth?

Friday is for Faeries

If it's Friday on LifeLube...

Your Center

Fuck safer - options beyond latex are in the works

What is a rectal microbicide?

Currently in development, a microbicide is a cream or gel, or maybe a douche or an enema, that could be used to reduce a person’s risk of HIV infection vaginally or rectally. Rectal microbicides could offer both primary protection in the absence of condoms and back-up protection if a condom breaks or slips off during anal intercourse. For those unable or unwilling to use condoms, rectal microbicides could be a safe and effective alternative means of reducing risk, especially if they were unobtrusive and/or enhanced sexual pleasure enough to motivate consistent use. Such alternatives are essential if we are to address the full spectrum of prevalent sexual practices and the basic human need for accessible, user-controlled HIV and STD prevention tools.

Who is IRMA?

Since its creation in 2005, International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) has seen significant growth and success. Convened by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the Canadian AIDS Society, the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project and the Global Campaign for Microbicides, IRMA is currently a network numbering over 600+ advocates, policymakers and leading scientists from 50+ countries on six continents (indicated by the countries in color above) working to advance a robust rectal microbicide research and development agenda.

Hell yes!

This ad via Tweaker.org - one of our favorite sites for great crystal meth info.

For local Chicago resources on crystal meth, click LifeLube.

“HIV is a virus, not a crime"

Justice Edwin Cameron calls for a campaign
against 'misguided criminal laws and prosecutions'

“HIV is a virus, not a crime,” argued South African Supreme Court Justice Edwin Cameron during his impassioned call for “a campaign against criminalisation” on the final day of the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.

Justice Cameron’s plenary presentation was the vocalisation – and culmination – of a growing movement against criminalisation of HIV exposure and transmission that has been supported – and nourished – by organisations as powerful and diverse as UNAIDS and UNDP; the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+); the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS (ICW); the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF); the Open Society Institute; the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; and the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA); as well as many individual academics and HIV advocates.

Read the whole article on aidsmap.


Highlight:

Ten reasons why criminal prosecutions are bad policy

However, he provided ten reasons why creating HIV-specific laws, or applying current assault laws, to anything other than intentional HIV transmission are “misdirected and bad” policy. Many of these arguments were developed from a paper that Justice Cameron recently published in JAMA, co-written with Scott Burris of Temple University Beasley School of Law and Michaela Clayton of ARASA.

• Criminalisation is ineffective since it targets people already diagnosed, when studies show that most HIV transmission takes place during sex between two consenting adults neither of whom is aware that the other is infected with HIV.

• Criminal laws and criminal prosecutions are “shoddy and misguided substitutes” for measures that really protect those at risk of contracting HIV. “We need effective prevention, protection against discrimination, reduced stigma, strong leadership, greater access to testing and most importantly, treatment,” he said.

• Criminalisation victimises, oppresses and endangers women. Although policymakers’ impulse is often to protect women, “it is a grievously misguided impulse” because many laws, especially those in Africa, expose women “to assault, to ostracism and to further stigma” making them “more vulnerable to HIV, not less vulnerable. Rather, he argued, we need laws that guarantee a women’s social and economic status, and that enhance their “capacity to negotiate safer sex and to protect them for predatory sexual partners. We must change the social circumstances that will empower those women to say no when they wish to and to insist on protection when they want to.”

• Criminalisation is often unfairly and selectively enforced. He noted that “prosecutions and laws single out already vulnerable groups like sex workers, men who have sex with men, and in European countries, black males.”

• Criminalisation places blame on one person instead of responsibility on two. “The person who passes on the virus may be more guilty that the person who acquires it,” he said, “but criminalisation unfairly and inappropriately places all the blame on the person with HIV.”

• Criminalisation laws are difficult and degrading to apply. “Those laws that target reckless, or negligent or inadvertent transmission of HIV only introduce uncertainty into an area that is already difficult to police,” he noted. “In court we look back with a clinical harshness of the lawyer's eye on the complexities of these transactions and I do not believe that it is proper for the law to do so.”

• Many HIV-specific laws are extremely poorly drafted. He cited the example of Sierra Leone, based on the African Model Law, which explicitly criminalises mother-to-child transmission and is vague about who will be prosecuted and under what circumstances.

• HIV criminalisation increases stigma. “It is stigma,” he said, “that I believe lies behind the enactment of these bad laws. Those laws seem attractive, but they are not prevention or treatment friendly. They are hostile to both. And this is simply because they add fuel to the fires of stigma. Prosecutions for HIV transmissions and exposure and the chilling content of the laws themselves reinforce the idea of HIV as a shameful, disgraceful, unworthy condition requiring isolation and ostracism.”

