Health Initiative for Men gets ready to launch

via xtra west (canada) - full article here

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Inspired by the successes in women's and aboriginal health movements, Banks says it's time for queer men to become more involved in their own health —"to think of health as way beyond disease," he says. It's "about creating opportunities for people to connect and to feel validated. New and more contemporary understandings of health encompass that."

Longtime AIDS activist John Kozachenko agrees that the gay community needs to face up to a wider range of health concerns. "I think the focus has been —although very important that it has been —on HIV/AIDS," he says. "People aren't really aware of other health issues that they might be concerned with."

"To effect the kind of change that will have a long-term impact on reducing risk and vulnerability," says Banks, "you have to address the social issues."

"There are issues related to childhood experiences of sexual abuse, issues around social support, around homophobia, power imbalances in relationships, alcohol and substance use," Bognar explains. "All of those things sort of form a big knot of problems that can't be attacked individually."

"The big, big, big bad guy in all of this is homophobia, heterosexism —the bullshit that makes queers, transfolks feel like their sexual or gender identities are somehow defects," Banks adds.

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Read the full article here.