• Criminalisation is a blatant disincentive to testing. “Why would a woman in Kenya want to go for an HIV test when she knows that it will expose her to seven years in jail?” he asked.

• Criminalisation assumes the worst about people with HIV, and punishes their vulnerability.

Read the whole article on aidsmap.

Q: What is meth mouth?

Why does crystal meth use have a potential for ruining someone’s teeth?

A. "Meth mouth" is caused by a number of things. Meth use constricts the vessels that supply blood to oral tissues. Since teeth and gums need blood to stay healthy, reduced blood supply causes tissues to shrink, which can eventually lead to blood vessels dying.

Also, the saliva in your mouth is a natural way to keep teeth healthy by reducing acid and bacteria that may hurt your teeth and gums. Meth makes the mouth very dry. A dry mouth makes the acid and bacteria more likely to damage the teeth.

Crystal users tend to grind their teeth or bite or chew on the inside of their mouths and cheeks. That hurts the skin and gums even more. Finally, meth users may eat sweets, candy and soda more, causing cavities, and may not brush or clean their teeth regularly.

The true frequency of meth mouth is unknown and we know many meth users with normal, healthy mouths and teeth.

For harm reduction approaches to meth use check out LifeLube.org/crystal, Tweaker.org or CrystalNeon.org.

Woof Wednesday

Every Wednesday... right here, on LifeLube

Remember when a quarter was enough for the weekend?

This ad via Tweaker.org - one of our favorite sites for great crystal meth info.

For local Chicago resources on crystal meth, click LifeLube.

Free Hugs

Multiple partners and multiple risks: exploring sexual concurrency

[via the San Francisco AIDS Foundation series of podcasts - this one is really fantastic and definitely worth 8 minutes of your attention!]

In this episode, Professor Gary Dowsett, deputy director at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, talks about concurrency, a term used to describe sexual relationships with multiple partners, in HIV prevention. Research shows that this practice is a factor in many new HIV infections, but effective interventions may include embracing-not rejecting-some of the structures that surround cultures with multiple sexual partnerships including gay men.

Listen to SFAF.org Podcast #38 - Exploring sexual concurrency: multiple partners and multiple risks. (8 minutes)

Professor Gary Dowsett, PhD, is a part of the Gender, Sexuality, and HIV Research Network recently launched by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the International Center for Research on Women, with support from the International AIDS Society and the Ford Foundation. One of the goals of this network is to identify gaps and priorities in HIV research, such as that on concurrency, and then to be able to develop effective program and policy responses appropriate to different communities and settings. Professor Dowsett is also an associate professor of clinical sociomedical sciences at Columbia University in New York, where he taught in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences and working with the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies. A sociologist by trade, he has long been interested in sexuality research, particularly in relation to the rise of modern gay communities. Since 1986, he has been researching the HIV epidemic particularly in Australia's gay communities and has worked on many international HIV/AIDS and sexual health projects since the late 1980s.

The SFAF.org podcast gives you concise biweekly updates on current HIV/AIDS topics from our experts in policy, treatment and prevention. If you need podcast help or would like to subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or another program, please visit the SFAF Podcast web site.

Gold Medal Condom Ads

From China, natch!

So, okay, so this is a little late...

But these clever Olympic-themed condom ads we just ran across, from an enterprising Chinese condom-maker called Elasun, are a delight...

When you're gay enough to send the very best

Signs of the Times: Hallmark Introduces Gay Marriage Cards

Now that more than 1,000 newspapers across the nation accept wedding announcements from same-sex couples, it only seems right that Hallmark should make a card specifically celebrating that happy occasion.

And they have, prompting a boycott by one of the country's most prolific anti-gay lobbying groups (more on that below).

Hallmark added the cards after California joined Massachusetts as the only U.S. states with legal gay marriage.

"It's our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can," Hallmark spokeswoman Sarah Gronberg Kolell told the Associated Press.

It's not just an attempt to stay relevant, though. By not speaking directly to gay unions with their cards, the company was missing out on an ever-growing piece of the gay marriage pie, an industry that continues to boom.

Read the rest on GFN

Gay + Latino + American Dream = ?

Reflection by Julio Maldonado

Latino Health Specialist at Howard Brown Health Center

Wow… I almost forgot…all about it!

It’s been more than 11 years since I left my country maybe “looking for the American dream” as many people say. Is this true? Who knows…? But I know who knows… I am sure I know about it!

Many, if I can say thousands, of Hispanics left our countries because we wanted to experience for ourselves all that people say when they come back from “Los Estados Unidos.” No matter where in the US, the fact was that it sounded amazing, incredible, and had many opportunities. For me, there was one more thing: to be who I want to be. No more persecution, no more mistreatment, no more hiding who I am and “who I want to be in this life.”

I am a gay man.

Of course, this demands a sacrifice, sadness and questions…. But the final decision always brought us here – to the US.

That was exactly what happened to me. I decided to come to the United Stated, but I really wanted to do it good. So I said to myself, “I want to go, but I want to go to New York.” Well, that happened. A cold and tough winter was waiting for me while leaving the JFK airport. But, I was here…and that was all that mattered….

How we see big, huge, tall buildings, I am sure is not the same way that others see them. Many times, I almost fell because my sight was focused on those incredible buildings. I heard it called “the vertical city” once. It really is, especially when I crossed to Queens and I had all that skyline. We will never forget that… never….nunca….

But, we didn’t come only to see the buildings; we came because of “the American dream.” So, at first, we felt so different, like we needed to work a lot in order to fit in here. Culture, language, the city, the thousands of people walking on the sidewalks… but we were so happy to be here… very happy!

Identification with this new culture, language, city and people; comes with time. Its timely …it’s just time…

Now, what about …. “who I want to be in this life,” because we are here for that reason too…. So, we have our first time in a club-bar, a “gay life in Los Estados Unidos.” Just as the first look to the skyline, this moment is also unforgettable. To see all the gay community together with no feelings and fears about persecution, without being mistreated by anyone, no hiding who we are: gay men.

Gay men walking on the street holding hands, kissing each other, meeting other friends on the corner of Christopher St. and 7th Avenue. It was like we were living in another world, better than we had thought; just lovely; just inspirational and full of pride. “PROUD” is a word that is not really related to gay community in our countries. But here, you start feeling it and living it. That’s great!

Hispanics, Latinos: We don’t need too much time to meet and start talking with our community co-members. “Los gringos,” there we go, saying “Hi,” “How are you,” and we go even to “What’s up?” All of that because we want to be more part of this and “who I want to be in this life.”

Unfortunately, as with all our dreams, they have painful and bad parts. And when those come to the “American dream” I can still feel my eyes getting watery.

Just to mention a few: housing, work, partners, friends, health… and many, many more that make Hispanic-Latinos think about how life was in our countries. Which one is better in the end???

To have a house with food, warm and always waiting for us every day… or no house… just worried “I don’t know where I can stay at tonight.”

To have decent work … or wake up one morning somewhere and go to our pockets and not find anything, no money, no ID, no idea of what to do…. I don’t have work, I don’t have anything to eat and still, I can see all these people sitting at sidewalk cafes having delicious good-looking, warm food?

To just chill with old gay friends in your neighborhood in your country,… or a partner, who at one point told me “I love you,” now saying “you got to leave, now.”

To having the old gay friend and knowing you can always count on him/her… or a friend telling you that is the last day in his house because you are not productive and you are giving him/her problems. And that’s all.

To living with HIV, but still my mother can understand and still is giving me housing, food, and love as she can… or I don’t know what to do. Will I die here? Alone?

What happened to the “American dream?”

Well, I understood. That’s why I told myself, this cannot happen. I need to do something, I promised myself that I will do something.

I fill my soul and all of me with courage, love, compassion, understanding and I turn more Hispanic-Latino than ever. I will get together, I will knock on doors, I will touch base with people that I believe are still there, I will be a leader, I will do whatever I have to do… and remember myself as a morning prayer that “life is just one” and nothing is done if you don’t, at least, try.

If I can do that, I will give that gift from God to anyone who will be passing through the same, the same that I passed though more than 11 years ago.

Wow… I almost forgot… all about it!

WE ALL FORGOT THE CONDOM

You may have heard that HIV infection is on the rise, or that the effort to develop a vaccine has dead-ended.

But in recent years, with every new setback and breakthrough—including sensational word of a new “morning after” pill—gay men have been changing their behavior, adopting ingenious methods to keep the virus at bay. As a result, the one commandment of the past twenty-five years—always wear a condom—is fast becoming a relic.

Read the rest in GQ.

[note from LifeLube - it is too damn bad that the author virtually ignored the research, development and advocacy around the creation of safe, effective and acceptable rectal microbicides. Currently in development, a microbicide is a cream or gel, or maybe a douche or an enema, that could be used to reduce a person’s risk of HIV infection vaginally or rectally. Rectal microbicides could offer both primary protection in the absence of condoms and back-up protection if a condom breaks or slips off during anal intercourse. For those unable or unwilling to use condoms, rectal microbicides could be a safe and effective alternative means of reducing risk, especially if they were unobtrusive and/or enhanced sexual pleasure enough to motivate consistent use. Such alternatives are essential if we are to address the full spectrum of prevalent sexual practices and the basic human need for accessible, user-controlled HIV and STD prevention tools. Click here for the site of the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) and learn more.]

Freedom, Liberty and Justice..... for some

A first person account regarding the devastating personal toll of the U.S. HIV immigration and travel ban...

by Mark Hammann

[Mark, pictured above left, with his partner Robert, is a gay men's outreach worker in Ontario, Canada]

Put simply, it is a disgrace, a blight upon our nation’s landscape.

I was fortunate enough to attend the 2008 International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. While attending the conference, I was rather shocked and disappointed at how many people working in the field of HIV/AIDS from the States were still unaware of the U.S. ban on travel and immigration for HIV+ people and its impact. The ban not only has affected people from other countries but American citizens like me. If people working in HIV/AIDS are unaware, then how many in the general population are unaware of this injustice? I felt it was important for me to speak upabout this matter and bring light to this issue and how far reaching its impact has been. I strongly believe that if more people were aware, they would demand that their elected officials push the appropriate government agencies to completely lift these restrictions.

How did this ban affect an American citizen like me?

In 2000, I was running a support group for older HIV+ gay men in Asheville, NC when I met a Canadian who had been living in the States for 13 years. He had just found out that he was HIV+. Over time we fell in love. As a PHA myself, I knew that if we were to stay together I would have to leave my homeland because of the ban on non-US citizens living with HIV. That ban prevented HIV+ visitors to the US (even those just passing through) and definitely meant no hope of immigration.

We are angry towards a government that has ignored the very words of our pledge of allegiance, “with Liberty and Justice for all.”

As a result of the ban, we moved to Canada in 2005. Life in Canada has been good. We own a home. My spouse works, and I returned to work from 10 years of disability as a Gay Men’s Outreach Worker for the AIDS Committee of Durham Region. It seems like a happy ending to the story. However, we still have the pain of losing our home, friends and family in North Carolina, and we are angry towards a government that has ignored the very words of our pledge of allegiance, “with Liberty and Justice for all."

As an American, what upsets me the most isn’t that I had to move to Canada. After all, as I’ve stated, our life here has been good. What upsets me is the feeling of being let down, and worse, being betrayed by my country - the country I so dearly love. The United States government speaks of freedom, liberty and justice, so how could it have allowed a situation like this to occur? It’s not only that I would like to be able to return to the US with my spouse, if I choose to do so. For me, the bigger issue is the principle of the matter: human rights, dignity and equality. In my mind, what has been going on for over twenty years now is un-American. In conclusion, it shatters everything that our Constitution and Bill of Rights stand for. Put simply, it is a disgrace, a blight upon our nation’s landscape.

The good news is the ban on HIV travel and immigration has just been repealed by Congress. However, at this point, we do not know as to what extent the ban will be repealed for people traveling or trying to immigrate to the US. It now becomes the decision of Health and Human Services as to what conditions a person must meet for immigration. So far, the news for change seems very positive, but I feel we shouldn’t let down our guard. We all still need to speak up and enlighten our fellow citizens and those in power. We need to make U.S. citizens aware of how people have been affected and continue to be affected by this unjust law. Let’s hope that our nation will reawaken and help return some of the meaning to those words, “with Liberty and Justice for All.”

For more on this issue, check out the Immigration Equality blog.

Lovefest POSTPONED

Note from the Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus:

Due to Park permit delays related to HIV testing on park grounds, the Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus Lovefest has been rescheduled for Sunday September 7, 2008. The event will go on as usual in Jackson Park on 9/7/08, with great entertainment and testing opportunities.

Thank you for all of your support and see you in 2 weeks!

There for you...

...whoever you are

the Center on Halsted is here for you.

click to enlarge

Friday is for Faeries

Hope for PrEP to prevent HIV infection

by Boeb Roehr, via the Bay Area Reporter

PrEP, shorthand for pre-exposure prophylaxis, is the next great hope for HIV prevention. Given recent failures of vaccine and microbicide trials, participants at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City were eager to give PrEP a whirl.

Excerpt:

"I really believe it will work. If it is as effective as we think it is going to be, it should revolutionize the way that HIV prevention dollars are spent." - Dr. Tom Coates

Read the whole article here.

Read more PrEP items on the LifeLube here.

Read more about PrEP on PrEP Watch.